Sports

Not a Complete Loss

East Hampton-Vinal Tech finds positives in loss to Cromwell.

The East Hampton-Vinal Tech football team had the unenviable task of playing its first varsity game against highly regarded Cromwell on Saturday.

As any first-year team would have, there were plenty of questions as the teams lined up at Palmer Field. After it was over, the BellHawks’ 40-24 loss provided plenty of answers, most of which were positive.

Coach Joe Cefaratti had said his goal was for his team to compete. If they competed in every game, win, lose or draw, it would be a successful season. But would Cromwell be a fair gauge to open the season? After all, the Panthers were a playoff team last year, a former state champ, a program that has built a winning tradition with league championship and playoff aspirations again this season.

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The coach’s goal was on the line in Week 1, but if his team could show it could hold its own against Cromwell, then chances are they could against anyone else on the schedule.

It was the biggest question to be answered.

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“I think we competed today. I think we definitely competed today,” Cefaratti said. “We made a mark here today. We lost on the scoreboard but we made a mark.”

Less than five minutes into the game, that did not appear to be the case.

Sure enough, a little more than a minute in the Panthers struck when quarterback Anthony Morales hit Mike Antonio for a 21-yard touchdown pass. A few minutes later, Brett Director was racing into the end zone with a 55-yard touchdown pass from Morales (382 yards passing, 4 TDs).

Cromwell had failed on the extra-point attempt on the first touchdown and on the two-point try on the second, but no matter. The score was already 12-0. This was going to be easy.

Not so fast.

Staggered by big plays from Cromwell’s up-tempo offense, East Hampton-Vinal Tech didn’t fall, didn’t quit, and quickly showed it had some big-play capability of its own, not to mention some heart.

Steven Hall took the ensuing kickoff to the 15-yard line putting life back into the BellHawks. Consecutive runs by Ryan Gillespie put the ball inside the 1-yard line where quarterback Spencer Daly ran it in to cap the three-play drive in a minute and 32 seconds.

Just like that, EHVT had an answer. Problem was, so too would Cromwell.

Two plays later Derrick Villard (173 yards rushing) was heading toward the end zone on a 76-yard run. With Director’s extra point, the score was 19-7.

The Bellhawks defense settled down, holding Cromwell on a three-and-out and then forcing the Panthers into a fourth-and-7 inside EHVT’s 40-yard line. But an offsides on the BellHawks made it a fourth-and-2 and Cromwell converted, then later scored on an 11-yard Morales to Antonio touchdown pass to make it 25-6.

EHVT’s run oriented offense – the BellHawks ran the ball 41 times – then showed it could throw, too.

A little more than a minute later, Daly found a wide-open Hall downfield for a 77-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown to make the score 25-12.

But in a first half of big plays, Cromwell had one more on Morales’ 26-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Walker for a 32-12 lead with 1:41 to go in the half.

And so it was. The BellHawks had put themselves in a hole early, forcing them to play catch up. They were not going to catch Cromwell, but not for a lack of trying.

“They’re a great team,” Cefaratti said. “I thought we played them tough. I thought we were in it, but the bottom line is their athleticism just outdid us.”

Rather than go quietly into halftime, the BellHawks mounted one last threat.

Daly (5 of 14, 147 yards passing) found Kyle Adams for a 33-yard gain to the Cromwell 28 with 48 seconds left. However, the Panthers defense withstood the challenge with three straight sacks to end the half.

The EHVT defense toughened up in the second half.

The BellHawks snuffed out one Cromwell scoring threat by forcing and recovering a fumble on its 8-yard line. After a scoreless third quarter, EHVT cashed in on a second Panthers' miscue, this one a bad snap on a punt that was recovered at the Cromwell 22. After Gillespie converted a big fourth-and-4 conversion to the Panthers’ 5, Hall ran it in to make the score 33-18 with 10:26 remaining.

“Our offensive line stepped up and blocked and we all ran hard,” said Hall who had 29 yards rushing, 96 receiving and two TDs. “We kept our leg drive, kept running, didn’t stop. I think we did great. We did really good against a really good team.”

Cromwell’s only second-half score came with 7:26 to go. Villard’s second touchdown of the game, a 3-yard run, was set up by a Morales to Antonio 32-yard pass to the BellHawks’ 8-yard line.

The game’s final TD came on a 2-yard run by Daly. Daly’s second touchdown was set up by a 68-yard run from Gillespie (111 yards rushing).

“Spencer threw the ball well. I thought he threw the ball very well,” Cefaratti said. “A lot of times our blocking schemes broke down, again because of their athleticism, and we couldn’t pick up some of the stunts and he broke free out if it and that shows his athleticism.”

With 303 yards of offense, EHVT showed the kind of misdirection, deception and play action that will be a staple of its offense. The BellHawks also did not turn the ball over, had few penalties, played well on special teams and scored four touchdowns against a quality opponent. All positives.

On the negative side, the defense allowed 562 yards and the offense failed to convert any extra points after touchdowns.

“I think we’re going to be OK the rest of the way, I really do,” Cefaratti said. “A positive day all-in-all. A win would have better, but a positive day. … We’re moving forward.”

No question about it.

 

Cromwell 40, East Hampton-Vinal Tech 24

 

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

 

 

Cromwell

19

13

  0

  8

- 40

 

EHVT

  6

  6

  0

12

- 24

 

 

Scoring

First Quarter

Cromwell: Mike Antonio 21-yard pass from Anthony Morales (kick failed), 10:57.

Cromwell: Brett Director 55-yard pass from Morales (run failed), 7:44.

EHVT: Spencer Daly 1-yard run (run failed), 6:12.

Cromwell: Derrick Villard 76-yard run (Director kick), 5:40

Second Quarter

Cromwell: Antonio 11-yard pass from Morales (Director kick), 6:21.

EHVT: Steve Hall 77-yard pass from Daly (pass failed), 5:05.

Cromwell: Brandon Walker 26-yard pass from Morales (Director kick), 1:41.

Fourth Quarter

EHVT: Hall 5-yard run (kick failed), 10:26.

Cromwell: Villard 3-yard run (Director), 7:26.

EHVT: Daly 2-yard run (run failed), 3:48.


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