This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
11/17/2019 11:00 PMThe Valley Regional-Old Lyme football team (VR-OL) claimed a 35-12 home victory over Pequot Conference Sassacus Division rival Old Saybrook-Westbrook (OS-W) on Nov. 15. The Warriors improved their overall record to 3-5 and are now 3-2 in divisional play. VR-OL owns sole possession of third place in the Sassacus Division behind North Branford and Coginchaug/Hale-Ray/East Hampton, both of which are undefeated in the division.
Head Coach Tim King felt that the Warriors matched up well with OS-W because of the Rams’ offense is predicated on running the ball. VR-OL’s defensive line can make it very frustrating for any team looking to move the ball on the ground.
“All year long, I would say we’ve been stout up front. Ben Conrad, Wes Belisle, Justin Badolato, Dan Harris, and Tommy Birch. That front group has been really stout. We also have Kyle Metz who goes from linebacker to defensive end in a couple of packages,” King said. “If you’re going to run the ball on us, you’re going to have to really work for it. We’ve had our tough games, but I knew that we were probably going to be able to manage against Saybrook.”
Even though the Warriors were able to mount a pretty lopsided score, Coach King believed that score didn’t really give any indication on how close the game was. VR-OL had a 28-6 lead at halftime, but that was due to a flurry of scoring late in the half. Early in the game, the Warriors had the pressure on after the first drive of the game.
“The game was a lot closer than the score seemed to show. Saybrook played a good game. Of course, their offense is a smash-mouth, time-consuming offense, for the most part,” King said. “Our opening drive, we got the ball and moved it real well. We got it down to the 15-yard line and then fumbled. You can’t give a team like Saybrook opportunities like that, but our defense stiffened up and got the ball back.”
Once the Warriors regained possession, they were able to put some points on the board thanks to a 35-yard pass from junior quarterback Jack Cox who hit Colbe Andrews for a touchdown. Brian Funk also kicked the extra point through the uprights for the 7-0 lead. OS-W responded quickly with a score, but failed the extra point leading to a 7-6 VR-OL advantage.
Valley received the ball and made a nice drive back down the field for the end zone. The Warriors made it into the red zone, and James Marsden was able to punch the ball in from four yards out to move the score to 14-6. Coach King believed that was a turning point in the game.
“That drive was so important for us to stop Saybrook’s momentum after they trimmed it to one. We got the ball and put together a nice drive to get down to the 4-yard line,” said King. “James Marsden came in and we ran a wildcat package, and Marsden put one in to get the score. Funk got the extra point, and he’s been so big for us getting those all year.”
The Warriors stopped Old Saybrook’s next drive in the second quarter, and then VR-OL marched back down the field for another score. This time on a carefully constructed play that was called by offensive coordinator Kevin Woods that allowed DiAngelo Jean-Pierre an opportunity to make a big play on a Cox pass.
“We stopped them, and they had to punt to us. We drove downfield. Then we ran a tunnel screen, and Jack Cox hit Didi, and he took it to the house from the 30 yard line,” King said. “It was one of the better plays we’ve run in a long time. We hadn’t run that play very much, so for us to execute it was a great job by the kids. It worked to perfection, and it was a great call by Coach Kevin Woods.”
After Valley extended the lead to 21-6, OS-W got the ball back with less than three minutes left in the half. Still, Valley managed to stop the Rams and get another shot before halftime. Brian Rankin returned a punt 30 yards to reach the 45-yard line with less than a minute left in the half. Then the Warriors were able to connect on a deep pass from Cox to Rankin to put the game pretty much out of reach after another Funk PAT.
“It gave us a chance with 35 seconds left in the half. We ran a couple of incompletes, but we hit an out-route for about 12 yards to get a first down with 20 seconds left on the clock,” King said. “Then there were 1.7 seconds left on the clock before halftime. Jack threw up a Hail Mary, and Brian Rankin was made an incredible adjustment and for a basket catch. There were three guys around him, and he came up with the ball.”
Coach King believed that last ditch Hail Mary pass was huge because coming out of halftime, OS-W had the ball. By putting the game further out of reach, it deflated the Rams a little so they were less likely to mount a comeback.
“They had the ball at halftime, so that was one of the most important plays of the game. They could have been two scores down coming out of the half, but we made it three scores,” said King. “That was a big, big play. Being up 20 something points coming out of the half, as long as we kept the ball in front of us and took care of business, we had a good chance of winning.”
Old Saybrook (2-6, 2-3) would get another score later in the fourth quarter, but it would prove too little too late. Strangely, when the game looked to be over, and VR-OL was ready to take a knee and wind the clock down, OS-W called a timeout in hopes of getting the ball back. So Valley decided to run a rarely executed play to give it some game time action. The play resulted in a score for traditional lineman Ben Conrad out of an odd package for the Warriors to make it 35-12.
“We got it down to the 6-yard line with 48 seconds left. We were going to take a knee but they called a time out. We had a play that we were running in practice with Ben Conrad in the backfield,” said King. “He’s been in some of our heavy packages as a blocking back, but a week or so ago we put a package together and let him run with it. He’s a big kid and he’s fast and he ended up scoring on the play for his first career touchdown.”
The Warriors saw Cox go 13-of-19 for 280 yards and three touchdowns. Cox eclipsed the 1,000 yards passing mark for the season, in addition to rushing for 40 yards himself. Jean-Pierre had four catches for 75 yards including a touchdown. Andrews also had four receptions for 49 yards and a TD. Rankin hauled in four catches for 114 yards and a TD.
Up next for the Warriors is a battle against Gilbert-Northwestern (3-5) at Valley Regional High School on Thursday, Nov. 21 at 6:30 p.m. Coach King is looking forward for a win that game to keep the momentum. Gilbert-Northwestern is another run-heavy offense, and the Warriors will need to stay strong against the rushing attack.
“They bring a lot of physicality to the table. They don’t have a lot of kids, but they line up with double tight ends with an I in the backfield. They just run the ball down your throat,” said King. “Then when they establish that run, they’ll hit you with a bunch of screens. They’ll run some play action. They’re well coached, too, so we know they’ll be tough. We just have to be tough, too.”
• The Valley Regional-Old Lyme football team’s roster includes seniors Justin Badolato, Jean-Luc Bolduc, Ben Conrad, Andrew Cravin, Salvatore D’Arena, Brian Funk, Daniel Harris, Jeffy Joshy, Callum Miller, Jeremy Montazella, Arick Outama, and Brian Rankin; juniors Colbe Andrews, Weston Belisle, Tommy Burch, Hunter Collins, John Cox, Charlie Crilly, Axel Cruz, Kyle Metz, Colin Michaud, Jeremy Rand, Anthony Rosario, and Carter Tiezzi; sophomores Mason Bagwell, James Beckman, Jacob Chomicz, Mason Drew, Race Greenawalt, Samuel Ibbitson, Joseph Kuhn, Ian Mackenzie, Michael Marino, James Marsden, Samuel Mullaney, Tommy Rapp, Duncan Rider, Matthew Snyder, and Daniel Stack; and freshmen Jeremy Arnum, Samuel Bourez, Jack Bowe, Nick Cox, Leif Duval, Michael Galberth, DiAngelo Jean-Pierre, Kevin King, Ford Macadam, Adam Metz, Joe Montazella, Jacob Rand, Eli Ryan, and Andrew Yermenson.
• Tim King is in his 23rd season as head coach of the Warriors. King’s coaching staff features Kevin Woods (offensive coordinator), Bobby Sanchez (defensive coordinator), Phil Cohen (assistant offensive coordinator), Steve Woods (special teams/offensive assistant), Hill Gbunblee (offensive assistant), Jake Bocian (defensive assistant), Brandon Woodcock (assistant coach), and Pete Woodcock (assistant coach).
• The Warriors’ wins this season have come over Morgan (23-6), Cromwell-Portland (21-0), and Old Saybrook-Westbrook (35-12). Valley-Old Lyme has also taken losses came against Coginchaug/East Hampton/Hale-Ray (39-14), Stafford-East Windsor-Somers (21-7), Coventry-Windham Tech-Bolton-Lyman (28-14), North Branford (35-28), and SMSA-University-Classical (18-13).