East Lyme is putting it all on the (offensive) line and winning

H owdy,

It took a few years for East Lyme head coach Rudy Bagos to get his players to start putting in the offseason work that would help them get better.

New London head coach Juan Roman hopes he can get his team to understand that sooner than later.

East Lyme used its size and strength to edge the Whalers on Friday, 21-20.

“We've always been a smaller (offensive) line than most people,” said East Lyme senior Sam Highman (tight end-defensive end). “But this offseason, we just put in all the hard work.”

The Vikings are 3-1, 1-0 in the Eastern Connecticut Conference Division I. The were 1-9 last season.

“When I first started here (in 2013), it took us a while to put in the work and understand what it took,” Bagos said. “I think it really took a good whupping that we got from Killingly last year (56-6). You could just see the size of their kids compared to ours and what they were able to do with us. The kids, I think, really took it to heart.”

Sam Angiolelli (center), Thomas Bartok and Michael Quick (guards), Travis Clement and Liam Whaley (tackles), and Highman make up the Vikings offensive line. They allowed East Lyme to run 45 times for 222 yards and two touchdowns.

Running back Isaac Tomblin showed off his strength by almost always moving forward. He ran 29 times for 152 yards and a score.

“We have a few 260 (pound) people,” Highman said. “Bartok is probably pushing 280, and then Travis is almost 300. And in the previous years we've probably maxed out at 240.”

The Vikings used their mass and power to ice the game and started their final drive at their own 28 with six minutes, 10 seconds remaining.

Tomblin ran for 4, 19 and 11 yards on the East Lyme's first three plays. Tyler Valdez ran for 6 yards on thirdand-6 from the Whalers' 34. Dylan Hatajik ran for 5 yards on third-and-5 from the 23.

The Vikings ran 11 straight times on that drive with Tomblin's 7-yard run moving the ball to the New London 5. They took a knee to end the game.

Bagos credited defensive coordinator Ben Donatello with both running the team's strength and conditioning program.

“He does a terrific job with it,” Bagos said. “The kids have really bought into it. The football players who don't do any other sports, or who do indoor or outdoor track, they get in the weight room and work on their speed.

“It's definitely made a huge difference for us, especially our lineman. … (Winning) that line of scrimmage has

been huge for us.”

It was the third straight loss for the Whalers (1-3). It was also the second straight week that they lost a winnable game (they lost at home to Bacon Academy, 18-13, on Sept. 22).

“My Mom used to say, a hard head makes a soft behind,” Roman said. “She didn't always say behind, but, the things you have to do offseason, the things you need to do when no one is watching are the things that are going to make you successful on Friday night.

“I've said it repeatedly, and I harp upon it because it has to ring true not just for the team, (but to) the community, their families, to support that. If you see your kid not working out, if you see your kids not going to lift, you got to tell them, ‘hey I don't like sitting in the stands watching you not be successful.' That's what you got to do because some kids are internally motivated. Some of them need that external push. You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink, and it's just one of those deals where we see how close we are (to winning).”

•• • • The discipline required to defend the option offense has always kept coaches up nights.

Imagine what it's like now with even less familiarity?

And this is among the reasons Fitch is 4-0. The Falcons run the option in an era of the spread offense. Hardly anyone else runs option.

“It's very hard to simulate in practice,” NFA coach Jason Bakoulis said Friday night after his team failed to stop it, losing to Fitch 46-13.

Fitch quarterback Tyler Nelli continues to improve within the scheme that also features the speed of Hamear Stephens, power of Hollis Scott and resourcefulness of Tyler Andrews.

“Hey, we screw it up all the time in practice,” Fitch coach Mike Ellis said. “I can only imagine with it's like for the other team trying to prepare for it.”

•• • • Stonington's double wing offense, a.k.a. GOD'S OFFENSE, featured a four-prong attack during Friday's 35-0 win over Montville, its first win of the season.

Hayden Parrilla had 11 carries for 70 yards, Riley Burnside gained 57 yards on 12 carries, Kevin Ferrer rushed 10 times for 36 yards and three touchdowns, and Nate Miller had 30 yards rushing on seven carries and also had a touchdown for the Bears (1-2, 1-0 ECC Division II).

Ferrer also had a 41-yard touchdown negated by a penalty.

Stonington has learned to make adjustments, depending on their opponents' approach.

"Their kids see all the different things people do against it,'' said Montville coach Tanner Grove. "Then they pick out the weaknesses and exploit them.''

•• • • Despite getting off to a 2-2 start, Montville is still searching for its identity.

"Offensively, we just have to find some guys who can make some plays for us,'' Grove said. "We don't have a feature guy, so we have to distribute the football. When guys get their number called we just need them to make a play.

"And we had some drops and ran the wrong route and left the quarterback out to dry. You can't do that stuff. Those are some of the things that you have to work on during the week.''

Montville only had five first downs in its 35-0 loss to Stonington, three of which came in the fourth quarter.

And Stonington leading 21-0 at halftime put even more pressure on Montville.

"It makes each offensive possession that much more important,'' said Grove. "And you start to press a little bit like we did.''

•••• Roman's father lives in Puerto Rico, and as of Friday, he still didn't know his condition.

Roman used that as an example when talking about his team.

“We have to make a decision, make a stand, that we're going to get better,” Roman said. “And that has to come from coaching, from players, from everyone. I recently heard a saying on the TV that football does not build character — it reveals it. When things are good, everybody can cheer and rah-rah. When things are bad, are you going to galvanize?

“Some of my own relatives are in Puerto Rico now. What are you going to do? Are you going to roll over and say there's nothing we can do? I guess I (say), ‘I haven't talked to my dad in two weeks. I can't coach.

“No, you have to do what you do and pray the phone is going to ring, and it's the same thing here. We're 1-3, but we've got to work as hard as we can to be 7-3.”

•• • • The tight end position just isn't what it used to be.

The position used to be frequented by burly men who were an extension of the offensive line. Nowadays, one is likely to see an overgrown receiver at tight end who isn't interested in blocking.

Highman is East Lyme's tight end, which means he's a blocker, and a very willing one at that.

“I love run blocking,” Highman said. “I love down blocking. … He (a defender) doesn't even see me coming and I just blow him up.”

“I'm a tight end, and I don't even like the pass plays.” Wise man, that Highman.

•••• Stonington's win over Montville has turned the ECC Division II race into a free-for-all for the second straight season. Last season, Montville, Stonington and Waterford were tri-champions in the four-team race, with Bacon Academy going 0-3.

This season, Stonington is 1-0 while Bacon and Montville are 1-1 and Waterford is 0-1.

Montville, which beat Bacon 14-0 on Sept. 9, plays host to Waterford on Nov. 9.

Stonington plays at Waterford on Oct. 27 and plays host to Bacon on Nov. 10. So winless Waterford can still earn a share of the division title.

•••• Bacon Academy goes into a bye week coming off back-to-back road wins over New London (18-13) and Waterford (35-19) to bring the Bobcats to 2-2.

The Bobcats forced eight Waterford turnovers Friday night, including three interceptions (one for a touchdown) by quarterback/ defensive back Connor Brown.

“The defense came up huge tonight,” Bacon coach Dave Mason said. “We gave up a touchdown right off the bat, but the kids were able to respond.”

Said Mason of the consecutive wins: “It's fantastic. It gets us back on track.”

•••• Waterford's Marcus Elliot had three catches for 48 yards, one for 27 yards which set up a third-quarter touchdown, and Max Mazzella had three for 30 yards . ... In the second quarter, Waterford's Jake Romano forced a Bacon Academy fumble which was recovered by teammate Niko Thibeault, stopping a Bobcats' drive at the Waterford 12-yard-line. Luther Wade also recovered a fumble for the Lancers.

•••• NFA discovered another running back in Kenyatta Peake, who ran for 82 yards. … Fitch doesn't have a big line, but linemen Alex Perry and Nick Helbig are sure playing that way, drawing kudos from Ellis after the game. So did linebacker Pedro Mojica. … Scott and Antonyo Figueroa had interceptions for Fitch. … Both teams are off this week and will begin preparing for Southern Connecicut Conference opponents. Fitch plays at Branford and NFA visits West Haven, a top five team in state polls.

•••• Thanks to Dave Davis (Montville-Stonington), Vickie Fulkerson (Bacon-Waterford) and Mike DiMauro (NFA-Fitch) for their contributions to this here blog.

•••• PROGRAMMING ALERT: Almost the entire southeastern area goes dark this week as teams take the first of two bye weeks.

There are just three games in Week 5, two of which will be played Friday at 6:30 p.m. — Plainfield (3-0) at Stonington (1-2); and Old Saybrook/Westbrook (4-0, 3-0 Pequot Sassacus) at Valley Regional/Old Lyme (3-0, 2-0).

The third game is Thames River (1-2, 1-2 Connecticut Technical Conference) at Bullard-Havens (4-0, 3-0) on Saturday at noon.

•••• Thanks for reading. More soon. Adios