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11/10/2014 11:00 PMFor the second straight week, the Valley Regional/Old Lyme football squad locked horns in a defensive struggle against a solid Pequot foe and, for the second week in a row, it was the Warriors who emerged victorious by claiming a 17-9 victory at Avon on Nov. 8.
Valley trailed in the third quarter before taking the lead for good on a 40-yard touchdown run by quarterback Chris Jean-Pierre, who later broke another long TD run in the final minute to put Tim King’s team up by eight. The Warriors then sealed the victory when Andrew Tuscano intercepted Avon’s desperation heave to the end zone as time wound down. Jean-Pierre rushed 16 times for 242 yards to go with his two scores and also completed five passes for 56 yards.
With the victory, Valley/Old Lyme raised its record to 9-0 and remained in the top spot in the Class S State Playoff standings. The loss dropped Avon—which plays in the Pequot’s Uncas Division—to 6-3 and dealt a big blow to its chances of making the Class M Playoffs.
“Avon came to play and played their hearts out and we did, too. It was a tough-fought battle,” said Coach King. “Avon is a good football team and they hadn’t been healthy all year long, but everyone was back for this game and so it was accomplishment for us to limit them to nine points. We had a few big stops, a few big sacks, stopped them behind the line of scrimmage a few times, and had a few turnovers that were big.”
Avon took a 3-0 lead on a 32-yard field goal from Alden Goetz with 12 seconds left in the first quarter. Warriors’ junior kicker Jared Roche then sent one through from 22 yards away 2:45 into in the second to have the game tied 3-3 at halftime.
The Falcons took the lead on a 1-yard touchdown run by Teddy Almendinger at the 3:15 mark of the third quarter, although the extra point dinged off the upright and Avon’s lead was 9-3. About three minutes later, Jean-Pierre took a counter play, broke a few tackles, bounced it outside, and then outraced the Avon defense around the corner and down the sideline for a 40-yard touchdown run and a 10-9 advantage following Roche’s extra point.
Avon later had a TD run called back due to an illegal shift and the drive ended with Tuscano forcing a fumble on a sack with the ball recovered by fellow senior Tyler Cheverier.
The Warriors were clinging to their 10-9 lead as Avon embarked on a drive late in the contest, but another Avon fumble found the clutches of Jean-Pierre and Valley now had a chance to run out the clock. On 3
rd
-down-and-3, Jean-Pierre ran for a first down that could have eventually drained the clock had he been tackled, but he instead broke loose for a 69-yard touchdown run with 53 seconds left. The big run and Roche’s subsequent kick extended the Warriors’ lead to 17-9, yet it also gave Avon another chance with some time to tie the game. Ultimately, it didn’t matter as although Avon got near the Valley red zone in the final seconds, senior safety Tuscano picked off the Falcons’ Hail Mary pass in the end zone to solidify the victory.
Further bolstering Valley’s offense was Evan Smith with 36 yards on four carries, plus fellow senior Justin Cheverier, who had 45 yards on 12 rushes to go with three catches for 31 yards.
On defense, Justin Cheverier posted a ridiculous total of 26 tackles and the team’s other leading tacklers were senior Tajhay Marshall (16), Jean-Pierre (10), senior Dan Figuenick (10), Tyler Cheverier (8), and Tuscano (6). Tyler Cheverier and Marshall each had four tackles for a loss with two each coming from Justin Cheverier, Jean-Pierre, and Figuenick; along with seniors Justin Burgess and Christain Marroquin, plus junior Matt Robertson. Tuscano had the game-clinching pick with the sack and a forced fumble, Tyler Cheverier recorded a sack with a recovered fumble, and Jean-Pierre also recovered a fumble for the Warriors.
Next up for the Warriors is a home game against Pequot Sassacus rival Hyde at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 14. Valley/Old Lyme is 7-0 in the division with North Branford (8-1, 6-1); Coginchaug (7-2, 5-2); Morgan (7-2, 5-2); and Hyde (5-4, 5-2) on its heels.
“Every game is big. We have nothing clinched right now,” said King. “Hyde has gotten better every week and so we have to come to play and be ready to get after it.”