Ledyard keeps rolling with 20-0 football victory over NFA
Ledyard beats NFA with solid defense, tough running game
Ledyard — And in this season of history at Ledyard High School, the 50th autumn of football, the Colonels, quite fittingly, did the Ledyard thing Friday night at Bill Mignault Field. They won the Ledyard way. Run the ball. Tough. Physical. Unforgiving defense. Nasty. Salty.
“Being very physical,” nose guard Tannor Daggett said, “is what we like to do.”
Indeed. Ledyard moved a step closer to a playoff berth and stayed in contention for at least a share of the Eastern Connecticut Conference Large Division title with a 20-0 win over Norwich Free Academy, a notquite-two-hour infomercial on how Ledyard has won most of its other games, too, in the last 50 years.
Daggett wasn’t just a nose guard. He was a fullback, too, sporting No. 75 in the backfield, paving running lanes for Justin Carter and his 122 yards and two scores.
“We definitely don’t have the guys we did last year,” Daggett said. “But we have the right personnel for this. I’m just trying to do my part.”
He did as much on Ledyard’s first drive, five minutes of running that led to Carter’s 1-yard run.
“We didn’t want to try to fit a square peg into a round hole. This is what we thought our guys would be best at,” Ledyard coach Jim Buonocore said, alluding to a more vanilla, but as effective, offense. “Tannor is a great blocking back and a very good runner. He’s not back there as anything else but as a fullback. He can run and he can block. He gives us a great presence back there and he works well as a tandem with Justin Carter.”
Ledyard (6-1, 2-1) took a 13-0 lead into halftime, thanks to a 99-yard drive that happened after stopping NFA (4-3, 1-2) twice inside the one.
NFA quarterback Griffen Gooden, making his first start at the position, fumbled on fourth and goal at the one. A teammate recovered it and rolled into the end zone, but was down by contact before he rolled in.
Ledyard’s ensuing drive used nine plays, including quarterback Ty Ebdon’s 10-yard completion to Max Ebdon on second-and-eight at the three.
“I give a lot of credit to Ty. His leadership, his savvy and his selflessness,” Buonocore said.
“He made some big plays tonight. That play coming out of our end zone and the screen (in the second half). He waited till the last possible second to make it work. As we continue to evolve, we’ll have a chance to show his talents within this scheme.”
Carter’s second touchdown run made it 13-0.
Ebdon hit Luke Saccone with a throwback screen in the fourth period, good for 17 yards that set up Manny Sanabria’s 14-yard touchdown.
NFA is expected to get several of its injured players back for next week’s home game with Bacon Academy. Coach Jemal Davis was pleased nonetheless with Gooden, who moved from receiver to quarterback.
“I thought he did well under the circumstances,” Davis said. “We moved the ball. He did the things we expected of him and wanted him to execute.” m.dimauro@theday.com Twitter: @BCgenius