Sports

South Windsor Defeats Rockville 39-0 in Rivalry Game

Seniors James Nyarko and Ryan McDonald lead the Bobcats past the Rams on Thanksgiving Day.

For the sixth consecutive year, the Thanksgiving Trophy will call South Windsor home.

The South Windsor High football team concluded its season in style with a 39-0 victory over rival Rockville High on Thanksgiving Day in South Windsor.

The Bobcats (1-10) earned their first victory of the year by playing good, old-fashioned smash-mouth football.

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Senior running back James Nyarko rushed for 171 yards on 14 carries and a score, while quarterback Ryan McDonald ran for 61 yards and three touchdowns, while throwing for another. Running back Deniro Edwards (6 carries, 51 yards) also ran for a touchdown and Mike Kelly caught a screen pass and rumbled 63 yards down the left sideline for another score as South Windsor dominated.

Bobcats head coach Mike Bullock said that there was no science behind the team’s approach on offense.

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“In weather like this, you just want to keep the ball moving,” Bullock said. “All year long, we were the smallest team. Today, we were the much bigger team. So we figured we’d use our size and speed. Our definite strength this year has been our running backs, and we decided to use it to our advantage.

Rockville (0-11), for its part, struggled all afternoon as South Windsor turned in its best performance on defense all season.

Indeed, the Rams gained just 60 yards on the ground all game and earned just two first downs. Shawn Golding led Rockville with 32 yards on seven carries.

Head coach Steve Schortman thanked his players for their effort during a tough season and that the work for next season starts now.

“Now is time to get in the weight room and working for the future,” Schortman said. “It was a really rough year. Going oh-fer is not any coaches or player’s dream record, but at the same time I wanted to let them know they are successful and don’t let this game dictate how they go through life.”

Bullock, whose team suffered numerous injuries throughout the year, had a similar message for his players.

“I was proud with how they faced adversity, working hard, coming to practice and keeping a good attitude. I couldn’t ask more from them as a coach,” Bullock said.

South Windsor was left to thinking about what might have been if it remained somewhat healthy this year.

Nyarko, South Windsor’s bruising running back, was limited to just six games due to injury, yet he gained more than 1,000 yards and scored nine touchdowns.

“I have no doubt that, if he stayed healthy, he’d be All-State,” Bullock said.


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