Mistakes Costly for East Hampton-Vinal Tech

Mistakes. They are your best friend if the other team commits them, your biggest enemy if it is you who does.

For East Hampton-Vinal Tech, it was the latter on Saturday night.

Haddam-Killingworth took advantage of miscues by the BellHawks and used a punishing ground game and three touchdowns by Nate Cruz to pull away for a 25-6 victory Saturday night in Higganum.

Fumbles, running an interception out of the end zone, dropped passes and penalties slowly took their toll on EHVT (1-3), which fell behind early and could not catch up.

“We had too many mental mistakes,” East Hampton-Vinal Tech coach Joe Cefaratti said. “Mental breakdowns will kill you.”

The first bit of adversity occurred on the BellHawks initial series. After two 15-yard runs by Steven Hall moved the ball into Cougars’ territory, a holding penalty put EHVT into a first-and-20. A promising drive to start the game ended there. A 3-yard run by Hall followed by two incomplete passes forced a punt and it was H-K’s turn to make an early statement.

And they did just that.

On second-and-6, Dan German raced 75 yards for a touchdown and, with the extra point, a 7-0 lead.

The big play was reminiscent of some of the touchdowns the East Hampton-Vinal Tech defense had allowed earlier in the season, but the defense settled down after that.

EHVT again moved into the Cougar’s side of the field thanks to a 31-yard run by Hall, but an illegal motion penalty and a sack of quarterback Spencer Daly ended the drive.

Both teams exchanged punts before Haddam-Killingworth (2-2) took over from its 28-yard line.

A holding call quickly put H-K in the hole with a first-and-20. On second-and-21, quarterback Alexander DiMauro-D'Amico scrambled to the 34-yard line to set up a third-and-4. Following a 1-yard loss, the Cougars lined up to punt, but before the ball was snapped, EHVT was called for being offsides making it fourth down and inches. H-K decided to go for it and converted with a 4-yard run.

The Cougars got as far as the BellHawks’ 21-yard line following a 25-yard run by German, but the drive finally stalled at the 18. H-K went for it on fourth down but DiMauro-D'Amico’s pass into the end zone was intercepted. Unfortunately for EHVT, the defender ran the ball out of the end zone and was brought down at the 1-yard line putting the offense in a precarious position.

A 5-yard run up the middle by Daly gave EHVT some breathing room but a fumble in the backfield on the next play was recovered by H-K at the 1-yard line. Cruz ran it in for the touchdown and a 13-0 lead.

The BellHawks, however, quickly got back in the game.

After a short kickoff, runs by Daly and Macklin O’Conner moved the ball into H-K territory. An offsides call on H-K and a 7-yard run by Alex Seppa moved the ball to the 32-yard line. A delay of game call on EHVT made it first-and-15 from the 37. A 2-yard run by Hall set up a second-and-13, but rather than stay on the ground, Daly dropped back to pass and hit Hall who took it 35 yards for the touchdown. The extra point was blocked and heading into halftime, H-K held a 13-6 lead.

The Cougars got the ball at their 42 to start the second half and after a first down were forced to punt. EHVT blocked it and Zach Dombrowski recovered for EHVT at their 44.

The BellHawks immediately began putting together a drive. Daly found tight end Kyle Adams for a first down and Hall ran 8 yards for another. With the ball at the 28 came another one of those mistakes. A fumble in the backfield resulted in a 15-yard loss and the scoring threat was all but over. Still, on third down Daly found a receiver down the sideline and hit him in stride only to have the ball dropped. EHVT went for it on fourth down and German intercepted giving H-K the ball at the 31.

Despite the mistakes, Daly struck a positive tone.

“We moved the ball. We just caught a couple of unlucky breaks,” he said. “I think most of its mental. If we minimize them I think we’ll be better off.

After German’s interception, the Cougars wasted little time taking control of the game.

Long runs by Andy Vollaro and Greg Duval moved the ball deep into BellHawks’ territory and Cruz did the rest, scoring his second touchdown from 1 yard out for a 19-6 lead with 1:53 remaining in the third quarter.

EHVT could not mount much of a threat after that, but the Cougars had one more scoring drive in them. Cruz took it in from 3 yard out in the fourth quarter for the game’s final points and a 25-6 lead.

“We had some highlights, but we had some bad moments,” Cefaratti said. “We’d have a couple of good plays, then a couple of bad ones. The consistency wasn’t there.”

All of the Cougar’s offense was on the ground.

“Nothing we didn’t go over,” Cefaratti said. “We spent the whole week practicing defense.”

Four games into the season, Daly wasn’t sounding discouraged.

“There were some close games I think we could have come out on top if we executed a little better or if things went a little differently,” the senior said. “For the most part, I’m happy, we’re a first-year varsity team.”

There was one scary moment for EHVT in the first half. Ryan Gillespie was injured and taken from the field on a stretcher after being immobilized. The game was delayed 30 minutes while Gillespie, who was conscious and had movement in his arms and legs, was attended to.

There is no official word on his condition, but Cefaratti said the degree of attention and care given to Gillespie was “all precautionary.”

H-K also had an injury. Patrick Dougherty sustained what appeared to be a left leg injury in the fourth quarter.

Next up for the BellHawks are the Blue Devils. East Hampton-Vinal Tech hosts undefeated Coginchaug Friday night at Palmer Field in Middletown. Haddam-Killingworth hosts Lewis Mills, also on Friday.

Haddam-Killingworth 25, East Hampton-Vinal Tech 6

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

EHVT

  0

  6

  0

  0

-   6

H-K

  7

  6

  6

  6

- 25

SCORING SUMMARY

First Quarter

H-K: Dan German 75-yard run. Eric Weglarz kick. 8:45.

Second Quarter

H-K: Nate Cruz 1-yard run. Kick failed. 5:18.

EHVT: Steven Hall 35-yard reception. Kick failed. 2:21.

Third Quarter

H-K: Cruz 1-yard run. Two-point conversion failed. 1:53.

Fourth Quarter

H-K: Cruz 3-yard run. Two-point conversion failed. 5:24.