Ledyard — It was, perhaps fittingly, a play involving a position that roars “power football” (the fullback) that Ledyard used to put Bacon Academy down for good Tuesday night.

The Colonels had a third-and-13 at their own 34-yard line on their first drive of the second half.

Conventional wisdom: Throw the football.

Not if you’re Ledyard.

Fullback Justin Carter — yes, someone still uses a fullback — Carter worked his way up the middle of the line, kept his footing and raced for a 66-yard touchdown.

It was the first of four touchdowns third-seeded Ledyard scored in the third quarter as it bullied No. 6 Bacon Academy, 55-6, in a CIAC Class M football playoff quarterfinal at Mignault Field.

“It was muddy,” Carter said. “The footing wasn’t good for me, so I know it wasn’t good for him (the defender who tried to tackle him).

"He was grabbing me, I just kept going, just kept trying to power through, trying to run hard.”

The Colonels ran hard all night with their double wing offense. They bludgeoned Bacon into submission by running 44 times for 449 yards and seven touchdowns.

Ledyard scored on its first eight possessions and never punted.

Manny Deshields-Sanabria ran 17 times for 249 yards and four touchdowns.

Asked when he could tell the run was wearing on the Bobcats’ defense, Deshields-Sanabria said, “I’d say the first quarter. We were just shoving it down their throats. The second quarter, we could all just tell that they couldn’t stop it.”

Ledyard will play at No. 2 New Fairfield on Monday, Dec. 7 at 6:30 p.m.

The Rebels knocked out No. 7 St. Joseph, 24-0, in their quarterfinal. That would be the same St. Joseph that had won two straight state titles, including last season’s 37-7 win over the Colonels in the Class M-Small final.

Ledyard also avenged its one loss on Tuesday night — a 25-22 defeat to Bacon on Sept. 26.

You could say that the Colonels were a bit motivated.

“We wanted that revenge game,” Deshields-Sanabria said. “All week we were just thinking that we couldn’t lose this game because we wanted to right this wrong.”

Bacon head coach Erik Larka said of Ledyard, “They’re on a mission to win a state championship, and our kids were kind of happy getting to the playoffs. I almost think like getting here was good enough for our guys.”

The Bobcats (8-3) won the Eastern Connecticut Conference Large in their first season in the division.

“For the Ledyard kids, winning a championship is what they want,” Larka said. “They were just on a different level than we were.”

Carter ran nine times for 108 yards and two touchdowns and caught a 28-yard touchdown from Ty Ebdon. Luke Saccone added a 13-yard touchdown.

Tannor Daggett, the Colonels’ 285-pound lineman turned fullback, added five carries and 47 yards.

Peter Kazibwe ran 14 times for 77 yards and a touchdown for Bacon.

One of the big questions heading into the game was Ledyard’s pass defense against Bobcats quarterback Sean Kelly.

Kelly confounded the Colonels in the team's first meeting. He completed 17 of 23 passes for 349 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another.

Kelly completed 7 of 18 passes for 96 yards with on Tuesday night. He was sacked twice by linebacker Colin Krauth, pressured countless other times, and was intercepted by Daric Johnson. Carter added an interception on a halfback option attempt by Matt Sicard.

“Our name is ‘Blue Steel,’” Carter grinned while talking about Ledyard’s defense. “We always try to play as physical as we can.”

n.griffen@theday.com

Twitter: @MetalNED

CLASS M PLAYOFFS

Quarterfinals

Tuesday's Results

No. 1 Killingly 35, No. 8 Stratford 10

No. 5 Brookfield 35, No. 4 Abbott Tech/Immaculate 6

No. 2 New Fairfield 24, No. 7 St. Joseph 0

No. 3 Ledyard 55, No. 6 Bacon 6

Semifinals

Monday, Dec. 7

No. 5 Brookfield (9-2) at No. 1 Killingly (10-1), 6:30 p.m.

No. 3 Ledyard (10-1) at No. 2 New Fairfield (10-1), 6:30 p.m.