Schools
Fantastic Finish as Enfield Gridders Edge Bulldogs
Last-second touchdown lifts Raiders to 7-6 victory over Stafford/East Windsor.
Better late than never.
Trailing 6-0 with two seconds left on the clock, the Enfield High School football team had one last gasp at the Stafford/East Windsor 30-yard line.
Tony Romano lofted a pass into the end zone which was grabbed by Adrian Crichton, tying the game with no time remaining. Anthony Trotta then booted the extra point between the uprights, giving the Raiders a 7-6 victory before a frenzied crowd at Carl Angelica Memorial Field.
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"Holy cow!" exclaimed Enfield head coach Jay Gaucher.
The touchdown stunned the undermanned Bulldogs, who pushed the Raiders to the limit despite carrying just 25 players on their roster.
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After nearly three quarters of good end-to-end action but no points, Stafford broke through on a 5-yard touchdown pass from Tim Ford to Matt Graham with 14 seconds left in the third period. A poor snap caused kicker Emerson Dolby to miss the extra point attempt, a play which would eventually cost the Bulldogs dearly.
Enfield had two golden opportunities fall by the wayside in the fourth quarter. Crichton snared a 27-yard pass from Romano at the Stafford 19-yard line, but the drive stalled when a fourth-down pass to Hugh Lindo was knocked down in the end zone.
With less than five minutes to play in the fourth quarter, Enfield converted another fourth-down play on a Romano pass to Lindo to the Stafford 8. A pass interference penalty against the Bulldogs gave the Raiders the ball at the 2, but Stafford recovered an Enfield fumble in the end zone for a touchback with 1:38 left.
The Raider defense held tough, and Gaucher used his last timeout with eight seconds to play as Stafford faced fourth down.
A high snap and great pressure from the Raiders forced Graham's punt to sail out of bounds at his own 30 with two ticks remaining, setting up Enfield's game-winning heroics.
"We brought some pressure, the snap was high and he shanked it," Gaucher said.
The Raiders finished with 117 rushing yards, including 73 from Avery Boissy. Romano was 10-for-21 passing for 128 yards.
"Our offensive line did a great job, but we just had a few breakdowns," Gaucher said. "We're not playing crisp football for 48 minutes, but we're confident we're going to win."
Enfield (2-1) has a short week, traveling to Windsor Locks Thursday at 3:30 p.m. Stafford (0-3) plays at Coventry Friday at 7 p.m.
