Week 5: WA rolls past Montville, 50-18
Having the ball in its possession was not always necessary for the Woodstock Academy football team on Friday night in Montville.
The Centaurs ran only 31 offensive plays and still left Montville with a 50-18 win.
Woodstock Academy scored not only offensively, but also defensively and on special teams.
“Scoring in all three phases of the game was great. It was nice to see us execute in all of those phases,” Woodstock Academy coach Sean Saucier said.
Junior Seamus McDermott was a microcosm of the team’s effort against Montville.
The middle linebacker stood out on defense as he disrupted the Montville running game and recorded one of the four sacks for the Centaurs.
But he was also effective offensively.
With the Montville defense paying a lot of attention to receiver Carter Saracina after his eight-catch, 276-yard performance against Bacon Academy, McDermott was the forgotten man.
“(Montville) was kind of ignoring him at H-Back. Carter draws a lot of attention and we were able to sneak Seamus out of the H-Back spot across the field and he was wide open. (Quarterback) Teddy (Richardson) delivered a great ball to put it on him,” Saucier said.
It resulted in a 42-yard touchdown catch which was important at the time.
The Centaurs had taken an early 8-0 lead in the first quarter on a 14-yard keeper by Richardson (6 carries, 62 yards).
Montville (1-5) responded with a 27-yard touchdown pass of its own to cut the deficit to just two before McDermott’s score early in the second quarter.
McDermott wasn’t done for the night.
He also excelled on special teams.
Montville had just scored late in the third quarter to make it 36-12 and McDermott was on the kick return team.
The ball came to him at the Centaurs’ 27-yard line and he started toward the left sideline. He broke one tackle in the process, turned right across the field and evaded two more potential tacklers before getting to the right sideline.
No one could catch him.
“He was going full speed, giving 100 percent and I don’t think there were many guys on that football field who wanted to get in front of him,” Saucier said with a laugh. “Seamus is just becoming a really, really good football player. He put in the work in the offseason to get where he is now. He’s a great teammate. He’s really establishing himself as a real deal, ECC football player.”
In addition to those plays, the Centaurs did get another big defensive play from Saracina.
Senior defensive lineman Evan Roy started the play as he put heavy pressure on Montville’s quarterback who forced a throw and Saracina was waiting at the Centaurs 40-yard line.
He intercepted the pass on the right hash, slipped to the middle of the field, got to the left side sidelines and outran the defense.
The 60-yard return was the second pick-6 of the season for Saracina.
On the more garden-variety offensive plays, David Bunning (3 carries, 33 yards) scored on a 25-yard run and Trevor Savoie (11 carries, 80 yards) fought his way through the line to push another in from five yards out.
Richardson didn’t have to pass the ball often as he completed only four of seven passes for 86 yards. In addition to the touchdown to McDermott, Carter Morissette added a 15-yard touchdown catch.
Halfway through the season, Woodstock Academy is 3-2.
“We’re taking it week-by-week,” Saucier said. “Considering everything we’ve been through sitting at 3-2 is a great thing. We know we have the tougher part of our schedule coming up but it’s irrelevant. We’re going to do what we do. We’re going to stay together, play hard, compete and that’s all we need to worry about.”
The Centaurs return home Saturday for a non-league home game against Guilford at noon at the Bentley Athletic Complex.
