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Tolland’s Carlson has 4 TDs as Eagles hand Avon first loss of the season

Freshman Quandrell Stewart (81) is surrounded by Tolland’s Collin Cook (33) and Brady Gordon in Saturday’s CCC game in Avon.

AVON, Sept. 16 – A week ago, the Avon High football team opened the season with a 34-point shutout victory over East Catholic – beating the private Catholic school for the first time in over 20 years.

But head coach Sal Cintorino said the warning signs late in the week during practice. He could see that the sharpness, intensity and focus wasn’t quite there.

Tolland’s Ryan Carlson made the Falcons pay. Carlson, a 5-foot-7 sophomore quarterback scored four touchdowns and ran for 164 yards on 18 carries to lead the undefeated Eagles (2-0) to a 34-6 Central Connecticut Conference East Division win over Avon on a sunny and warm Saturday afternoon. Carlson also passed for 73 yards and made 15 tackles on defense.

“He had a lot of yards after contact,” Cintorino said. “We had opportunities (to tackle him) some good plays and long runs. Give credit to them.”

Tolland head coach Alex Backus said his Eagles were motivated – even after a sloppy 10-6 win over RHAM in week one. “This week they acted like football players,” Backus said. “They wanted to hit and wanted to run.”

“We didn’t play anything like we did last week (vs. East Catholic),” Cintorino said. “We need to fix that.”

Tolland’s Ryan Carlson scored four TDs in the Eagles’ 34-6 win over Avon on Saturday.

After Dan Servadio recovered an Avon fumble on the first offensive play of the game – caused by Colin Cook – the visiting Eagles took a quick 7-0 lead early in the first quarter on a two-yard scamper by Carlson.

Avon (1-1, 0-1 CCC DIv. III East) came within one point of tying the game on a one-yard run by Dylan Burgos with 3:25 left in the first quarter but the extra point attempt was blocked. Tolland (2-0) led 14-6 at halftime thanks to Carlson’s 25-yard touchdown run.

Tolland (2-0, 2-0) wore down the Falcons in the hot sun and under humid conditions. A 25-yard touchdown run in the third quarter extended the Avon lead to 21-6 midway through the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, Jonny Lindquist kicked a pair of field goals (31, 30 yards) and Carlson ran for a two-yard touchdown run to round out the scoring. Tolland beat Avon for just the fourth time in 16 meetings.

Jadon Folkwein led Avon on the ground with 85 yards on 17 carries while Ian McCutcheon ran for 69 yards on eight carries. Burgos completed 4-of-16 passes for 25 yards.

Avon hosts RHAM (1-1) in another CCC DIv. III East Division battle at the high school, beginning at 1 p.m.

Tolland 34, Avon 6
At Avon
Tolland (2-0)             7  7  7  13 – 34
Avon (1-1)                 6  0  0  0  — 6
First quarter
T: Ryan Carlson 2 run (Jonny Lindquist kick), 10:47
A: Dylan Burgos 1 run (kick blocked), 3:25
Second quarter
T: Carlson 25 run (Lindquist kick), 7:25
Third quarter
T: Carlson 7 run (Lindquist kick), 6:59
Fourth quarter
T: Lindquist 31 FG, 5:53
T: Carlson 2 run (Lingquist kick), 6:07
T: Lindquist 30 FG, 0:17
Individual statistics
RUSHING: Avon — Jadon Folkwein 17-85, Ian McCutcheon 8-69, Dan Quick 1-8, Dylan Burgos 8-15
PASSING: Avon — Dylan Burgos 4-15-0, 25
RECEIVING: Avon — Ryan Ollestad 1-14, Dan Quick 1-8, Sean Nolan 1-8, Ian McCutcheon 1-1

Gerry deSimas, Jr., is the editor and founder of The Collinsville Press. He is an award-winning writer and has been covering sports in Connecticut and New England for more than 30 years.

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