Housy looking for strong game

Housy looking for strong game after week off
10/05/2007

By TIMOTHY W. GAFFNEY
Register Citizen Correspondent


All three local football teams are in action this week, with Torrington and Houastonic playing on the road tonight, while Gilbert plays Saturday in Winsted.

The upstart Mountaineers will kick things off at 6:30 p.m. as they take on one of the Pequot League's best in Tolland. The Eagles are coming off a tough 38-6 road loss to unbeaten Cromwell after winning their first two games at home over Hyde (28-21) and North Branford (35-32 in overtime).

Housatonic has been riding high off its first 2-0 start since 1993, but head coach Deron Bayer is keeping it all in perspective.

"Yes, it's great to be 2-0." Bayer said. "But we need to keep the mindset that we want teams to have to work real hard against us."

The Mountaineers have scored 60 points in the first two games, taking big leads in each game by grinding time off the clock with sustained drives. They may need to score a boatload of points to slow down Tolland, a team that just keeps attacking with a double-wing formation.

"They have six or seven looks they can give you." Bayer said. "We have seen tape and spent most of the extra week off trying to get a handle on all of them."

The no-quarterback look Housatonic unveiled in week one is no longer a secret, and Bayer expects teams to adjust by throwing six or seven man fronts at them.

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Torrington hopes to build on a positive performance in their 34-27 week-three loss at home to Wilby when they travel to take on a scoring juggernaut in Woodland.

Woodland torched Watertown 55-20 in their opener before beating up on Sacred Heart, 54-13, in week two.

The Hawks run a wing-T offense, and have numerous weapons the Raiders will have to focus on.

On the offensive side of the ball last Friday night, Torrington did a lot of nice things. Sophomore quarterback Chris DeBerry seemed more comfortable in his second start, while four different Raiders found the end zone.

Junior Dwayne White got his team a fast 6-0 lead with a 45-yard run on the game's fourth play.

After Wilby had tie scored on their next drive, sophomore Darrick Williams electrified the Homecoming night crowd with an 80-yard score on the kickoff.

Torrington went up 20-6 at the end of one quarter on the strength of a 2 yard run by senior Perry Smith.

Wilby mounted a comeback to tie things at 20, and the Raiders needed to answer before the half. They did did on a drive set up by another strong Williams kick return of 44 yards.

DeBerry connected for his first touchdown pass of the season when he found junior Andre Martin from 14 yards out to give Torrington a 27-20 lead at the half.

On the defensive side of the ball, both Steve Denza and Sam Antwi were forces to be dealt with all game long.

They will need a sustained pass rush and a similar effort to pull out a win over the Hawks.

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Gilbert continues through the toughest schedule they have had in years when they host 3-0 Coventry Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at Van Why Field.

Coventry has beaten some of the stronger Pequot League teams with wins over North Branford (41-19), Avon (34-14) and Hyde (41-10).

The Yellowjackets put up 20 points on the road in their loss to Ellington and showed more spark as they adjust to a new offense inserted this season.



©The Register Citizen 2007

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