Bunnell football bounces back from loss in opener to shut out Newington
NEWINGTON – The Bunnell football team most expected in the preseason showed up on Friday night.
After a humbling opening-season loss, the Bulldogs played like a team that competed for a state championship last season, shutting out Newington 36-0 in a Connecticut High School Football Alliance Game matchup.
Rody Ricketts caught three of fellowquarterback Jake Garrigan’s four touchdown passes. Bunnell scored on all five of its possessions and were poised to score again when a running clock ran out with the Bulldogs once again on Newington’s side of the field.
Just as impressive as its offense was Bunnell’s defense, which rebounded from a 57-21 loss to Notre Dame Prep. The Bulldogs not only pitched a shutout, but held the Nor’easters to fewer than 100 yards of total offense.
“Last week we let up a crazy amount of yards, so I knew this week we had to work hard in practice,” said Jacob Mosley, whose interception at the goal line capped off a second-quarter stand by Bunnell when the game was actually in doubt.
“I knew they were going to run that play,” Mosley said about his interception with Bunnell up 15-0 late in the second quarter. “I’d watched film all week and I knew they were going to throw it. My team depended on me and I came home with it.”
Following Mosley’s pick with 2:47 to play in the half, the Bulldogs went to a hurry-up offense to go 93 yards and score on their third consecutive procession of the first half.
Garrigan completed 5 of 8 passes on the drive. His third connection with Ricketts resulted in an acrobatic 25-yard touchdown catch by Ricketts falling backwards in the back of the end zone with 54 seconds left in the half.
Bunnell led 22-0 at halftime.
Out of its locker room, Bunnell scored again. And again, it was Ricketts.
Ricketts took a swing pass from Garrigan 21 yards to the end zone. He outran the Nor’easters down the sideline for his third touchdown of the game and 29-0 lead.
“It was a big loss last week against Notre Dame; they are a good team but we had to fix everything up,” said Ricketts, who caught seven passes for 96 yards. “We knew last week was unacceptable. Being 0-1 was a downfall, but we knew we needed a win this week and that happened. We needed to get back to where we were last year.”
Last year, as in Bunnell’s march to the Class MM state title game, where it came up short against Windsor, 23-13.
“Obviously we weren’t ourselves last week,” Bunnell coach Ty Jenkins said. “We are now the hunted and we have to be ready for that.”
“We have a lot of young kids on our team and they had to grow up last week,” Jenkins added. “And we grew up for this Alliance Game. You may want to write us off and forget about Bunnell. But we are going to be here.”
After a bad punt gave Bunnell the ball on a short field, Garrigan’s fourth touchdown pass came with 4:19 to play in the third quarter. He hit freshman Jordan Harrison from 3 yards out to give Bunnell a 36-0 lead and institute the CIAC running clock the rest of the way.
Garrigan finished 13-of-20 for 163 yards.
Rickett’s first touchdown came on the second play of the second quarter when he took a shovel pass from Garrison and raced around the end for a 4-yard score and 15-0 lead.
Player of the Game
Rody Ricketts, Bunnell: One of the most dangerous offensive players in the state lined up in the slot most of the night and carried the ball just twice on the first drive of the game. But he then scored three straight touchdowns as Bunnell got him the ball through the air. He caught seven passes for 96 yards and scored on touchdown catches of 4, 25 and 21 yards.
Quotable
“We told our team the best teams play in November and December. Week 1 will not define us. We hadn’t started 0-1 for a while, but it was a reset for us. It was a reality check we needed. Now we know every game will be considered a playoff game.” - Ty Jenkins, Bunnell head coach
Bunnell 36, Newington 0
BUNNELL 8 14 14 0 – 36
NEWINGTON 0 0 0 0 – 0
B – Chicago Edouard 1 run (kick failed)
B – Safety, punt blocked out of end zone
B – Rody Ricketts 4 pass from Jake Garrigan (Asa Williams kick)
B – Ricketts 25 pass from Garrigan (Williams kick)
B – Ricketts 21 pass from Garrigan (Williams kick)
B – Jordan Harrison 3 pass from Garrigan (Williams kick)
Team records: Bunnell 1-1, Newington 1-1.
This article originally published at Bunnell football bounces back from loss in opener to shut out Newington.
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