Avon’s Nik Meltser (5) tries to get through the Bristol Eastern defense in Thursday night’s CCC game in Avon. The Lancers prevailed, 27-0. More photos from Thursday night’s game
AVON, Sept. 12, 2024 – There are plenty of familiar faces back on the gridiron with the Avon High football team.
Nik Meltser, who led the team in rushing (1,259 yards) and touchdowns (11) returns in the backfield along with John Murphy (661 yards, 7 TDs) and Carter Davies (196 yards, 1 TD).
The Falcons will be deploying their single wing offense again as they have been since Jeff Redman returned for a second tour behind the bench as head coach in 2018.
Every new season brings changes and adjustments.
Matt Redman, Jeff’s son, returns as the team’s defensive coordinator but has added the head coaching responsibilities to his plate. Brenden Smith, the head coach for the past two seasons, remains the team’s offensive coordinator. Matt becomes the tenth head coach in team history.
In the past two seasons, Avon played in Tier III in the Central Connecticut Conference. This year, the Falcons dropped to Tier IV with some of the smaller football programs in the CCC. While Avon gets to play some smaller schools, the recently-revived series with rival Farmington was placed back on hold with the River Hawks remaining in Tier III.
Oh, the Falcons picked up a game with defending Tier IV champion Bloomfield, which happened to win the Class S championship last December. The Warhawks begin the season ranked No. 10 in the preseason sportwriters state poll.
“The beauty of football is that it teaches you life skills,” Matt Redman said Thursday night after the Falcons’ season-opening game against Bristol Eastern. “It teaches you to be a gentleman. It teaches you discipline, hold yourself accountable. That is really the best outcome you can hope for from a game.
“Success on the field is a byproduct of taking care of what is really important in life,” he said.
The Falcons had some success in Thursday night’s game against Bristol Eastern but not nearly enough as the Lancers prevailed, 27-0. Quarterback Alexander Corvo completed 8-of-12 passes for 139 yards and a pair of touchdown passes. Lincoln Badshaw ran for a game-high 67 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries. He also recovered a fumble.
“I am really proud of the guys,” Eastern coach Anthony Julius said. “That is a really hard offense to defend. It’s a unique one that you don’t see too often and our kids had a good week of preparation.”
Meltser led the Falcons with 64 yards on 20 carries while Reyan Fawad ran for 55 yards on three carries. John Murphy rushed for 30 yards on 10 carries but had 64 yards on two kickoff returns.
“We picked up where we left off on defense,” Julius said. “We were great on defense last year and we were tonight.” The Lancers were 6-4 a year ago.
Bristol Eastern’s Chase Dauphinee (11) dives for extra yardage in Thursday’s win over Avon. More photos from Thursday night’s game
Avon’s single-wing is a precision offense, built on success of multiple linemen. It takes time to learn and the Lancers were too strong and quick Thursday for the Falcons.
Avon’s best opportunity to score came in the second quarter after the Lancers had taken a a 7-0 lead on a three-yard run from Bagshaw.
Eastern marched 91 yards on 12 plays with Corvo completing a key 20-yard pass to his brother, Ryan, and a nice 14-yard run up the middle from Alexander Corvo. The Lancers also took advantage of a pass interference play against Avon on third down that kept the drive alive. Three plays later, Bagshaw scored.
Murphy put Avon (0-1) in good field position with a 31-yard kickoff return. A 14-yard run from Meltser moved the ball into Eastern’s territory. A 31-yard run from Fawad put the ball on the Lancer 15-yard line.
On the next play, Meltser rambled to the one-yard line. But the play was called back due to a holding call. Meltser was tackled for a loss before gaining four yards to the 17-yard line. A motion penalty cost the Falcons another five yards. The drive died on the 18-yard-line when Murphy’s pass was incomplete.
Eastern led 7-0 at halftime. Facing a third down and four on their first drive, Avon gained three yards and was forced to punt from their own 29-yard line. Punter Oliver Lojewski dropped the snap and tried to run for the first down but was stopped five yards short.
On its first play of the second half, Eastern’s Alexander Corvo found Noah Albert in the end zone for a 25-yard touchdown reception and a 13-0 lead.
Avon’s next drive ended with a fumble recovered by Bagshaw on the Lancer 47-yard line. A 25-yard pass to Jacob Kingsley put the Lancers in scoring position. Bagshaw scored on a six-yard run with 1:03 left in the third period for a 20-0 lead after the extra point.
Eastern’s Chase Dauphine caught a nine-yard touchdown reception from Alexander Corvo with 7:49 left in the game and a 27-0 lead after the successful extra point try.
The number of people in Avon’s program is up to around 60. But there are plenty of players still learning the game, including a few seniors who joined the team this fall.
“We’re not playing 25 guys,” Matt Redman said. “A lot of guys go both ways (play offense and defense). How much heart do they have? How much fight? How tough are they? We pride ourselves on being tough, running the ball and playing tough defense.”
Avon falls to 32-32 on opening day and was shutout for the second time in three years. Bloomfield blanked Avon, 40-0 in 2022. The Falcons were 3-7 a year ago. This was one of just six games in the state on Thursday.
Bristol Eastern 27, Avon 0
At Avon
Bristol Eastern (1-0) 0 7 13 7 — 27
Avon (0-1) 0 0 0 0 — 0
Second quarter
BE: Lincoln Badshaw 3 run (Gavin Damboise kick), 9:43
Third quarter
BE: Noah Albert 25 pass from Alexander Corvo (kick failed), 9:54
BE: Badshaw 6 run (Damboise kick), 1:03
Fourth quarter
BE: Chase Dauphine 9 pass from Corvo (Damboise kick), 7:49
Individual statistics
RUSHING: Bristol Eastern – Lincoln Badshaw 13-67, Alexander Corvo 5-6, Chase Dauphinee 2-0; Avon — John Murphy 10-30, Nik Meltser 20-64, Reyan Fawad 3-55, Oliver Loejewski 2-0, Carter Davies 4-17
PASSING: Bristol Eastern – Alexander Corvo 8-12-0, 139; Avon – Murphy 0-1, Meltser 0-2
RECEIVING: Bristol Eastern – Ryan Corvo 1-20, Chase Dauphinee 2-16, Noah Albert 3-73, Jacob Kingsley 2-30
FUMBLE REC: Badshaw (BE) 1
2024 Avon High schedule
Thur. Sept. 12: Bristol Eastern 27, Avon 0
Fri. Sept. 20: WETHERSFIELD, 6 p.m.
Fri. Sept. 27: at Abbott Tech/Immaculate (ATI), 6 p.m.
Fri. Oct. 4: at Bloomfield, 6:30 p.m.
Fri. Oct. 18: NW CATHOLIC, 6 p.m.
Fri. Oct. 25: EAST CATHOLIC, 6 p.m.
Thur. Oct. 31: at Plainville, 6:30 p.m.
Thur. Nov. 7: at Tolland, 6:30 p.m.
Fri. Nov. 15: ROCKY HILL, 6 p.m.
Tues. Nov. 26: at Lewis Mills, 6 p.m.
More photos from Thursday night’s game
