Fourth quarter drive lifts Rocky Hill past Lewis Mills/Wolcott Tech

Mills/OWTS head coach Jason Pace speaks to his Spartans after Friday night’s loss to Rocky Hill in Burlington (Photo courtesy Steve Barlow)

By STEVE BARLOW
Special to The Collinsville Press

BURLINGTON, Oct. 13, 2025  – In the preseason, one of Jay Pace’s goals for the Lewis Mills/Wolcott Tech co-op football team was to be more competitive than in his first year as head coach of the Spartans.

A year ago, Rocky Hill thumped Mills by three touchdowns. On Friday night, the Spartans were able to keep it a contest until the closing minutes in a 22-8 defeat at home.

The Terriers (2-2) salted away the Central Connecticut Conference victory with 2:03 left in the game by finishing off a 13-play, 52-yard drive with an 8-yard TD pass from Mason Margiotta to Rathan Tejada.

It came after Mills (1-3) had pulled within 15-8 through three periods thanks to Marcos Muniz’s recovery of a blocked punt in the end zone for the Spartans’ only touchdown.

“In the moment, it’s difficult to be OK with a loss, and the players are feeling some of that. We know we had an opportunity to win the game,” said Pace. “When we reflect and look at the game overall, we fought to the end. That’s all I can ask of these guys. They can keep their heads up because the fight was there.”

Rocky Hill gained yardage almost exclusively on the ground, finishing with 223 yards rushing. Margiotta did most of the damage, gaining 107 yards in 23 carries. But the Terriers QB completed just two passes for 12 yards.

“We knew they had some good athletes at receiver. We tried to contain that and did a good job,” Pace said. “The issue was their run game. We needed to stop the run before they got going. We have some things to work on, but I loved the way we pursued the ball and finished.”

Offensively, Mills was held to 31 yards rushing, although sophomore QB Jayce McDonald completed 12 passes for 110 yards.

“They did a real good job of stopping the inside run, so we tried to hit the perimeter. They had some guys who could fly around over there. Even in the pass game, they really tried to keep everything underneath and take away the deep ball. The offense will get back to work. We’ve got to work on finishing our drives and eliminating penalties. Penalties are drive killers.”

Mills tacklers swarm around a Rocky Hill runner Jaeden Torres in Friday’s CCC Tier 4 game in Burlington. (Photo courtesy Steve Barlow)

Mills stopped Rocky Hill’s opening drive when Daniel Ortiz intercepted a fourth-down pass at the 2-yard line. On the Spartans’ second play, though, Mason Scanlon caught a screen pass and was brought down in the end zone for a safety.

The Terriers then drove 39 yards to paydirt with Tanoro Edwards scampering in from 7 yards out for a 9-0 score that stood up through halftime.

To start the third quarter, Rocky Hill stuffed Mills on a fourth-down play at the Spartans’ 39, then used nine plays to score its second TD on a 5-yard run by Margiotta. The Terriers led, 15-0.

Mills’ attack got untracked with McDonald hitting Andrew Madore for a 10-yard reception and Gryfn Kobylarz for a 35-yard completion to reach the visitors’ 5.

The drive stalled, but the Mills defense forced a punt by Rocky Hill. Alec Zeller burst through the line to block the kick and Muniz smothered it in the end zone. McDonald’s conversion pass to Jayce Cichy cut the margin to 15-8 with 2:44 left in the third period.

Lewis Mills/Wolcott Tech will be off until an Oct. 17 home game against East Catholic.

Rocky Hill 22, Lewis Mills/Wolcott Tech 8
At Burlington
Rocky Hill (2-2)            9 0 6 7 – 22
Lewis Mills/WT (1-3)  0 0 8 0 – 8
First quarter
RH: Safety. Receiver tackled in end zone
RH: Tanoro Edwards 7 run (Koray Kupuc kick)
Third quarter
RH: Mason Margiotta 5 run (pass failed)
LM/WT: Marcos Muniz recovered blocked punt in end zone (Jayce Cichy pass from Jayce McDonald)
Fourth quarter
RH : Rathan Tejeda 8 pass from Margiotta (Kupuc kick)
Individual statistics
Rushing: Rocky Hill – Margiotta 23 carries, 107 yards; Jaeden Torres 20-57; Parker Wood 2-24; Tyshawn Dominique 7-14. Lewis Mills/Wolcott Tech – Mason Scanlon 11-18; Gryfn Kobylarz 1-13
Passing: Rocky Hill – Margiotta 2-12-31-1. Lewis Mills/Wolcott Tech – McDonald 12-28-110-0.
Receiving: Rocky Hill – Tejeda 2-31. Lewis Mills/Wolcott Tech – Kobylarz 2-46; Andrew Madore 2-30; Cichy 3-15; Muniz 2-12.