Santiago fires up New London in 39-0 rout of Fitch
New London — Efrain Santiago is a senior co-captain for the New London High School football team. He's a mere 5-foot-7 and 152 pounds.
Santiago's size doesn't matter, though, because he plays possessed by a manic demon.
Santiago left his mark all over the Whalers' 39-0 smothering of Fitch in Saturday's Eastern Connecticut Conference Division I game. He also left a mark on the Falcons by producing the game's most monsterous play.
New London was kicking off to Fitch after going ahead 20-0 less than a minute into the second quarter.
Santiago shot down the field and bore his way through return man Hamear Stephens, sending him crumbling to the turf.
“I’m not the biggest guy, but I have probably a bigger heart than most,” Santiago said. “Kickoffs have always been my thing. It gives me a chance to run down the field as fast as I can and show my speed and my ability to hit. People don’t see that from a small guy. This is where I show what I’ve got. And that’s what I did.”
Santiago’s play made the Whalers' sideline go to berserk.
“That really got us fired up,” New London senior co-captain Major Roman said. “We were ready to come out (and play), but after I saw that and the team saw that, it just got another mindset going.”
New London coach Juan Roman said of Santiago: “I guess the greatest compliment I can give him is that he’ll knock himself out trying to knock you out. … The thing that impresses me the most is here’s a senior captain running down on kickoffs like it’s the only job he has. Like, 'I’m not going to have another play on this field, so I’m going to make it the best I can make it.' And he does. Great kid.”
The Whalers (6-0, 2-0) only allowed one first down in the first half and 122 total yards for the game. Renel Michel and Elijah Parker recovered fumbles and Monty Johnson had an interception.
Santiago, who also plays safety, did his part repeatedly charging after — and smacking — Fitch running backs. He also ran 14 times for 144 yards and a touchdown.
“He’s the hardest working kid,” Roman said. “He’s never going to dog it on anything. It’s great to see him have a game like this today because guys like him are a great example to other players how to work.”
It was New London’s third shutout this season. It’s allowed 5.5 points per game, second-best in the state bedhind Windsor (4 ppg).
“We had to control the clock (with the run), get three or four yards a pop, and they held our line in check big-time today,” Fitch coach Mike Ellis Jr. said. “You have to give their defense a lot of credit, especially the defensive line.”
Melquann Gomez completed 8 of 20 passes for 118 yards with four touchdowns for New London and Gio Lopez had three catches for 52 yards and two touchdowns.
Parker had three catches for 62 yards and a touchdown and ran for 37 yards on a reverse. Yale-bound Major Roman caught an 11-yard touchdown and disrupted Fitch’s running game at defensive end.
Fre'sko Stevenson had two sacks for Fitch (2-4, 1-2) and Hollis Scott had an interception.
n.griffen@theday.com
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