The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
’Jackets upended in opener
WINSTED — A special day, for a couple of reasons, began and ended on classy notes in a 35-30 Stafford/East Windsor/Somers win over Gilbert/Northwestern/ Housatonic Saturday afternoon at Gilbert’s Van Why Field.
Nobody forgets Saturday’s 9/11 date, certainly not in Connecticut. A moment of silence preceding the national anthem rang the Star Spangled Banner more poignant than ever.
The return of high school football after a year’s absence added to a spirit of recovery and resilience.
And finally, Bulldog coach Brian Mazzone’s decision to take four successive knees at game’s end, running down the clock from the Gilbert/Northwestern/ Housatonic one-yard line, added final icing to a combined message there for the taking: We can do it all with respect.
“Coach (Scott) Salius and I go back a long way,” smiled Mazzone.
“It was classy,” said Gilbert/ Northwestern/Housatonic coach
Salius.
In between such moments, the highly successful coaches and their teams — Mazzone with four successive state playoff appearances through a 6-year 42-14 tenure with the Bulldogs and Salius leading the Yellowjackets through 13 80-50 seasons — tried to metaphorically kill each other in a back-and-forth game showcasing dazzling players on offense and lots of inexperience on defense.
Mark McLaughlin, a 6-1 210-pound tailback-turned -quarterback, ran for 601 yards and 11 touchdowns as a sophomore in 2019.
“I’m just having fun out here,” he grinned after charging for 93 yards and three rushing touchdowns Saturday.
“He’s still a running back, with a couple of passes thrown in,” said Salius.
Make that 14 completions for 278 yards and two touchdowns, both to Logan Briggs, the other half of the Bulldog’s main offensive equation.
Briggs, an All-State honorable mention as a sophomore, caught six of McLaughlin’s passes for 202 yards, including two scoring throws of 29 and 63 yards in the third quarter.
The duo needed all its brilliance to hold off a raft of new Yellowjacket offensive talent.
“It’s always a great game against Gilbert,” said Mazzone.
This one began with McLaughlin completing a 10-play opening drive by turning a near-sack/fumble into a 12-yard escape to the end zone followed by a missed point-after kick.
The Bulldogs intercepted a Nolan Risedorf pass, but four S/EW/S plays later, Yellowjacket Fred Camp — in Covid quarantine for the past two weeks — began his own showcase with a 40-yard punt return. The game was on. Working as a talented committee, Risedorf, Yoedy Tavarez and Aiden Avenia worked the bull upfield from the 49 for Tavarez’ seven-yard answer to the Bulldogs and an Austin Bayer point-after kick.
“Why should we pass when we’re running the ball so well?” Coach Salius asked rhetorically.
McLaughlin had the answer to that in the second quarter with an 83yard pass-and-run bomb to Briggs, ending in a six-yard score by McLaughlin.
Gilbert’s committee clawed back on the ground. Aiden Avenia finished the drive with five yards on the ground and a Bayer kick for a 14-13 lead at the half.
McLaughlin and Briggs took the lead in the third quarter on a 29-yard pass and Eric Wyse kick.
Camp turned the second Gilbert play from scrimmage into a dazzling 73yard scoring run, followed by a two-point running conversion by Risedorf and a 22-20 Yellowjacket lead.
“When you make one cut and don’t see anybody in front of you, it’s the best feeling in the world,” beamed Camp in support of Salius’ ground attack.
Call it the army vs. the air force because McLaughlin, the running back masquerading as a quarterback, threw 63 yards to Briggs, then ran for the conversion, going ahead 28-22 with the final quarter still to go.
Minutes into the fourth quarter, McLaughlin ran 12 yards for the Bulldogs’ final score with Wyse’s kick.
Risedorf threw 36 yards to Sears Russell, setting up Camp for the final three scoring yards with an Avenia conversion.
But one more long pass — McLaughlin 28 yards to Evan McKay — kept the Stafford/East Windsor/ Somers offense on the field and a 35-yard run by Briggs set up the final moment of respect for a pair of classy coaches and teams on a great day for such respect.
Stafford/East Windsor/ Somers 35, Gilbert/Northwestern/ Housatonic 30
At The Gilbert School Staff./E.Wind./Somers 6 7 15 7 — 35 Gilbert/NW/Housy ........... 7 7 8 8 — 30 Scoring Summary
First Quarter
S/EW/S — Mark McLaughlin 12-yard run (kick failed)
G/N/H — Yoedy Tavarez 7-yard run (Austin Bayer kick)
Second Quarter
S/EW/S — McLaughlin 6-yard run (Eric Wyse kick)
G/EW/S — Aiden Avenia 5-yard run (Wyse kick)
Third Quarter
S/EW/S — Logan Briggs 29-yard pass from McLaughlin (Wyse kick)
G/N/H — Fred Camp 73-yard run (Nolan Risedorf run)
S/EW/S — Briggs 63-yard pass from McLaughlin (McLaughlin run)
Fourth Quarter
S/EW/S — McLaughlin 12-yard run (Wyse kick)
G/N/H — Camp 3-yard run (Avenia run)
Individual Stats Rushing: S/EW/W — Mark McLaughlin 25 carries/93 yards; Zack Donovan 3/15; Logan Briggs 3/38; Evan McKay 1/4. G/N/H — Nolan Risedorf 10/38; Fred Camp 6/111; Yoedy Tavarez 8/38; Aiden Avenia 8/39.
Passing: S/EW/S — Mark McLaughlin 14 completions/22 attempts/278 yards. G/ N/H — Nolan Risedorf 2/7/53/Interception; Greyson Ursone 1/1/10.
Receiving: S/EW/S — Logan Briggs 6 receptions/206 yards; Connor Marchi 1/4; Dylan McLaughlin 4/34; Zack Donovan 2/3; Evan McKay1/28. G/N/H — Fred Camp 1/17; Ian Thompson 1/10; Sears Russell 1/36.
Records: Stafford/East Windsor/Somers 1-0; Gilbert/Northwestern/Housatonic 0-1.