Mountaineers suffer first loss

10/06/2007
Mountaineers suffer first loss


By PETER WALLACE
Register Citizen Staff



TOLLAND - "Our goal at the beginning of the season was to make teams work hard to beat us," said Housatonic High School football coach Deron Bayer.

Opening the season with two straight wins for the first time since 1993, the string ended with a 34-6 loss at Tolland Friday night.

But the 3-1 Eagles, with wins over Hyde-New Haven and North Branford under their belts, had to work hard enough for their third win to prompt a trip by their coach to the Housy locker room to complement the Mountaineers after the game.

"We're real proud of the way they played," said Bayer. "(Tolland) comes at you in so many ways."

The Eagles scored a begrudged touchdown and two-point conversion late in the first quarter, all on the ground. Bayer singled out defensive ends Jesse Becker and Nick Cook as particularly stubborn against the Eagles' single wing.

Still, Tolland's ground game was good for two more touchdowns in the second quarter before Housatonic mounted its first significant drive, with two minutes left in the half.

The Mountaineers ran out of time before they ran out of downs. Bayer had a half-time challenge for them. "Twenty-nothing is what we've been doing to other teams (in the first quarter)," he told them. "What are we going to do about it on the other end?"
The Mountaineer answer was a 6-0 Housatonic third quarter.

Jameson Martin (5 rushes, 55 yards) made a nice move to the outside on a Mountaineer counter play, and found the way clear all the way to the end zone.

Jon Habacker (2 rushes, 5 yards), Sam Schwartz (3 rushes, 17 yards), Will Kennedy (12 rushes, 49 yards) and Tom Kennedy (12 rushes, 32 yards) also had their moments on the ground, while Tom Kennedy and Charlie Horowitz each had a 29-yard pass.
But the Eagles, who've lost only to Cromwell, didn't stay down long. They scored two more times in the final period for the final score.

The Mountaineers are 2-1.


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Housatonic Valley Regional High School~Warren Turnpike Road Falls Village, CT 06031
Tolland High School One Eagle Hill Tolland, CT 06084





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