Howdy,

The players and coaches of Norwich Free Academy knew something going into Friday night’s game against Killingly.

But experiencing it was far different.

They knew that a game against the Red Hawks requires a bit of patience. That’s because Killingly’s run-based offense is both tough and methodical, leading to moments in the game when the defense is on the field for a while.

Example: Killingly’s nine-minute drive in the third quarter kept NFA’s offense on the sidelines to the point where the Wildcats ran all of eight plays in the period.

“It’s not easy to watch that,” NFA receiver Andrew Cote said. “But we knew our defense would eventually get a stop. And we know our offense can score in a hurry.”

Cote teamed with Max Pierre Louis on a hook-and-ladder on the game’s final play, leading NFA to a wild 27-21 win and sole possession of first place in ECC Div. I.

It’s a good thing, too, that NFA’s offense can score quickly. Because the Red Hawks had another long drive in the fourth period, resulting in a touchdown and 21-13 lead with 2:48 left.

“Killingly isn’t easy to play,” NFA coach Jason Bakoulis said. “Tough and well coached. That’s why we tell our kids every day: one rep at a time and then on to the next one.”

NFA can win the division outright with a win over New London on Thanksgiving Eve.

• • • •

Waterford has already gotten the attention of its opponents for its passing game. Now the Lancers are working on balance.

“Teams scouting us know we like to throw the ball a lot,’’ said Waterford quarterback Ryan Bakken. “So being able to run the ball is going to be huge for us.’’

Waterford ran the ball 60 times for 216 yards, while Bakken was 9-for-21 passing the ball for 135 yards in Friday’s 35-12 win over Ledyard. Christian Hightower led the way with 83 yards on 11 carries, Jackson Harshberger gained 49 yards on 14 carries and Bakken carried the ball 23 times, sometimes by design and sometimes not.

“We need to run the ball a little bit better, so we put both of our backs back there,’’ said Waterford coach John Strecker. “We’ve got two good backs, so we figured we’d try that.

“Actually we’ve been working on it for a couple of weeks, so we thought we’d look at it tonight because we were having a little trouble catching the ball early on,’’ said Strecker.

Waterford can wrap up the ECC Division II title with a win at Woodstock Academy on Saturday afternoon.

Waterford beat Bacon 40-14 on Oct. 4 and Bacon beat Woodstock 14-7 on Saturday.

• • • •

Fitch’s offensive backfield has taken a beating with injuries, but it didn’t stop the Falcons from beating East Lyme on Friday night, 21-7.

Savonne Mitchell Jr. got the majority of snaps at fullback with starter James Deichler still hobbled by an ankle injury. Mitchell ran 15 times for 99 yards and a touchdown.

Lashier Edwards moved to quarterback when Josh Letellier was concussed in the first half. He threw a 23-yard touchdown and a two-point conversion pass to Noah Charron.

“I was so proud of the kids, especially with Josh going out,” Fitch head coach Mike Ellis said. “The kids really stepped up and it was a great performance.

“Other guys are stepping in and fighting and it worked tonight, so we’ll just keep plugging.”

Asked how many injuries the Falcons were dealing with, Ellis laughed and said, “Oh, my God, I don’t even know. I’m just glad we finished the game. I’ll go back to the fieldhouse and figure that one out.”

Fitch’s defense played a huge role in the win, too.

Greg Santora grabbed a fumble after a 20-yard pass play to the Falcons’ 43-yard line after their first touchdown. It set up their second touchdown that gave them a 13-0 edge with 1:33 left in the first half.

East Lyme had first-and-goal at the Fitch 2-yard line with under a minute left in the half. Tre Bryant and Trae Johnson stopped Vikings quarterback Noah Perry after a 1-yard gain on first down.

Cameron Aldinger and Charron tackled Perry for no gain on second down to end the half.

Fitch also turned the Vikings over on downs on fourth-and-2 at the Falcons’ 18-yard line late in the third quarter.

• • • •

East Lyme was able to survive its first botched snap on a punt and gave Fitch the ball at the latter’s 43-yard line.

The Vikings were even able to survive their second botched punt attempt that gave Fitch the ball at their 18.

The third straight bad snap on a punt was too much for East Lyme to get past. It gave the Falcons the ball at the latter’s 5-yard line and set up their first touchdown, an 8-yard touchdown pass from Letellier to Charron, giving them a 7-0 lead with 7 minutes, 14 seconds left in the second quarter.

“Too many mistakes,” Vikings head coach Rudy Bagos said. “It killed us. We did our best to give (Fitch) six points right off the bat. Give Fitch credit. They took advantage of it. We had our chances and we didn’t do anything with their mistakes.''

Asked if clean exchanges from the center to the punter had been an issue, Bagos said, “It really hasn’t. We’ve been really good with them. … Maybe it was the cold. I don’t know. It could be me not giving them enough time to practice it in the week. I don’t know.”

• • • •

Ledyard had one of the quickest scoring drives you will ever see. The Colonels took over one their own 1-yard line down 14-6 with 2:55 left in the first half. Quarterback Brayden Grim, just trying to avoid a safety, went up the middle on first down and broke free for a 19-yard gain. And on the next play he went deep to Caden Foote, who made a leaping catch, and raced 80 yards for a touchdown to get Ledyard within 14-12 at halftime.

• • • •

Thanks to Dave Davidson Davis (Ledyard-Waterford) and Mike DiMauro (Killingly-NFA) for their contributions to this here blog.

Thanks for reading. More soon.

Adios.