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11/07/2015 11:00 PMHead Coach Tim King had his team focused to get out to a fast start and not let up when the Warriors’ football squad faced division rival Old Saybrook-Westbrook on Nov. 7. Valley-Old Lyme did just that as King’s club never trailed and ultimately prevailed 27-13 on the Rams’ home turf.
The Warriors took the lead for good on a long first quarter drive that established the running game and culminated with tailback Daniel Stecher scoring his first touchdown of the day from nine yards out. Jared Roche split the uprights for the extra point to put Valley up 7-0 at Old Saybrook High School.
In the second quarter, both teams exchanged possessions and jostled for field position, while the defenses began to dominate play. The tide turned with 4:16 left in the frame when Valley’s special teams stepped up. From his own territory, Roche lined up for the punt, took the snap, and booted a perfect spiral into the air. The ball traveled 45 yards, hit down at the 10-yard line, and rolled to a stop inside the 1 for a 55-yard punt. This was a critical play as Valley had taken control of the field position battle in what turned into a defensive duel.
“Jared hit a beauty. He’s a great kicker. He’s been doing that all year for us and is an All-State kicker,” said Coach King, whose team improved to 4-4 overall and 2-2 in the Pequot Conference South Division. “We did a great job today of playing a whole game—not just in the first half and the second half—but we played well in all three phases of the game, too.”
The Warriors’ defense then held Old Saybrook-Westbrook (5-3, 2-2) deep in its own territory and took over at the Rams’ 47 after a punt with 1:34 to play in the first half. Quarterback Matt Sapere (12-for-22 passing, 160 yards, 2 TDs; 6 rushes for 20 yards) worked the ball down field inside the Rams’ 20 with 35 seconds remaining. Sapere threw a fade to the back of the end zone and Ernest Jean-Pierre reached out with one hand and tapped the ball to himself to make a spectacular, acrobatic catch. It looked like Valley had gone up by two scores, but the officials ruled Jean-Pierre had pushed off on the play and backed the Warriors up 15 yards for interference. Out of a timeout, Sapere sent another fade to the back pylon. The ball was slightly underthrown and appeared to be intercepted by the Rams’ cornerback, although receiver Gary Burdick extended his long arms over the defenders and snagged the would-be-pick with another outstanding grab. Burdick turned a slim 6-0 lead into a Warriors’ touchdown and a 13-0 halftime advantage after the extra point was blocked.
“We stayed focused after a negative play and some people hang their heads, but that’s not what we do,” said Sapere about the offensive interference penalty. “We picked our heads up and said, ‘Next play,’ and that’s what we did. Our offensive line has really jelled together and our receivers are great. I have four weapons out there and subs who are strong, too.”
Valley-Old Lyme came out a bit sluggish in the third quarter as the weather turned cold and windy. Old Saybrook-Westbrook dominated the line of scrimmage on the opening drive. The Rams marched 80 yards, while consuming 6:33 of clock on a drive that featured 12-straight runs and four third down conversions. After the Rams found the end zone, the extra point was blocked and Valley led 13-6. The Warriors then drove the field, but were intercepted in the end zone. However, they returned the favor three plays later when Gus Cummins made a diving pick on an overthrown ball at Old Saybrook-Westbrook’s 35. Holding the slim seven-point lead, Coach King called a timeout on 3rd-and-8 from the Rams’ 33. The Warriors wanted to make sure they had the perfect play out of the timeout. Sapere looked left to draw the safety from the middle of the field, then fired a bullet to Roche on a post pattern to the 5-yard line, where he dove into the end zone while dragging a tackler for a 20-6 advantage after he kicked the PAT.
Old Saybrook-Westbrook showed some fight in the final quarter. The Rams moved the ball down the field and completed a long pass to the 9. From there, Chase Cook took it in for the score and the Valley lead was cut to 20-13 with 10 minutes to play. Old Saybrook-Westbrook had one more chance to even the game on 4th-and-2 from the Warriors’ 42-yard line. The Rams called a halfback option pass and had a receiver behind the defense, but freshman Jason O’Brien made a terrific touchdown-saving play by swatting the ball away to end the threat. From there, the Warriors took the ball and Stecher took over the game behind his offensive line. Stecher got the ball on a sweep that seemed bottled up, but by using his vision and great football awareness, he cut back to the middle of the field, broke through the line, and raced 34 yards inside the Rams’ 15.
“I saw an opening on the back side and used my instincts,” said Stecher, who finished with 25 carries for 176 yards and 2 TDs. “They covered it well, but our line did a good job to block on the other side and I cut it back and just ran hard.”
The Warriors continued to pound the ball to Stecher and, with less than four minutes to play, they put the game away. From the 5, Stecher got the handoff and followed behind the left side of his line, powering to the end zone as he reached out and stuck the nose of the ball across the goal line for the touchdown. Valley went ahead 27-13, which proved the final margin of victory for the Warriors.
“First, my hats off to Old Saybrook-Westbrook as they played a whale of a game and have a good, improving team.” Coach King said. “For us, we’re excited about the win. Go back and look. I said by the end of the year we were going to get better and we have. We’re slowly getting better. We got kids back. Matt’s healthy and that helps. They are starting to play as a team now. Daniel Stecher played very well today. He can be one of the better backs in this league if he puts his mind to it and works hard both offensively and defensively. He’s a tough kid. Jack Giaconia kept them out of the middle and forced them to run 90 percent of the time off tackle and Will Elliot helped set the edge on the wide side of the field.”
• Valley-Old Lyme’s three other wins this year have come against Enfield (34-14), North Branford (27-21 in double overtime), and Coginchaug (31-20).
• Up next for the Warriors is a home game versus Canton at 6:30 on Friday, Nov. 13. Then they play at rival Haddam-Killingworth at 6:30 on Tuesday, Nov. 24.
• The Valley coaching staff was 2-for-2 coming out of timeouts against the Rams. The Warriors scored touchdowns both times with one at the end of the first half and the second on a crucial 3rd-and-8 late in the third quarter.