Ledyard runs away from EL
East Lyme — Luke Saccone admits that he doesn't always love the new offense that Ledyard runs. He considers himself more of a wide receiver than a running back, but according to the double wing, he's more of a running back.
He also admits that a game like Friday night could change his mind. Saccone carried eight times for 130 yards and three touchdowns, both career highs, in Ledyard's 49-6 win over East Lyme in the Eastern Connecticut Conference Large Division.
"That's like a dream come true," the senior said. "Scoring three touchdowns, I'm not going to complain."
Ledyard (7-1, 3-1) took command early. Very early. East Lyme won the coin toss, deferred, and the kickoff went into the end zone, setting up the Colonels at their own 20. Manny Deshields-Sanabria then took the handoff on the first play and went virtually untouched for a touchdown.
After the Vikings (2-6, 1-5) punted on their first possession, Saccone took a handoff on the second play of the ensuing drive and went 60 yards for a touchdown. The game wasn't three minutes old and the Colonels were up 14-0.
The teams traded possessions before an East Lyme turnover gave Ledyard a short field. Saccone capped a quick drive with an 8-yard run for a 21-0 lead with 29 seconds left in the first.
"It feels like we could do nothing wrong," Saccone said. "We executed, made plays, and the scoreboard shows it."
The second quarter was more of the same. Ledyard forced a punt, then scored a touchdown on Saccone's 24-yard run; Ledyard forced a fumble, then scored a touchdown on a 10-yard pass from Ty Ebdon to Justin Carter; Ledyard picked off a pass, then scored a touchdown on Tannor Daggett's 1-yard run.
It was 42-0 at halftime, and the Colonels had outgained the Vikings
Ledyard
East Lyme
East Lyme’s Vann Moffett qualified for the New England Championship by placing 11th at the CIAC State Open boys’ cross country championship on Friday at Wickham Park in Manchester.
Moffett was the only local runner to earn a spot at the New England meet, which will take play on Saturday, Nov. 14, at Thetford Academy in Thetford, Vt. He finished the 5k race in 16 minutes, 21 seconds.
It was a tough day for the Norwich Free Academy boys and Eastern Connecticut Conference champion Connor Gralton. Coach Chad Johnson said four of his top seven runners went down in a pile following a collision about a quarter-mile into the race and never were able to work themselves back closer to the front while Gralton, who was in position to qualify for the New England meet, collapsed about 200 yards from the finish and was unable to continue.
Johnson said Gralton was treated for dehydration, but was recovering and able to return home with the team.
“I feel bad for the guys,” said Johnson, whose Wildcats were hoping for a top six finish to qualify for the New England race as a team. Instead they placed 14th with 322 points, one spot ahead of rival Ledyard, which had 364 points.
“The last thing I said to them before the race was, ‘I’m sad because this could be our last day together, and I’d be mad if we didn’t make it (to the New Englands).’ But they gave it their best and sometimes these things just happen.”
As for Gralton, Johnson said, “He was running well. He was right where he wanted to be, but it’s a tough, uphill finish and it was a little humid, so it didn’t surprise me to see him go down. He really pushes himself, but he’s had some (dehydration) issues in similar weather conditions in the past.”
NFA’s top finisher was Tyler Sholes (36th, 17:01) while Jacob Money paced Ledyard in 63rd place (17:28).
Staples edged Danbury 102-115 for the boys’ team title while McMahon’s Eric Van der Els won the individual championship in 15:47.
In the girls’ race, Ledyard’s Megan Brawner just missed out on a chance to qualify for the New England race, finishing 26th in 20:04.
Overall, Staple’s Hannah Debalsi won her third straight Open title, winning in 18:08, and Tolland won its third straight Open team title with 97 points, 34 better than runnerup Glastonbury.
— Day Staff Reports
319-72 and forced four turnovers.
"I know we're young," East Lyme coach Rudy Bagos said, "but we're three-quarters of the way through the season. At some point, young is no longer an excuse. We've got to start playing. We would do some nice things I thought, but then we'd have an interception or fumble. Those things are going to hurt you. And when you play Ledyard, those things are going to hurt you all the time."
As for the Colonels' new offensive scheme, it was something coach Jim Buonocore had to sell to his team. But the run they are on is all the sales pitch he really needs.
"Our kids enjoyed our former offense, obviously. It was a lot of fun," he said. "Initially...the most important thing is they need to have success. And they've had a lot of success.
"What we're telling them now is if you look at the points we're scoring, this is the same amount of points, if not more, than we were scoring in our former offense. So the kids are seeing this is a lot of fun to be a part of."