Ellington quarterback Aaron Ladr had a career night last Friday.
Ladr, a junior, broke a school single-game passing record when he threw for 370 yards and four touchdowns in a 48-0 win over Coventry/Windham Tech/Bolton.
“As a junior, that is quite the achievement, so our team and coaches were extremely happy for him,” Ellington coach Brady Johnson said. “He is the ideal football player you want on your team, not only because of the skills he possesses but because he truly is a student of the game. His preparation during game week is unmatched; he spends countless hours watching film. During the game, he’s always quick after an offensive drive to check out maybe reads he didn’t see during the last drive and makes corrections to his game as he goes. He’s really adaptable to whatever defenses throw at him.”
Johnson is in his first year of coaching at Ellington (4-1), whose only loss is to Stafford on Oct. 4. Ellington’s closest game was a 20-19 overtime win over Coginchaug Sept. 20.
“We look back to that game a lot during our weeks when we prepare for other teams and we just talk about how we want to be a gritty team that never gives up,” Johnson said. “It’s great to see our kids are buying into that role as the challenge arises.”
Ladr completed 18 of 29 passes on Friday. His longest was a 60-yard pass to senior Matt Duddy. He has passed for 989 yards and seven touchdowns this season after passing for 19 touchdowns last year when Ellington went 4-6.
While many other schools had their bye week last week, resulting in a lighter schedule in the state, Ellington has its bye this week. The Knights’ next game is Oct. 24 against the CREC Co-op. Then they will close out their schedule with Granby/Canton (2-1), Capital Prep (4-0) and Rockville (5-0) as three of their last four opponents.
Here are some of the top performances from last week:
Jonathan Kasamba, Rockville: Kasamba had 10 tackles and two sacks as Rockville shut out the Stafford co-op 20-0 Thursday.
Bryce LaCoss, Haddam-Killingworth: LaCoss had a 37-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and threw three touchdown passes for H-K in a 43-0 win over Morgan/Old Saybrook/Westbrook Thursday night.
Nick Miller, Cheshire: Miller had 21 carries, 150 yards and a touchdown in the third quarter on a 42-yard run as Cheshire beat Foran 31-3.
Jake O’Brien, Sheehan: O’Brien completed 9 of 13 passes for 199 yards and rushed for 118 yards for a total of 317 yards and six touchdowns (two passing, four rushing) in Sheehan’s 47-20 victory over Hamden.
Brady Ramsdell, Rockville: Ramsdell was 14 for 21 for 201 yards and a touchdown as Rockville went to 5-0 with a 20-0 win over Stafford/Somers/East Windsor Thursday.
