FAIRFIELD — Cony High School football players, coaches and fans can debate if Friday’s game at Lawrence was a must win, but one thing is certain. With a 30-13 victory over the previously undefeated Bulldogs, the defending state champion Rams showed they’re still a force in the Pine Tree Conference Class B division.
“I don’t know if it was, we had to have it. The top six teams make (the playoff), but it sure feels good,” Cony head coach Robby Vachon said.
The Rams won with what was arguably quarterback Mitchell Caron’s best effort of the season. The senior threw for 339 yards and two touchdowns without an interception against a Lawrence defense that had a pick in each of its first three games. Caron also ran for 50 yards.
Anthony Brunelle caught nine passes for 69 yards for the Rams, while Kyle Armstrong proved to be a deep threat with four catches for 116 yards, including a 25-yard touchdown pass that gave Cony a 6-0 lead in the first quarter.
“I can’t remember a time when a quarterback threw as accurately and they made all the catches. We had some guys we thought were in pretty good coverage on a few of those, and they were just able to make those plays,” Lawrence head coach John Hersom said.
Early in the game, Cony moved the ball with Caron connecting on quick, short passes. That wasn’t the game plan, Vachon said, rather just a feeling-out process.
“We weren’t sure how they were going to come out in coverage. Last year, they were really nervous about our screen game and they took that away. We kind of had to wait and see what they would be in, coverage-wise. Our kids did a nice job executing tonight,” Vachon said.
Added Brunelle: “It was pretty much just there. Finding out their flaws, and everything was working.”
Reid Shostak’s 6-yard touchdown run with 10:12 left in the second quarter pushed Cony’s lead to 13-0. The Bulldogs answered when Cody Martin connected with Seth Powers on a 5-yard touchdown pass with just over three minutes left in the half to cut Cony’s lead to 13-7.
The Rams answered quickly, going 70 yards in five plays, culminating with a 4-yard touchdown run by Caron. The big play of the drive was the first, a 52-yard pass from Caron to Joel Bennett.
Down 19-7 at the half, Lawrence scored on its first play of the third quarter, a 73-yard strike to Martin to Powers (five catches, 122 yards) touchdown.
Cony answered with two scoring drives to close the third quarter. With 6:22 left, Spencer Buck made a 27-yard field goal for a 22-13 lead. After a Brunelle interception near midfield, Caron hit Tayler Carrier (six catches, 72 yards) with a 23-yard touchdown pass and a 30-13 lead with 51.1 seconds left in the third quarter.
“As we talked about earlier in the week, their backs were against the wall and they certainly played much better than us tonight,” Hersom said.
Lawrence had one final chance to score, when the Bulldogs had third and goal at the Cony 1. However, a bad snap went over Cody Martin’s head and Brunelle recovered the ball on the 16.
“It popped right to me,” Brunelle said.
From there, the Rams ran out the final 8:22 for the win.
“I just think we were really physical. We’ve given up some points and some yards on the ground, but our kids were really fast and physical tonight, and that’s the result right there,” Vachon said.
Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242
Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM
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