Blocked punt propels Tigers

NEW LONDON - The past is prologue.

In 2019, the New London and WACO football teams were embroiled in one of the most intensely fought, nerve-wracking battles of the entire 8-man football season. Ultimately, New London prevailed in a three-overtime soap opera.

But, the past does not necessarily dictate the future.

In what was supposed to be one of best football games in District 4 action Friday, New London's Carter Allen seized an opportunity to make a momentum-shifting play. It is unknown what Allen's pregame meal was, but he had a hearty helping of pigskin as his blocked punt to the gut gave the Tigers all the momentum needed to dispatch WACO 50-10.

After a sterling defensive series by the Tigers, WACO's Will Edeker went back to punt. Allen did a swim move to the right and took flight. Edeker's punt went from Allen's gut to his hands as the junior recovered it to give the Tigers optimum field position deep in Warriors territory.

A kick in the stomach would usually be considered a tryout for the Cobra Kai, but this kick to the gut served the Tigers well as New London scored 43 unanswered points in the first two and a half quarters before WACO tallied a few scores to make the game a little more respectable.

'My opponent had his weight shifted and I got through and I blocked it with my stomach, I could feel it,” Allen said. But the pain only lasted a few moments. 'This was a very important win. To go out there and demolish them on the field and score 50 points and hold them to 10 was very important for us.”

New London fired on all cylinders turning to myriad options on the ground and through the air. It would have been difficult to single out one or even two players as a stable of New London ball carriers consistently found daylight against a normally stout WACO defense. A total of eight Tigers handled the ball on the ground, led by Blaise Porter with 12 carries for 58 yards. At least five ball carriers totaled at least 30 yards. The Tigers were equally dangerous through the air.

'We've seen this in practice,” New London coach Mark McSorley said. 'I was just waiting for it to come through. Last week, we kind of stumbled on offense (a 32-13) win over Moravia). We have a lot of kids who I think had to get some nerves out, but we did enough to get a win. I knew we were better than that, so we shored things up and added some intensity to practice. They came out and executed like I knew they could.”

The Tigers' Ethan Streeter found teammate Ryan Ritchey for a 40-yard touchdown on a nifty little two-handed chest pass for one score. Streeter also tossed a gorgeous aerial to Dom Lopez for a 41-yard strike. Lopez stalled a potential WACO scoring drive with an equally impressive interception of a Will Edeker pass moments earlier.

Facing a 36-0 deficit at halftime, WACO elected to kick away to begin the third period, only to see momentum ride toward the Tigers again. Sophomore Boden Pickle found a seam along his left sideline and showed sprinters speed to avoid any would-be WACO tackler and found the end zone with a 66-yard jaunt.

Senior Caydin Wahls had 31 yards on seven punishing carries. He noted that while the Tigers won a state championship in 2018 and have made the playoffs during his entire career, the Tigers' cupboard is not bare.

'We've lost a lot, but now we have newer guys coming in and this game shows everyone how good we could be,” Wahls said. 'I just tried to bring intensity and make sure everyone was in the right spot. We don't want to give up any free plays. Ever.”

The defensive effort was noticed by WACO head coach Chad Edeker.

'They were in our backfield, defensively, all night.” Edeker said. 'They really disrupted our running game. I thought last week we really did a good job of controlling the offensive line of scrimmage. Tonight, New London controlled the line of scrimmage. They got off the ball quicker. They just played better than us.”

New London's Currey Jacobs-Miller stood out on defense with a fumble recovery and 9.5 tackles. Brenden Richey collected an interception. New London held Edeker to 3-of-15 through the air and only 52 yards on the ground.

'We upped our game on offense,” Jacobs-Miller said. 'We weren't clicking like we should have last week, but this week we played better.”

WACO's scores were a field goal and an Edeker-to-Simeon Reichenbach touchdown pass, both in the third quarter. Reichenbach led the Warriors defense with 10 tackles.

Jacobs-Miller proves to be an example of what McSorley is trying to accomplish for the 2020 season. Jacobs-Miller was likely going to see action as a ball carrier this year, but soon realized that for the benefit of the team, his role was best served in the lines.

'We're trying to build that team atmosphere, where the stats are not a big deal, but the wins and losses are,” McSorley said. 'That is a mind-set that we all have to build into. I think they are starting to figure that out now.”