Capital Prep’s Mike Jones bursts through the middle for a 12-yard touchdown run in the final moments of a 27-18 victory over Bullard-Havens Saturday Oct. 12, 2013
BRIDGEPORT >> For three quarters, Capital Prep’s Co-Op looked like anything but the CSC juggernaut it has been for the past two seasons.
Bullard-Havens stuffed the Trailblazers on fourth downs, it picked off passes, forced and recovered fumbles and had observers wondering if the talented duo of Mike Jones and Bennie Fulse were even playing.
Both Capital Prep stars were present. They made that abundantly clear in the second half.
Fulse got the Trailblazers going with a pair of touchdown runs and Jones scored two decisive touchdowns the fourth quarter as Capital Prep rallied from 12 points down to beat back Bullard-Havens 27-18 Saturday afternoon at Bullard Havens.
Capital, which stunned the state with its rout of New London earlier this year, remain undefeated. But the Trailblazers were wiping the sweat off their brows afterward.
“The kids were getting — you know — a little cockier than they should be,” Capital Prep coach Chris Fulton said. “We as coaches have been trying to get them to take practices and games seriously because… sometimes they see the film and they say, ‘We got this.’
“Bullard-Havens has been historically a tough team, gritty and well coached. John Johnson is an excellent coach, one of the best. I think he’s under the radar. I knew they would come out tough and we didn’t come out the way we should have come out to play today.”
They finally awoke, but it took some time. Capital was down 12-0 at halftime thanks to a couple of turnovers which gave the Tigers sweet field possession, and fell behind 18-6 thanks to a errant punt snap that led to another Bullard-Havens touchdown.
“We thought it was going to be a run over,” said Fulse, the 5-9, 185-pound sophomore. “But it was one of those things that, we got punched in the mouth. We had to just punch back.”
Fulse scored his second touchdown of the day on a 58-yard run to pull Capital within 18-13. On the first play of the fourth quarter, the hulking, 6-0, 235-pound Jones burst 60 yards for the go-ahead score.
Throughout it all, Fulton said he never panicked. “I never thought we’d lose the game. I’d be walking off the field shocked if we’d lost,” he said. “We still felt our kids could do the things that they do. At the end, we said, let’s just wear them out, let’s get big and do what we have to do to win.”
Capital Prep still couldn’t put the Tigers away until Jones’ 12-yard touchdown run with under a minute remaining.
Bullard-Havens quarterback Chris McNamara led the tigers with two touchdown runs and threw a touchdown pass to Alberto Moya. Justin Banks had an interception and Trayvis Keitt and Wesley Raffington both had fumble recoveries for Bullard-Havens.
“We just had to gel together as a team and do what we had to do to win,” Fulse said. “It’s a long road.”
CAPITAL PREP 0 0 13 14 — 27
BULLARD HAVENS 6 6 6 — 18
- BH–Alberto Moya 3 pass Chris McNamara (run failed)
- BH–McNamara 3 run (pass failed)
- CP–Bennie Fulse 20 run (kick failed)
- BH–McNamara 4 run (pass failed)
- CP–Fulse 58 run (Chase Briley kick)
- CP–Mike Jones 50 run (Briley kick)
- CP–Jones 5 run (Briley kick)
Team records: Capital Prep 5-0, Bullard-Havens 2-3
