Ledyard - Just before halftime, everyone saw Ledyard quarterback Ty Edbon throw a short pass to River Thomas, on which Thomas broke free for an 18-yard touchdown as time expired, cutting to the right sideline.

What Ledyard coach Jim Buonocore saw: his right tackle and his right guard picking up a blitz and allowing the play to develop.

"We have some dudes on the perimeter and we have a dude in the backfield," Buonocore said. "But I've been very impressed with the offensive line."

The Ledyard High School football team, ranked eighth in The Day's Top 10 state poll, put up some big numbers Friday night in beating Waterford 55-13 in an Eastern Connecticut Conference Medium Division matchup. Five touchdown passes by Ebdon. Four touchdowns by running back JoJo Shumaker, three rushing and one passing. Three touchdowns by Thomas at wide receiver. Four hundred eighteen yards offense in the first half.

And then there were the little things of which Buonocore spoke, the things that are keeping his team hungry for a repeat trip to the Class M playoffs, even as it has outscored its opponents so far this season 253-55, raising its record to 5-0 overall, 3-0 in the ECC Medium.

"The drive to be the best we can possibly be," Buonocore said. "We're hungry to be a great football team. We're certainly not perfect, but we're a pretty good team right now. We're faster. We're stronger. And we're in control, at this point, of our own destiny."

Shumaker ran for 210 yards and three touchdowns on 13 carries for Ledyard, getting only one carry in the second half.

Ebdon was 10-for-15 for 278 yards and Thomas made four catches for 97 yards. Ebdon's other touchdown went for 66 yards to Justin Carter.

The Colonels scored for the first time as the result of a bad snap over the head of Waterford punter Spencer Hoagland in the first quarter, which gave Ledyard the ball at Waterford's 16-yard-line. Shumaker ran the ball in from the 1-yard line.

Waterford answered with a 50-yard touchdown run by Isaiah Jones, tying the game 7-7, but Shumaker scored on the next play from scrimmage from 58 yards out and Ledyard held a 14-7 lead at the end of one quarter.

In all, Ledyard scored on seven straight possessions to end the half, outscoring Waterford 35-0 in the second quarter.

The Colonels scored on a 24-yard pass from the left-handed Ebdon, who threw across his body to Thomas on the right to make it 21-7. Shumaker scored on a 16-yard run, untouched. Ebdon found Carter sprinting down the left sideline, hitting him in stride for a 66-yard touchdown for a 35-7 advantage.

On Ledyard's second straight one-play drive, Ebdon shoveled the ball forward to Shumaker, who split a pair of Waterford defenders on his way to a 63-yard touchdown. Then came Ebdon's pass that Buonocore would later recall, which made it 49-7 at halftime.

Waterford coach Mike Ellis Jr. said his team didn't practice well the latter part of the week and it showed.

"I expected us to play better than we did," Ellis said. "We kind of regressed and did silly things we did at the beginning. ... We talked about each day being a quarter and they came out and practiced very hard at the beginning of the week. To play a full game, they have to play a full practice week and they're not making that connection."

As for Shumaker, Buonocore said as an individual he's bigger, faster and stronger this season, just as the team is as a whole. Buonocore said one of the running back's best features is his ability to change directions, saying some of the plays are designed for Shumaker to cut back, running behind an experienced line.

"I just try to make one cut and burst as hard as I can, seeing the whole field at one time," said Shumaker, who ran and jumped for the track team this spring. "I definitely feel a lot faster than last year."

Jake Mangual scored Waterford's final touchdown on a 4-yard run with 26 seconds to play.

The Lancers are 1-4 overall, 1-2 in the ECC Medium.

v.fulkerson@theday.com

Twitter: vickieattheday