Fans across the Naugatuck Valley League were wondering if the Derby Red Raiders were for real.
Maybe they have their answer, as Derby overpowered the Seymour Wildcats Friday, 34 – 20 in front of roughly 2,500 people at DeFilippo Field.
The Wildcats came into the game banged-up. Their senior QB, Connor Shugrue, and their senior RB, Taylor Searles, are both out with injuries.
Derby came into this game with a sophomore QB and some “spunk,” after an upset win at Naugatuck last week.
Fumbles were the main attraction at Friday’s contest, as well as field position.
Seymour coughed-up the ball three times, while Derby coughed-it-up four times. Derby’s defense was also very tough on Seymour throughout the game.
Despite the three scores by Seymour, the Cats could never really get things going.
The turnovers played a big part in the first half and allowed the Cats to stay in the game.
The contest was knotted at 7 – 7 after one quarter of play. Derby’s D’Ron Conyers bulled his way into the end zone for a 3‑yard TD, while Seymour’s Bob Gombos scooped-up a Derby fumble and returned it 30-yards for a TD.
Derby came out rushing the ball, but quickly realized it could take advantage of Seymour’s porous secondary with young Ray Krieger at the helm. Krieger got his team into Seymour territory on strikes up the middle of the field. Derby’s Conyers, Jacob Tomczak, and Zach Salazar were having a field day catching balls. Salazar also came up big on defense with over three tackles for loss.
Derby’s Jessie Gilbert contributed with sacks and plays in the Seymour backfield. Greg Timpko recovered a fumble deep in Seymour territory just before halftime for the Raiders. Rich Gonzales was also stuffing the run and making plays on defense for the Raiders.
Derby’s second score was setup by a fantastic 49-yard hook-up through the air from Krieger to Linbert Cousley, which setup the 8‑yard TD scamper by D’Ron Conyers. The Raiders took this lead into the half, as the Cats’ offense had all sorts of trouble getting into Derby territory.
Each team capitalized on each other’s fumbles for scores.
Derby knew it would have to hold on to the ball in order to pull out the win. Derby had to find a way to utilize Krieger’s gun.
“My receivers really helped me out,” Krieger said. “They’re awesome. They really stepped-it-up tonight catching the ball.”
Krieger also gave credit to his line, commending them on a solid job holding blocks, allowing him to survey the field and his receivers.
After receiving the ball at the start of the second half, Derby fumbled on its first play. Seymour then capped a 9‑play drive which resulted in a 10-yard TD pass from freshman QB Mike Conlan to junior WR Mike Fraser with 8:55 remaining in the third quarter.
The score was tied at 14 – 14.
Derby had to kick it into gear.
Krieger connected with Cousley on a key third-and-long for a 16-yard gain that kept Derby’s drive alive. The 78-yard drive chewed-up a little over three minutes and a 3‑yard rushing TD by Cousley to give Derby a 21 – 14 lead.
Derby had the chance to take a two-possession lead but the Cats came up huge by blocking the Luis Casco FG attempt. Seymour’s next drive stalled deep in their own territory and they were forced to punt.
The Raiders took over on the Cats’ 43-yard line. That’s when the two sophomores, Krieger and Tomczak, hooked-up on second down for a 43-yard TD to give Derby a 28 – 14 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Seymour tried to get back in the game but big #62 for Derby, Jessie Gilbert, wasn’t having any of it.
Gilbert came up with a big sack on second down and forced Seymour to pass the ball on third-and-long. A pass interference penalty kept the drive alive for Seymour and it later resulted in a 15-yard TD pass from Conlan to Jon Wilson on 4th and 7 with 7:35 remaining in the contest. Seymour failed on the PAT, leaving the score at 28 – 20, Derby.
Suddenly, we had another game on our hands.
The skeptics in attendance were wondering whether Derby would close the door on Seymour.
The smallest guy on the Derby offense, junior Rashawn “Ra Ra” Hendricks, took a hand-off 50 yards deep into Seymour territory. Hendricks added a 20-yard rush two plays later to bring Derby to the Seymour 13-yard line.
After milking some time off of the clock, Derby punched-it-in with Conyers’ third rushing touchdown of the night, a two-yard spin-move through the heart of the Seymour defense right into the end zone.
Although Conyers had trouble holding on to the ball, with three fumbles, he redeemed himself big-time by scoring three much-needed touchdowns in the contest. Derby’s PAT failed.
The score was now 34 – 20 with 3:48 remaining in the contest.
On its ensuing possession, Seymour turned the ball over on downs near midfield. Derby ran a couple of plays and eventually took a knee to seal the deal.
The roar from the crowd was something Derbyites haven’t heard in years.
Derby coach Carmen Dicenso commented on what it was like to play the Seymour Wildcats once again.
“Oh, it’s been great, you know? I mean, years ago I played against them and we’ve always had them in our league up until ’94. It’s great. Last week we had Naugatuck, Seymour, then we’re going to have Ansonia and Shelton.”
“This is an absolute huge win, huge win,” Krieger said. “Great win for our program.”
Derby improves to 3 – 1, while Seymour drops to 0 – 4.
Derby takes its three-game winning streak to battle Watertown at 7 p.m. on Oct. 16, while Seymour hosts FCIAC powerhouse New Canaan at 7 p.m. Oct. 16.
