Football Recap: Game 3

By: Patrick Dallahan '23

On Saturday, October 8, the Winged Beavers made the trip down to Choate Rosemary Hall for a rematch of last year’s 50–19 beatdown, a dominant Avon Old Farms win. Choate came out of the gates hot, scoring on both of their first two drives and going up 13–0 in the first quarter. 

Choate started the second quarter with more of the same: lots of scoring and shutdown defense, going up 23–0 before AOF registered their first points of the game.

The Avon offense found their way into the endzone once before halftime, cutting the lead to 23–7 with a short touchdown pass to Jackson Harper ’23. It was his first of three house calls on the day.

Choate came out hot again to start the second half, going up 36–7 and seemingly putting the game on ice. It started to look like Choate was giving Avon a taste of their own medicine, reminding the Winged Beavers of how unrelenting AOF was to the Wild Boars last season.

The Winged Beavers had other plans. 

The AOF offense and defense both flipped a switch of some sort, with the Avon offense seemingly scoring whenever they wanted to. The defense became a brick wall, allowing very little yardage on the run and pressuring Choate’s quarterback at every chance they had. Avon scored 28 consecutive points (21 of which coming in the fourth quarter), the score now 36–35 with 40 seconds to play. Unfortunately, AOF was unable to convert on the two-point chance, with the final score being the same: 36–35.

Ryan Puglisi ’24 finished with 384 passing yards, three passing touchdowns, and a rushing touchdown. Jackson Harper finished with 13 receptions, 170 yards, and three touchdowns, while Luke Thorbahn ’23 made his way into the endzone on a rushing touchdown to put the game within one point. 

The Winged Beavers may have fallen to 1–2, but this game speaks volumes about this group—a group who won’t go down without a fight; a group who prides itself on being resilient and tough; a group filled with competitors who will not lay down and let their opponents take their pride and walk all over them; a group who will play absolute hardest, whether they are up 100–0 or down 100–0.

Avon Old Farms has an opportunity to get back on track this Friday, a Family Weekend night time matchup at home against the Hotchkiss Bearcats.