RSS
|
|
The biggest break that went against the Terriers is when Vinal Tech’s Antonio Inglis fumbled the ball away early in the second half on the Rocky Hill 10-yard line that Rocky Hill’s Matt McKinnon recovered. But the play was nullified due to a face-mask penalty by the Terriers.
Two plays later, Vinal Tech’s David Francis powered in for the game-winning touchdown from four yards out and 9:58 remaining.
"(Rocky Hill) came out real hard and we had our heads down," said Inglis, who rushed for a game-high 113 yards on 19 carries. "But in the second half, we picked it up. (Offensive line) coach (Doug) Jackson got on them. In the second half, they were blocking the best I’ve seen."
The Terriers (2-5) took a 21-10 lead when Eric Fritz completed a 34-yard TD pass to Jeff Courneen with 51 seconds left in the first half. One play earlier, Rocky Hill’s Sean Burgwardt had returned an interception 28 yards.
It was a fine first half for the Terriers. Greg Lappen had the first kickoff return for a TD in school history with a 75-yard TD run to open the game and Fritz (6-20-1, 126) completed a 25-yard TD pass to Courneen with 5:10 left in the first half. Courneen (5 catches, career-high 101 yards) outjumped a Hawk defender for the ball, came down and ran 3 yards into the end zone.
But Vinal Tech/Coginchaug dominated the second half.
In the third quarter, the Hawks marched 58 yards to the Rocky Hill six-yard line on 11 running plays before the drive died. Vinal QB Todd Manjuck had two nice 14-yard scampers while Francis had a sharp eight-yard run to the Terrier six.
Rocky Hill took over and went nowhere, running three plays. Vinal’s Matt Calcagni sacked Fritz to end the Terrier possession.
After a punt, Vinal took over on the Terrier 33-yard line. On third-and-13, Inglis blew through a big hole up the middle for 14 yards and a first down. He ran twice more to the Rocky Hill one before Manjuck scored with 18 seconds left in the third quarter.
Francis’ two-point conversion run cut the lead to 21-18.
On Rocky Hill’s next possession, Vinal’s Luke Whitehouse recovered Rocky Hill’s second fumble of the day on the Rocky Hill 13-yard line. Three plays later, Francis pounded in from the four-yard line for a 25-21 lead with 9:58 left.
In the fourth quarter, Rocky Hill finally began moving the ball and marched to the Hawk 27-yard line thanks to a 16-yard completion from Fritz to Courneen. But the Hawks stiffened. Fritz threw an incompletion, Shawn Meadows sacked Fritz for a 10-yard loss and Francis ended the Terrier threat by intercepting Fritz and returning it 22 yards.
"We had a lot of changes on the offensive line but the kids stepped up and did what they had to do," Vinal coach Bob McNamara said. "They had us hesitating in the first half but we did much better job of picking up their stunts in the second half.
"The best defense in the world is to keep their offense off the field," he said.
In the first half, Vinal Tech marched 73 yards on 7 plays on its first drive to tie the game at 7-7 but either punted or turned it over on six of its next seven drives.
"In the first half, the defense did what they had to do," Coyne said. "But in the second half, we had turnovers. We can’t play like that and win."
