Sports

Torrington football's single-wing attack, led by Nick Coleman and Kevin Leavitt, rolls past Kennedy

Nairavoice · Sep 12, 2026 · 3 min read

TORRINGTON – Watching Nick Coleman and Kevin Leavitt run the ball for the Torrington football team in Friday night’s season-opening 21-0 win over Kennedy, you might think they’ve been sharing the Raiders’ backfield duties for ages, rather than being just the latest stars to shine in Torrington’s single-wing galaxy.

When Coleman ran the ball – which he did 21 times for 160 yards and three touchdowns – there was Leavitt out ahead throwing a crisp block. When Leavitt ran the ball – which he did for 58 yards on 11 carries – there was Coleman doing the same.

They complemented each other as naturally as peanut butter and jelly, Damon and Affleck, or – as their coach notes – thunder and lightning.

“We embrace (blocking),” said Coleman, a senior. “Single-wing offense, that’s what it’s about. There’s no player above blocking, even if you’re the quarterback, the tailback, whatever. You’ve got to go and make a block.”

“I’d do anything for (Coleman). If I have to make a block, I’m doing whatever I can for him,” Leavitt, a sophomore, said.

The Raiders were replacing four starters on the offensive line, and it showed with 11 penalties being called, most often for false starts. But Torrington was able to score on its opening drive when Coleman bolted 34 yards up the middle and then just before the half on a 3-yard Coleman run to build a 14-0 lead.

To start the second half, Coleman and Leavitt got the call on all eight plays as Torrington marched 58 yards for a 21-0 lead. Coleman swept left end from 10 yards out for the touchdown as the Raiders started to wear down the Eagles.

“This style of offense really fits their style of running,” Torrington head coach Gaitan Rodriguez said. “It’s kind of like thunder and lightning. You’ve got thunder with Coleman, although he ran the edge pretty well tonight, too. Kevin is lightning. They really complement each other, and we got some other backs filling in nicely and giving us depth.”

Torrington finished with 252 yards on the ground and 11 in the air with Coleman completing the only pass to Anthony Ciesco.

“They just wore us down, as the single-wing does,” said 22-year Kennedy head coach Chris Sarlo, a single-wing enthusiast himself. “You can’t stop it. I’ve learned that. You can only outscore it. Tonight, we didn’t. We had some chances, got in the red zone, might’ve changed the momentum, maybe the mindset, but it just didn’t happen.”

Sarlo was proud of his defense’s effort, especially since several starters were missing.

“We played a lot of plays in the second half and only gave up seven points. I give them a lot of credit,” he said. “We lost a quarter of our offense and a quarter of our defense due to an administrative decision. It happened as a result of an incident at school. We rolled into this game with a lot of newbies out there, guys who haven’t played positions on a regular basis. I give them credit. They battled. We’ll recover. We’ll rebound from this.”

Player of the Game

Nick Coleman, Torrington: The senior tailback had 160 yards rushing on 21 carries, scored three touchdowns, completed his team’s only pass for 11 yards and recovered a fumble.

Quote of the Game

“It’s amazing having (Coleman and Leavitt). We had Aidan Hansen last year, with Nick starting beside him. Kevin started for (Hansen) when he got hurt. It’s like the best for the best. It’s like having Jordan Love coming in for Aaron Rodgers. (Green Bay) has a great quarterback lineup. We’ve got a great running back lineup.” – Torrington senior fullback Cameron Roxbury.