The Derby Red Raiders’ visit Friday night to John Mills Field certainly did not start well. It ended even worse.
Turnovers and a strong running game helped the home standing Watertown Indians string together 42 unanswered points en route to a 49 – 14 victory.
Derby’s long night began early as Watertown running back Tim Kinsella took the opening kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown and an early 7 – 0 lead.
Although Derby failed to score on its first possession, Watertown’s next drive stalled out after the Indians moved the ball 31 yards, fading out after reaching Derby’s 25-yard line.
Derby capitalized quickly, covering much of the 75 yards with a 66-yard hookup from sophomore quarterback Ray Krieger to sophomore wide receiver Jacob Tomczak. Kreiger found Tomczak again later in the drive for a 5‑yard touchdown pass, tying the score with 3:54 left in the first quarter.
The score would be the final points for Derby until the third quarter as Watertown turned it on from there.
Although Derby recovered a Watertown fumble to disrupt an Indians’ drive at the Raiders’ 28-yard line, Derby couldn’t make much of the opportunity, moving just 12 yards before punting it away.
Watertown took the lead it would never relinquish at the 10:34 mark of the second quarter with a 53-yard run from Indians running back Ryan Lundy.
A possession later, Watertown moved 77 yards toward the end of the quarter, largely on runs by Lundy, Kinsella and Anton Galaganov. Quarterback Matt Quatrano cashed in the drive when he connected with C.J. Bendler for a 17-yard touchdown with 3:17 remaining in the second quarter.
Quatrano later hooked up with Tony Simpson on a 32-yard pass, setting up a Galaganov 3‑yard run to finish a 79-yard drive with less than a minute to go in the half.
“We just didn’t play well. They came to play and we didn’t,” lamented Derby Head Coach Carmen DiCenso. “They were better than us tonight up front and beat us up”
The second half would be no better for the Raiders. Quatrano, playing defense, picked off Krieger’s second pass of the second half, giving the Indians the ball at Derby’s 22-yard line. Quatrano found Simpson again, this time for a 22-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 35 – 7.
Derby appeared to be making progress on its ensuing drive, reaching the Watertown 17-yard line when Krieger found Tomczak on a 55-yard strike. But a bad snap caused a 15-yard loss on the second play. Derby turned the ball over on downs after failing to connect on three straight pass attempts.
Watertown found the endzone again after taking over. Keyed by a 25-yard Galaganov run, Kinsella scored on a 4‑yard run with 5:39 left in the third.
Derby’s painful second half was punctuated just 29 seconds later. A snap to senior running back D’Ron Conyers was off target and the ball landed in the endzone, where Watertown’s Hector MacHado recovered to give the Indians their seventh touchdown of the game.
Derby finally got on the scoreboard again late in the third when Mark McCormick ran 60 yards on the Raiders’ next possession. But the game was long decided.
DiCenso suggested it might be time for the team to work on a lot of things as it moves on with the season. “We just have to practice harder. That’s it,” he said.
Derby (3 – 2) will host Wolcott at 7 p.m. next Friday.
