A First for East Hampton-Vinal Tech

It took three games, but the East Hampton-Vinal Tech football has its first win as a varsity team.

The BellHawks dominated both sides of the ball against Nonnewaug en route to a 40-0 victory on Saturday at a muddy Palmer Field in Middletown.

After losses to Cromwell and Old Saybrook-Westbrook to start the season, the win was summed up in few simple words by tight end Kyle Adams.

“It feels great,” the senior said.

After a season of junior varsity, a summer of offseason workouts, then practice and more practice, the feeling for coach Joe Cefaratti carried another kind of special meaning.

“With the time you put in since Aug. 17, even before that with the summer workouts, and the hours upon hours upon hours, and then you finally get one that pays off for the kids and you see that smile on their face,” he said. “That’s worth its weight in gold. You could hear them cheering there, 'BellHawks.' They feel good and they should. They deserve it.”

Though the BellHawks made it look easy, it was Nonnewaug (Regional School District 14 in Woodbury) that got the game's first break.

Forced to punt on its first series, EHVT's Spencer Daly attempted to field a low snap. As he reached down to gather the ball in, his knee touched the ground resulting in him being down and giving the ball to the Chiefs 30 yards from the end zone.

The BellHawks defense, which had allowed 77 points in its first two games, would be tested early. Facing a fourth-and-6, Nonnewaug (0-3) threw into the end zone, but the pass was broken up by Alex Seppa.

EHVT (1-2) was forced to punt for the second straight series but the Chiefs returned the favor, giving the ball back to the BellHawks at their 40-yard line.

Runs by Steven Hall and Macklin O’Conner gave EHVT a first down, but it was on a third-and-3 play that the BellHawks offense came up with their first big play. Daly connected with Ryan Gillespie on a pass to the 20-yard line for a first down and, after an offsides call on the Chiefs, Hall did the rest with a 15-yard touchdown run and a 7-0 lead.

It was all downhill from there for Nonnewaug, playing its first varsity game since 2009.

The Bellringers got the ball back at the Nonnewaug 48. Runs by Daly and Hall moved the ball to the 21. After a holding call, EHVT was looking at a first-and 23 from the 34-yard line when Daly and O'Conner hooked up again, this time for a 33-yard gain to the 1. Hall did the rest with his second of three touchdowns for a 13-0 lead.

After the Chiefs went three-and out, the BellHawks struck again. Two big plays defined this drive. The first a 16-yard pass from Daly to Adams on a fourth-and-8, and the second a 21-yard touchdown pass from Daly to Hall to make the score 19-0.

EHVT went to the air to close out the scoring in the first half. Passes to Gillespie, O’Conner and Hall moved the ball to the 18-yard line. A 15-yard scramble by Daly moved the ball to the 3 and Gillespie finished the job with a 3-yard touchdown run. A nice catch by Nick Sitro on the two-point conversion made it 27-0.

“Offensively we moved the ball very well, mixing up the run and the pass,” Cefaratti said. “Spencer read his keys very well, hit the right receivers that were open.”

And defensively, the BellHawks were just as impressive, eliminating the big plays that had plagued them the first two games and harassing quarterback Christian Metallo whenever he dropped back to pass. Metallo, a sophomore, had three completions in the game.

“Defensively, we showed a lot of improvement over the last two weeks,” said Cefaratti, who added that they played their regular defenses. “Wrapping on our tackles, coming up when we had to come up. Playing the pass, covering the receivers better. It was a big improvement over the past couple of weeks.

“The kids played well, they reacted well.”

Linebacker Andrew Ferchaw, a tri-captain, attributed some of the success of the defense to the practices leading up to the game.

“We stressed more intensity,” the junior said. “We pushed harder, we worked harder in practice. We wanted to get that win."

EHVT padded its lead with a 72-yard drive spanning the third and fourth quarters. The key play was a 39-yard pass from Daly to Adams that got the BellHawks to the 11-yard line. Adams, well-covered on the play, bobbled the ball as it came down just beyond the reach of the defender before gaining control of it.

“It was just a lucky catch,” he said. “The guy got a piece of it and I bobbled it a few times. I thought I was going to get the touchdown, but after the first broken tackle they got me.”

After an 8-yard run by Gillespie, O’Conner ran it in for a 34-0 lead.

The BellHawks’ final touchdown came on an 11-yard run by Dan Scarlett.

Despite the one-sided victory, Cefaratti found a few things to work on.

“A couple of breakdowns here and there,” he said of the team’s performance overall. “They’re tough to block. At times we blocked them and sometimes we missed them.”

As the clock ticked down to secure the shutout, there was no debating the importance of a strong effort for a defensive unit that had some question marks heading into the game.

“It was very important,” Ferchaw said. “I think that boosted our confidence a lot.”

Which was more important, scoring 40 or giving up nothing?

“Given up nothing, in my opinion,” he said.

The good news is that on Saturday, East Hampton-Vinal Tech did both.

East Hampton-Vinal Tech 40, Nonnewaug 0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Nonnewaug

  0

  0

  0

    0

-   0

EHVT

  7

20

  0

  13

- 15

Scoring Summary

 First Quarter

EHVT: Steven Hall 15-yard run (Spencer Daly kick), 1:28.

Second Quarter

EHVT: Hall 2-yard run (two-point conversion failed), 10:00.

EHVT: Hall 21-yard pass from Daly (two-point conversion failed), 6:33.

EHVT: Ryan Gillespie 3-yard run (two-points conversion good), 2:01.

Fourth Quarter

EHVT: Macklin O’Conner 3-yard run (Daly kick), 11:56.

EHVT: Dan Scarlett 11-yard run (kick failed), 1:56.