St. Paul’s quarterback Kevin Ashworth is on the run against Oxford. (Photo by Janelle Morelli)
By MICHAEL LETENDRE
STAFF WRITER
OXFORD – With time ticking down on the clock in the fourth period of St. Paul Catholic football’s Naugatuck Valley League Interdivisional clash against Oxford on Wednesday, Nov. 21, the Falcons’ Connor Bogdanski and his teammates went for broke.
With the score knotted up at 22-22, Bogdanski ran in rushing touchdowns of one and twenty-five yards to ice the contest as St. Paul Catholic finished the 2018 campaign at .500 — downing the Wolverines 38-22 from Oxford.
The Falcons moved to 5-5 in the winning effort while Oxford fell to 4-6.
It was a back-and-forth affair as Oxford nabbed an early lead, trailed by 15 after three quarters of play before tying it up with two scores midway through the final period.
Four different players scored for the Bristol outfit, which included a touchdown strike from quarterback Kevin Ashworth.
Oxford’s Dylan Batlle accounted for all the scoring for the home team as he rushed in two touchdowns and hauled in another for a huge TD reception for three overall scores on the evening.
And that’s where the scoring started as Batlle snuck into the goal for a four yard touchdown jaunt as Oxford led 7-0 through one period of play.
But then St. Paul Catholic notched three straight scores to zip up a 22-7 lead going into the final tilt of action.
First, the Falcons’ Christian Peterson snatched a 48 yard pass from Ashworth for a score and when Quintin Conner found pay dirt via a 16 yard TD run, the Falcons etched up a 14-7 lead going into the locker room.
Again, the St. Paul defense held the fort in the third period and Ashworth made a slick carry into the end zone to add another six points to its tally.
His one yard run extended the Falcons’ cushion to 22-7 before Oxford got back to work over the last 12 minutes of play.
To open the fourth and final period, Batlle used a one-yard plunge to make it a one possession contest and when Wolverines’ quarterback Cayden Mitchell hooked up for a 65 yard touchdown strike with Batlle, an extra-point by kicker Sam Martino tied the game up at 22-22 before the St. Paul offense took charge for good.
The go-ahead touchdown was a one-yard plunge by Bogdanski late in the fray and finally, he made his 25 yard carry for one final score.
A two-point conversion run by Connor added a little insurance to the scoreboard at St. Paul Catholic took the game 38-22 to win its fifth and final contest of the year.
The game marked the final scholastic game for St. Paul Catholic seniors Connor Bogdanski, John Ivers, Ty Selinske, Ryan Prendergast, Kevin Ashworth, Christian Peterson, Ryan Sulvester, Connor Lozito, Joe Sefick, Jack Kurnik, Ryan Mikosz, and Garrett Gay.
Comments? Email mletendre@BristolObserver.com