Plainfield football finding some silver linings
PLAINFIELD - Undersized and outmanned, Plainfield played the underdog role again on Friday night during a 35-0 defeat against East Catholic at Plainfield High School.
Longtime Panthers coach Patrick Smith, however, saw some silver linings.
“We have some tough kids,” Smith said. “We have some kids that are working hard. There is no quit in this group. Most teams that are sitting there 1-5 there is no fight in the team but we’ve got some fight. We came out here in the second half and it’s 8-0. We just have gotten off to some sluggish starts and they know they’re not good enough to do that.”
The Panthers highlights included some tough inside running from senior backs Aiden McMaster, Dylan Bood, and Tyler Longo; a gorgeous pass from first-year senior quarterback Tyler Ezzell to Longo; quarterback sacks from Evan Ezzell and John Parrott; and the offensive line of Brody Langlois, Will Kotcher, Brayden Johnson, Jacob Audet, and Evan Ezzell that is working and fighting to jell.
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“We’ve just got to keep building off this effort in the second half and keep working,” Smith said.
East Catholic (5-2) scored touchdowns on its four four possessions. Junior running back Thomas Stanley had a short rushing touchdown and senior quarterback Kaeden O’Connell found senior Ethan Rainha for touchdown passes of 9, 33, and 23 yards.
The Eagles, who are No. 7 in the Class S playoff ratings, led 27-0 at halftime.
“East Catholic’s a good football team,” Smith said. “They’re down in numbers but their coach (Tom Seaver) does a nice job. I give them a lot of credit. They jumped on us early with a couple of good pass plays and it's tough to come back from that.”
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What it means
Smith is in his 30th season at Plainfield - and 23rd as head coach - and he and his staff are trying to get the program back on track. The Panthers left the ECC this season due to the program’s low numbers.
“We’ve been out-physicaled, outsized, and outmanned in the trenches and that correlates to an offseason program,” Smith said. “You have to get bigger, stronger, and faster. We’re just trying to connect the dots right now. We had 11 kids out today. We got a couple of starters out that are two-way players. We’re trying to get kids better.”
Key play
East Catholic made a number of big plays on offense, both on the ground and in the air. But a blocked punt from Rainha early in the second quarter seemed to deflate the Panthers. The Eagles took over at the Plainfield 23-yard line and on the next play O’Connell hit Rainha with his third TD toss to make it 27-0.
By the numbers
East Catholic outgained Plainfield, 283-164.
Panthers senior Aiden McMaster gained 61 yards on 12 carries.
Panthers senior quarterback Tyler Ezzell completed 3-of-7 passes for 47 yards.
East Catholic’s Thomas Stanley led all rushers with 81 yards with two touchdowns.
East Catholic quarterback Kaeden O’Connell went 9-of-13 for 184 yards and tossed 3 TD passes.
Plainfield suited 29 players.
Unsung hero
Plainfield senior Dylan Bood: The Panthers workhorse running back carried the ball 14 times for 52 tough yards. Bood started the season as lineman before converting to a linebacker spot. When sophomore running back Tony Navan went out with an injury, Bood moved to the backfield.
“He’s a senior and he’s relishing the role,” Smith said. “It's his third game playing running back so what you saw here tonight was all just raw.”
They said it
“We’re practicing tomorrow at 9 in the morning,” Smith said. “There’s no days off for good teams or bad teams, whatever you want to call us. We’re a team that’s just trying to get better.”
What’s next
Plainfield (1-5) hosts CREC Co-op on Saturday, Nov. 5 at 11 a.m. It’s the Panthers final home game of the season. Plainfield will be celebrating homecoming and Senior Night. The Panthers will also be honoring Andrew Vincent, who died in an automobile accident last spring.
“We’ve got a lot going on,” Smith said. “It’s going to be a special day.”
This article originally appeared on The Bulletin: CT high school football: Plainfield finding some silver linings
