Plainfield High football has tripled its win total from last ... only five games into 2023
It was Youth Night and Homecoming at Plainfield High School on Friday night. And the Panthers football team didn’t disappoint.
Kaleb Moore rushed for 188 yards and scored three touchdowns, Brayden Rizer tossed a big fourth-quarter touchdown pass to Ethyn Russell-Lyons, and Plainfield held off Tiverton (R.I.), 29-14.
“This is a long time coming,” Plainfield coach Patrick Smith said. “It was just a gritty, gritty game both ways back and forth. Our kids showed up and learned how to win tonight. It feels great.”
Tiverton led 6-0 on quarterback Benjamin’s Troia’s 9-yard TD run with 4:54 left in the first quarter. Plainfield, however, answered on their next possession with Moore scoring from four yards out. Kaison Mayernik’s extra point kick gave the Panthers a 7-6 lead.
Plainfield stretched its lead to 15-6 early in the third quarter on Moore’s 3-yard run and Tony Navan's 2-point conversion run.
The Tigers (3-4) closed the gap to 15-14 on a 54-yard TD pass play from Troia to Evan Lapointe and Lapointe’s conversion run.
Early in the fourth quarter, Rizer found Lyons in the corner of the end zone on a fourth-and-6 play from the Tiverton 20-yard line and Plainfield led 22-14.
Navan finished with 91 yards on 12 carries, Lyons made three catches for 64 yards, and Rizer had an interception at the goal-line with 38.9 seconds left to secure the win.
What it means
After winning just one game a year ago, the Panthers improved to 3-2.
“Hats off to these kids on how hard they worked this week,” Smith said. “They came together. We talked about team all week and staying together. We had two tough defeats the last two weeks and got kind of smacked in the mouth a little bit against teams that were bigger and stronger and more physical. I told them to keep their heads, we have another game to play this week. It was a great practice week and it correlated to an excellent game.”
Key Play
Plainfield led 22-14 late in the third quarter and was just looking to get a first down and run the clock out when Moore burst through a seam around the right end and raced 60 yards for a touchdown with 1:47 remaining.
More: Plainfield football falls to former Pequot Conference foe North Branford
Unsung heroes
Plainfield’s offensive line: Patrick Denneny, Brayden Johnson, Jonathan Ramos, Jacob Audet, and Cole Cheney. “We got some push,” Smith said. “We found a wingback that likes to block and that’s always beneficial. We moved the pile basically tonight.”
They said it
“We had the Tony show early in the third quarter and we had the Kaleb show after,” Smith said. “They’re very complimentary in the backfield.”
More: Football preview: Plainfield continues rebuilding process
What’s next
Plainfield travels to Plainville on Friday, October 20.
This article originally appeared on The Bulletin: Plainfield High football earns big Homecoming Day win over Tiverton
