Platt has too many answers for Waterford

Meriden — Mike Ellis is perpetually cheerful no matter how bad things are going for his Waterford High School football team, which was the case Friday night as Platt splattered the Lancers, 41-13.

“(Platt coach Jason Bruenn), what a wonderful job he did keeping us in the ball game,” Ellis, the Waterford coach, said with a laugh.

The Lancers faced a superior opponent that qualified for last season’s CIAC Class L playoffs and will do it again this year. The Panthers were bigger, stronger and faster than Waterford, and their starters bullied the Lancers the entire first half.

Platt led 28-0 after the first quarter. It pushed its lead to 41-0 at halftime.

Bruenn started his reserves in the second half, however, while the officials kept the clock running.

“The thing we told them at halftime is that we have to get better,” Ellis said. “It’s really down to blocking and tackling. We’re not very good on either side of the ball right now. Until we get good at it, we’re going to see this score over and over again.

“The kids are good kids. They work hard, but we’re going to have to dig down deep. We’re going to have to get a lot tougher than we are right now.”

The Lancers will play few teams tougher than Platt. It’s hulking offensive line allowed its scorers to gobble up 341 yards. And that was at halftime. On just 24 plays.

Panthers’ junior tailback Tyzhan Leatherwood put on a show. At 5-foot-6 and 165 pounds, he was able to hide behind his blockers. Once he got into open space, he either ran through or past Waterford’s defense.

Leatherwood had 14 carries for 220 yards and three touchdowns, all in the first half.

“I love my line,” Leatherwood said. “I literally love my line. Honestly, on the team, I’m closest to my line.”

Andrew McBride completed 5 of his 6 passes for 120 yards and two touchdowns. He also scored on a 6-yard run.

The Panthers defense smothered Waterford and held it to 31 first-half yards.

Joe Gustafson ran for a 6-yard touchdown in the third quarter for the Lancers. Seth Hoagland threw an 11-yard touchdown to Chase Speller in the fourth quarter.

“We’re going to have to work harder than we do right now,” Ellis said, “And we believe in them that if they do that and if they stay together, we’re going to get better as the year goes on. But they’ve got to understand that this is what they’re going to get week-in and week-out if they don’t get tougher. That’s going to be the key.” n.griffen@theday.com