Defense carries night for Ledyard

Ledyard — Few other high school football coaches in Connecticut — and anywhere else — are as diligent and thorough in their offseason planning than Ledyard's Jim Buonocore, whose players are awash in passing leagues, weightlifting sessions and other versions of Football 101, all to get to this night.

Opening night. Bill Mignault Field. Nice crowd. Anticipation. Hope.

It's just that the Colonels forgot to cover the opening kickoff.

"When that happened, I was thinking, 'damn, this is going to be a long night if we start out like this,'" quarterback Ty Ebdon said. "But our defense is stout. We've got some tough cookies over there."

Indeed. The cookies got tougher, too, helping Ledyard earn a 21-0 win over Cranston East, a Rhode Island semifinalist last season.

Ledyard's defense held Cranston East to 113 total yards.

"A very good win for us," Buonocore said.

"We came in with a lot of question marks, a lot of new faces mixed in. I really was impressed with our seniors up front and all the guys up front. (Tannor) Daggett, (Matt) Nova, (Collin) Krauth, (Mike) Leandri, (Curtis) Patsiga, those guys were outstanding. Our linebackers, (Jeffery) O'Hanlon and (Daric) Johnson played out of their minds."

Luke Saccone and Jonathan Carver weren't bad, either, picking off passes in the second half.

"We've got some dudes on defense who step up," Saccone said.

It was Saccone who forgot to cover the kickoff, the victim of a bad bounce near the sideline. It was also Saccone who could have ended the game with an interception return for a touchdown, but instead took a knee a few yards short of the end zone.

"I wanted to preserve the shutout," Saccone said. "I didn't want their offense to get the ball back."

Saccone was lauded by teammates and coaches for his smarts and unselfishness after the game.

Ledyard had a 7-0 lead at halftime thanks to Ebdon's 15-yard touchdown run in the second period. Manny Sanabria's 75-yard touchdown run in the third quarter made it 13-0 before Saccone caught a 20-yard touchdown pass from Ebdon on the next possession.

Sanabria finished with 143 yards on 13 carries, while Ebdon had 106 yards on 13 carries.

Ebdon completed 3-of-11 passes for 35 yards.

"We're a different team this year," Buonocore said. "We're not the high, explosive fast scoring Colonels anymore. We're a team that manages a game for 48 minutes and hangs our hat on defense and special teams. And try to make sure we score enough points."

They did Friday, although Buonocore did experience a few tremors.

"I think we can be better on offense if we catch it more consistently and make better decisions," he said. "We have to play smart and sound. I thought we did that against a good team. It was a good opening night." m.dimauro@theday.com Twitter:@BCgenius