Whalers nip Plainfield for much-needed confidence boost

New London — Sitting at 1-6, the New London football team has clearly been through its share of adversity this season. So when the final horn sounded on its 14-12 win over Plainfield Friday, the celebration was on. There was even a team picture with the scoreboard in the background.

"You don't want them to get used to losing," Whalers coach Duane Maranda said, "but this season has taught these kids how to stay positive and how to do the right thing. We're showing them on film that they're getting better and starting to play like varsity players.

"But kids are so result-oriented. We needed to win for them to see that we're growing. We needed it bad."

The Whalers leaned heavily on a freshman, Jacob Commander, to do so. He carried 28 times for 156 yards as New London dedicated itself to running the football.

"I think Coach felt like we had to run the ball," Commander said. "It was great blocking from the line all game. Running was our most valuable (weapon). And then it brought

out the passing game."

New London scored both of its touchdowns through the air in the second quarter after running the ball on all 16 plays in the first (Commander carried on 13 of those 16). The first score came on a 9-yard pass from Melquann Gomez to Giovani Lopez. And after forcing a fumble on Plainfield's next possession, the Whalers finished off a short drive with a 19-yard scoring pass from Gomez to Kobe Haley.

Commander converted both point-after kicks, which proved pretty big when Marcus Robinson threw a 26-yard touchdown to Tyler Ballard to get Plainfield within 14-12 at the end of the third quarter. The Panthers (3-4) called for running back Cam Gonzales to throw a jump pass, a play the Panthers have had some success with in the past. But the Whalers sniffed it out, forced

“You don’t want them to get used to losing, but this season has taught these kids how to stay positive and how to do the right thing ... We needed to win for them to see that we’re growing. We needed it bad.” DUANE MARANDA, NEW LONDON COACH

Gonzales to throw under pressure, and the conversion failed.

"I think we're 3-for-3 using that in my career," Plainfield coach Pat Smith said. "Give the New London kid credit. He came in and blew up the play. They're a good football team. Don't ask me how they're (2-6). That's not a typical (2-6) team."

The defenses made the score stand up in the fourth quarter. New London turned the ball over on downs three times in the quarter, including once on a fourth-and-goal situation from the 9. Plainfield, meanwhile, punted once and turned it over on downs once before the final possession of the game.

With 34 seconds to go, and no timeouts, the Panthers completed a 34-yard pass to Isaiah Fort down to the New London 43. But after a fumbled snap on first down and a spike on second down, Plainfield's last-chance pass fell incomplete, touching off a Whalers' postgame celebration for the first time since Week 1.

"In our eyes, we needed this win," Commander said. "The game is on our field. We don't want to lose. We want to have pride. We have Whaler pride."