Farmington regroups to beat Bristol Eastern for first win, 38-20

Farmington’s Michael Popolizio (4) is tackled by Bristol Eastern’s Zach Thompson (27) in Friday night’s game in Bristol.

BRISTOL, Sept. 19 – As the sun set behind the mountain at Bristol Eastern High, it looked like the host Lancers would be carving up the visiting Farmington High football team for dinner. The Lancers marched through the Indians scoring touchdowns on their first two possessions early in the second quarter to take an early nine-point lead.

But Farmington adjusted defensively and used an up-tempo offense to pull away from Bristol Eastern on Friday night on Eastern’s campus with a 38-20 victory – their first win of the season. It snapped a seven-game losing streak that dated back to early last October.

“Give all of the credit to defensive coordinator Phil McMahon,” said Farmington head coach Chris Machol. “Because he made some on the field adjustments, moved some people and stopped that one play that gashing us. Now, we could go out and play football.”

Bristol Eastern (0-2) led 12-3 early in the second quarter thanks to an eight-play, 77-yard drive that ended with Darieyn Tate scoring from the two-yard line. On its next possession, the Lancers drove another 77 yards – this time on 10 plays.

But Farmington (1-1) refused to yield and took advantage when they got the chance. “They came out and punched us in the mouth (not literally),” Machol said. “Through all of hard work, we were able to bounce back.”

The Indians made some key defensive stops and scored two touchdowns in the final 4:31 of the second quarter to grab the lead for good. Prince Phillips made his first career interception, giving Farmington the ball on Eastern’s 39-yard-line. A few plays later, on fourth down and three yards, Farmington QB Zac Conrad completed a short pass to Sean Dunleavy, who battled his way to the end zone, shrugging off potential tacklers to cut the lead to two, 12-10, following Dunleavy’s extra points.

A poor 16-yard punt gave Farmington excellent field position on the Lancer 45 yard line. The Indians moved to the 33 on a 12-yard completion from Conrad to Michael Popolizio. A 15-yard penalty for an illegal substitution moved the Indians to the Bristol Eastern 19-yard line with 1:43 remaining in the second quarter.

Farmington’s Kevin Dunst (22) closes in on Bristol Eastern’s Edgar Hernandez-Ortiz in Friday night’s game in Bristol. Farmington prevailed, 38-20.

On third down and 10 from the 19, Buono scored the first of his touchdowns on a nice little pass in the flat, thanks to some good strength that allowed him to shrug off several attempts to bring him down to the natural grass turf. Dunleavy kicked the extra point for a 17-12 Farmington lead.

Farmington opened the second half with a strong 75-yard, six play drive that finished with Kevin Dunst scoring from the six-yard line with 9:35 gone in the second half to extend the lead to 24-12. Michael Popolizio had a nice runs of 33 and 12 yards on the drive while Buono had a 22-yard scamper to the Bristol Eastern six.

In all, the drive took just 2:18. The Indians ran their offense quickly in this game.

“We (ran our offense) with some pace and tempo to spread it out and let our athletes make some plays,” Machol said. “Against a team that grinds it out, we don’t want to make it easy for them.”

Bristol Eastern didn’t go away. The Lancers’ Edgar Hernandez-Ortiz made a great diving interception of Conrad. The Lancers marched to the Farmington 1-yard line. And coughed up the fumble when QB Alex Hunter mishandled the snap from center.

The Lancers turned the ball over three times against Farmington, twice on fumbles and once with an interception.

“We have to make sure there is just one opponent (on the field) when we show up,” Eastern coach Paul Philippon said. “We can’t keep beating ourselves (with turnovers).”

Even after coughing up the ball on the one, Eastern converted twice on third down on a 44-yard, 11 play scoring drive. Josh Sampson’s 1-yard run and a two-point conversion run from Hernandez-Ortiz with 8:40 remaining cut Farmington’s lead to 24-20.

But Farmington didn’t blink. Alexis Walker had a 47-yard kickoff return to the Eastern 37-yard line. On the second play of the drive, Conrad scrambled up the middle for a 15-yard gain to the 9-yard line. Three plays later, Popolizio scored from the two and Dunleavy’s extra point extended the lead to 31-20 with 6:28 left.

“There are Farmington teams in recent memory that know how to fight back and win,” Marcol said. “And there are Farmington teams in recent memory that didn’t know how to fight and win. We learned tonight that we can fight back.”

Buono led all rushers with a career-high 102 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries. Conrad rambled for 50 yards on eight carries while Michael Popolizio ran for 49 yards on six carries. Conrad, the Indians quarterback, had a career-high 12 completions for 118 yards (another career-best mark) and one touchdown pass.

Philippon’s Lancers are still learning. They were shutout by E.O. Smith in the season opener, 21-0. They scored 20 points on Friday but turnovers and crucial penalties hurt the cause.

“They’re kids,” he said. “All we want them to do is show up and work hard and they’re doing that. We just have to keep going. I do feel we’re moving in the right direction.

It’s his first year back at Bristol Eastern after three successful years in Canton, where he was 24-9 and led them to a Pequot Uncas Division title last fall and a berth in the Class S playoffs. “They (Eastern players) believe in what we’re doing,” Philippon said. “The kids work hard and you stress the importance of putting the group ahead of your own selfish needs. We’re starting to do that. You just want them to come out on the right side of the scoreboard so they realize, it’s the right way to do things.”

GRID DUST: It’s the fourth win for Farmington in five games against Eastern. The Lancers beat Farmington for the first time last fall, 29-6. … The Lancers had a diverse running game with three players rushing for over 50 yards – Hunter, Sampson and Hernadez-Ortiz. … Dunleavy was 4-for-4 in extra points along with a 32-yard field goal. … Both schools are in Division II in the CCC for football. Farmington plays in the Eastern Division while Bristol Central is in the West Division.

Farmington 38, Bristol Eastern 20
At Bristol
Farmington (1-1)               3  14  7  14  — 38
Bristol Eastern (0-2)        12    0  0    8  — 20
First quarter
BE: Darieyn Tate 2 run (kick wide), 7:46
F: Sean Dunleavy 32 FG, 3:34
BE: Josh Sampson 1 run (run fails), 10:52
Second quarter
F: Dunleavy 32 pass from Zac Conrad (Dunleavy kick), 4:31
F: Brian Buono 19 run (Dunleavy kick), 1:15
Third quarter
F: Kevin Dunst 6 run (Dunleavy kick), 9:35
Fourth quarter
BE: Sampson 1 run (Edgar Hernandez-Ortiz run), 8:40
F: Michael Popolizio 2 run (Dunleavy kick), 6:28
F: Buono 23 run (Dunleavy kick), 1:17
Individual statistics
RUSHING: Eastern – Alex Hunter 4-50, Darieyn Tate 10-35, Edgar Hernandez-Ortiz 8-53, Josh Sampson 13-50, Zach Thompson 7-32, Others 3-18; Farmington – Brian Buono 12-102, Zac Conrad 5-50, Michael Popolizio 6-49, Kevin Dunst 2-10
PASSING: Eastern – Hunter 1-4-1, 13, Hernandez-Ortiz 1-1, 19; Farmington: Conrad 12-22-1, 118
RECEIVING: Eastern Tate 2-32; Farmington – Dunst 4-27, Dunleavy 3-36, Prince Phillip 2-20, Popolizio 2-17, Buono 1-8
INTERCEPTIONS: Prince Phillip (F) 1-0, Edgar Hernandez-Ortis (BE) 1-0; FUMBLE RECOVERIES: Louie Ortiz (F), Joe Sucato (F)
RETURNS: Kickoffs – Donte Collins (BE) 3-38, Darieyn Tate2-28; Farmington – Alexis Walker 3-86, Buono 1-10