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11/01/2014 12:00 AMThe Valley Regional/Old Lyme and Morgan football squads have both been putting up prolific offensive numbers all season, but when the two teams squared off on Halloween night, the game turned into a frightfully defensive duel.
The Warriors defeated division rival Morgan 6-0 in Deep River on Oct. 31, posting the game’s lone score when Chris Jean-Pierre tossed a 33-yard touchdown pass to senior tight end Andrew Tuscano in the first quarter. The Valley defense took care of the rest, using a goal line stand to thwart Morgan on downs in the second quarter and then picking off Huskies’ quarterback Chucky Kostek on their last two drives of the game with senior linebacker Dan Figuenick recording both interceptions.
The victory lifted the Warriors’ record to a clean 8-0 and put them in the top spot in the Class S State Playoff rankings. Valley/Old Lyme also improved to 7-0 in the Pequot Sassacus Division, sitting ahead of Coginchaug (5-1), North Branford (5-1), Morgan (5-2), and Hyde (4-2) for first place. The Warriors have already defeated those first three teams and host Hyde at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 14. Prior to that, Tim King’s squad plays at non-division Pequot opponent Avon at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 8.
“It was a good win. Morgan is a very good team and so it was a big game for us,” Coach King said. “Winning the division is one of the first goals we have. We want a winning record, want to win the division, get into the playoffs, win a playoff game, and then get to the state championship. There’s always a step on the ladder that we’re trying to climb and this was another step on the ladder. We stepped up and got up the next rung and I hope we can keep going up a few more.”
On a drizzly night at Valley Regional High School, the Warriors got all the offense they’d need when Jean-Pierre connected with Tuscano for the 33-yard strike. Jean-Pierre was flushed out of the pocket and threw across the field into the end zone, where Tuscano was waiting after Morgan’s defender slipped and fell.
“Chris is a great athlete and used his ability to scramble around, see the opportunity, and take it,” said King. “I was a little nervous because you usually don’t want someone to throw across the field, but it was a great throw and Andrew made a nice catch.”
Then in the second quarter, Morgan (6-2 overall) had a 1st-and-goal scenario, but the Warriors’ defense held tight and came up with a crucial stand, forcing a fumble just shy of the goal line on fourth down that the Huskies recovered, but could not advance. Coach King was thrilled with that sequence of plays and also with the fact that his defense prevented Morgan’s all-time leading Jake Ward from dominating the game as he so often does.
“The goal line stand was huge. They couldn’t get in on that fourth down and that was pretty much one of the biggest plays of the game right there,” he said. “Ward had a big night and carried the ball about 30 to 35 times and he’d get eight yards here or three yards there, but the big thing was that we contained him from breaking the long run.”
In the fourth quarter, Morgan’s second-to-last-drive of the game ended with an interception by Figuenick. After the Warriors’ punted on their next drive, the Huskies took over deep in their territory with just under three minutes remaining. Morgan picked up one first down, but then on 2nd-and-8 with about 1:30 to go, Kostek threw into traffic in the middle of the field and Figuenick was once again right there to reel it in and put Valley in the driver’s seat. The Warriors rushed for one first down to drain the clock and walk away with the win. King dished out high praise for Figuenick, who also plays center and captains the Warriors with Jean-Pierre, Tyler Cheverier, Justin Cheverier, and Jack Giaconia.
“The defense played an outstanding game and the two interceptions were huge. Dan is such a great kid who works hard and was right where he was supposed to be on those interceptions,” said King. “Sometimes, Dan gets overshadowed by other players on the team and tonight he rose to the occasion.”
Valley’s next chance to rise to the occasion as a unit comes when it plays at Avon, a Pequot Uncas squad that’s 5-2 and is trying to make the Class M State Playoffs.
“They’re a tough team. They have their quarterback back who was hurt for their two losses and they’re big, physical team,” King said. “It will be another dogfight for sure.”