Yellowjackets football outlasts Bulldogs, 13-0

WINSTED — The Yellowjackets football team built an insurmountable defensive wall in their 13-0 hometown victory over the Stafford-East Windsor Bulldogs on Friday, Oct. 8.

Gilbert-Northwestern opened the affair with a short kickoff return. Yellowjacket quarterback Bobby Lippincott immediately found tight end Sean Fitzgerald with a clean pass for the first GN first down of the game.

Jackets Kyle Jones and Devon Molway combined on the rush for another first down.

GN continued to battle out additional first down yardage on the rush and quarterback keepers, inching deeper into the Bulldogs’ end.

The partnership that began the drive finished it, as Lippincott connected with Fitzgerald again on a touchdown pass. GN took the lead early, 6-0.

The Bulldogs’ chances of building a bit of offensive momentum of their own were immediately squashed as the Jacket defense quite literally swarmed Stafford-East Windsor. A few quick plays later, GN forced a fumble that was hastily recovered by Yellowjacket Zach Gain.

Lippincott went to work on the next drive, connecting on a good passing game while working out of trouble on yard-gobbling quarterback keepers. Just shy of their second touchdown, the Jacket offense lost steam, but they hung on to their 6-0 lead heading into the second quarter.

The Jacket defense continued to bewilder the Bulldog offense and landed another momentum-killing blow off a huge sack by Jackson Reidy. With their backs to the goal line, Stafford-East Windsor was forced to punt away possession.

GN was plagued by penalties throughout the game, and would often find the liveliness drained from their offense with each flag thrown. The Jackets coughed up possession to the Bulldogs on a fumble of their own, but quickly dismantled Stafford again with another sack by J.P. Dulac. GN wasted little time on the next drive, with a neat little pass from Lippincott to Fitzgerald for the second touchdown of the game. Dulac added the extra point to bring GN’s lead to 13-0.

Molway was superb on the Jackets’ final drive before the halftime break, blasting up the middle. Lippincott continued to locate and connect with Fitzgerald, hitting him once for a first down and once again on the next play. In the dying seconds and out of reach of a touchdown, Dulac attempted a field goal from far out, but was unable to connect. The Jackets held onto their 13-0 lead heading into the break.

The second half seemed to drag on endlessly, as the Jackets worked against their own offensive effort with repeated penalties. The Bulldogs remained puzzled as how to work around GN’s defense and finish a drive. The Jackets were able to produce offensively, but their first half edge seemed to disappear, making it difficult to finish out a drive. Despite some late offensive opportunities for Stafford, the Jackets were able to hold onto their lead to take the 13-0 win at home.

GN remains perfect this season with a record of 4-0, while Stafford-East Windsor still looks for their first win at 0-4.

Latest News

Nuvance hospital system to merge with Northwell Health

Sharon Hospital would become part of a larger regional health systems with 28 hospitals.

Yehyun Kim/CTMirror.org

Nuvance Health, which owns four hospitals in Connecticut and three in New York, will merge with Northwell Health to form a larger regional health system across two states.

Together, the companies will own 28 hospitals and more than 1,000 sites of care and employ 14,500 providers.

Keep ReadingShow less
Millerton director is an Oscar nominee

Arlo Washington in a film still from the Oscar-nominated short "The Barber of Little Rock."

Story Syndicate

John Hoffman, a Millerton resident, has been nominated for his film “The Barber of Little Rock,” which he co-directed with Christine Turner, in the Best Documentary Short Film category at the upcoming 96th Academy Awards.

Distributed by The New Yorker and produced by Story Syndicate Production in association with 59th & Prairie, Better World Projects, and Peralta Pictures, “The Barber of Little Rock” explores the efforts of Arkansas local hero Arlo Washington, who opened a barbershop at 19 years old and, with a mission to close the racial inequality gap in his community, went on to found the Washington Barber College as well as People Trust Community Federal Credit Union. Washington’s goal is aiding his primarily Black neighborhood, which has historically been underserved by more prominent banking institutions.

Keep ReadingShow less
Inside Troutbeck's kitchen

Chef Vincent Gilberti

Courtesy of Troutbeck

About growing up in Carmel, New York, Troutbeck’s executive chef Vincent Gilberti said he was fortunate to have a lot of family close by, and time together was always centered around food.

His grandparents in White Plains always made sure to have a supply of cured meats, olives, cheeses and crusty bread during their weekend visits. But it wasn’t until his family moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, when he was 16 that his passion for food really began. It was there that he joined the German Club, whose partnership with Johnson & Wales University first introduced him to cooking.

Keep ReadingShow less
Some say the world will end in fire. Ice is also possible.
Eliza Osborne

Today it feels like all life won’t end tomorrow, but a week or so ago not so much. Man oh man it was cold. It. Was. Cold. Could see your breath freezing in the air when you tried to talk. Seemed like no one would hear what you said until the vapor cloud thawed out sometime next spring. Didn’t want to go out. Didn’t want to get up. Didn’t want to do much of anything but sit around with my blankie. Probably freeze to death just walking from the house to the car.

Which, inevitably, led to thoughts about mortality. I know plenty of people who think you might as well go ahead and eat as much bacon as you want before you go, at least you’ll die happy. If you’re one of them, this might help you check that one off your bucket list.

Keep ReadingShow less