
Canton senior Braeden Bean (34) ran for a team-high 41 yards in Friday night’s loss at Gilbert/Northwestern.
WINSTED, Sept. 16 – The Gilbert/Northwestern football team scored 34 points in the third quarter to break open the contest and roll to a 55-6 Pequot Conference Western Division victory over Canton at Van Why Field Friday night under portable lights.
Gilbert/Northwestern running back Billy Komons scored two of his three touchdowns in the third quarter to lead the Yellowjackets (2-0, 2-0 Pequot West). Komons finished with a game-high 175 yards rushing on 10 carries. Four other players ran for touchdowns for Gilbert/Northwestern, which finished with 335 yards rushing.
Canton (0-2, 0-2 Pequot West) began the game well and took a 6-0 lead when Dugan Lloyd scored on a 25-yard touchdown pass from Alex Higley with 6:47 remaining in the first half. The two-point conversion failed.
Gilbert/Northwestern responded quickly. The Yellowjackets scored 55 seconds later when E.J. Claman pulled in a 24-yard touchdown pass from QB Brad Lissey. Christopher Nanni, who was 6-of-7 kicking extra points, kicked the PAT to give Gilbert/Northwestern a 7-6 lead.
The Yellowjackets extended the lead to 14-6 at halftime on Komons five-yard run with 1:16 remaining in the half.
Braedon Bean led the Warriors rushing with 41 yards on 15 carries. Higley completed 7-of-18 passes for 147 yards and a touchdown. He did have two passes intercepted. Gavin Wood caught four passes for 36 yards for the Warriors. Higley did complete a 61-yard pass to Joey Fitzgerald on the final play of the contest.
Jack Szczepanski returned four kickoffs for 41 yards while Higley, Wood and Jerry Lafave had seven tackles each for the Warriors, who sacked Gilbert QB Brad Lissey three times.
Canton returns to the field next Saturday when they travel to Lewis Mills (1-1, 0-1 Pequot West) in Burlington for a Pequot Conference West Division contest beginning at 1 p.m.
The 49-point loss was the second largest in program history. The most lopsided defeat in team history came in 1953 when Gilbert blanked the Warriors, 58-0. The Yellowjackets extended their lead in the overall series between the two schools to 16-11.
Gilbert/Northwestern 55, Canton 6
At Winsted
Canton (0-2) 0 6 0 0 – 6
Gilbert (2-0) 0 14 34 7 — 55
Second quarter
C: Dugan Lloyd 25 pass from Alex Higley (run failed), 6:47
G: E.J. Claman 24 pass from Brad Lissey (Christopher Nanni kick), 5:52
G: Billy Komons 5 run (Nanni kick), 1:16
Third quarter
G: Jake Roth 3 run (Nanni kick), 11:26
G: Komons 63 run (kick failed), 7:11
G: Spencer Green 16 run (Nanni kick), 5:40
G: Komons 5 run (Nanni kick), 2:13
G: B. Lissey 39 run (Nanni kick), 0:00
Fourth quarter
G: Zach McLellan 5 run (Austen Royer kick), 3:10
Individual statistics
RUSHING: Canton – Braedon Bean 15-41, Alex Higley 6-18, Connor McGeough, Jack Szczepanski 5-3, Joseph Fitzgerald 2-minus 17; Gilbert/NWR – Brad Lissey 12-74, Billy Komons 10-175, Spencer Green 3-37, Gabriel Schwartz 3-11, Zach McLellan 2-5, Jake Roth 2-3, E.J. Claman 1-30
PASSING: Canton – Alex Higley 7-18-2, 147; Gilbert/NWR — Brad Lissey 2-4-0, 35, Eric Lissy 1-1-0, 6
RECEIVING: Canton – Joseph Fitzgerald 1-61, Dugan Lloyd 1-25, Jack Szczepanski 1-25, Gavin Wood 4-36; Gilbert/NWR – E.J. Claman 1-24, Colton Bossi 1-11, Zach McLellan 1-6
RETURNS: Canton – Jack Szczepanski 4-41 (kickoffs), 1-4 (punt); Dugan Lloyd 2-25 (kickoffs), Joey Fitzgerald 1-10 (kickoffs), Connor McGeough 2-14 (kickoffs)
Since 2009, the Collinsville Press has been providing award-winning coverage of sports and news in the Farmington Valley and across Connecticut.


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