STRATFORD, Conn. — Perseverance paid off for former Bunnell (Stratford) standout Marcus Easley, who was picked in the fourth round of the NFL draft, 107th overall, by the Buffalo Bills last week.
Easley, a 6-foot-2, 210-pound wide receiver, was an all-state selection during his senior year in high school, but had to fight to earn a spot on the University of Connecticut Huskies football team.
Easley had little production with the Huskies at first, but excelled down the stretch with 46 catches for 867 yards and eight touchdowns in his final nine games at UConn.
"If he would’ve had more production he wouldn’t have been here at this pick," Bills scout Tom Roth said on the Buffalo Bills' Web site. "He has a lot of upside, (and) as a player he’s big, fast and strong. He’s very good underneath on drags and vertically. He has strong hands to make the catch. He’s not a juker like Roscoe (Parrish), but he has the strength to break tackles."
Easley finished his senior year at UConn as the Huskies leader in receptions (48), yards receiving (893), receiving touchdowns (8) and average yards receiving per game (68.7). Easley had just five catches for 104 yards and no touchdowns during his freshman through junior years.
"My first year I didn’t see any playing time, but cracked the two deep," Easley said on BuffaloBills.com. "My second season I played a little bit of special teams and a little bit on offense, but wasn’t really a major contributor. The following season I was a little more active on the field, mainly just blocking and playing on special teams. Then this past season I didn’t really see much playing time the first three or four games, but I ended up breaking out on the scene in the Pitt game."
2. Norwalk baseball hands Ludlowe its first loss: The Norwalk Bears became the first baseball team to solve the Fairfield-Ludlowe Falcons this season when they rolled to an 8-1 victory at Malmquist Field on April 29.
The win gave the Bears records of 6-4 overall and 6-2 in the FCIAC, while Ludlowe, which came back to beat Stamford the following day, is 10-1 and 8-1, respectively. Greenwich is the lone unbeaten team in the FCIAC, as the Cardinals own records of 12-0 overall and 11-0 in league play.
Ludlowe entered the game at Norwalk with some gaudy offensive numbers. The Falcons had scored 122 runs in their first nine games for an average of 13.5 per game. They’ve scored in double digits in eight of their 11 games and have topped 20 twice. That didn’t seem to make any difference to Norwalk junior pitcher James Cooksey, who fired a complete game at the Falcons, allowing just one run on two hits in seven innings. He also overcame five Norwalk errors to get the victory.
The big inning for the Bears was the bottom of the fourth, when they scored three times to take a 4-1 lead. Doug Weeks had an RBI single to gain the lead, while Chris Kassimis belted a two-run home run with two outs.
In the fifth, Cooksey helped the cause at the plate with a two-run double, part of another three-run inning for the Bears. The final run scored in the sixth on an RBI double by Spencer Jacoby. Cooksey retired the final eight batters to nail down the win.
3. Darien boys upend rival Wilton: In a rematch of last year’s State Class M championship, the Darien Blue Wave upended the Wilton Warriors, 9-3, April 22 under the lights at Tom Fujitani Field. Darien last faced the Warriors in the 2009 Class M final and won that game, 17-11.
This time around, the Blue Wave led 3-2 at halftime before scoring four straight goals to open the third quarter. Darien outscored Wilton 6-1 in the second half.
The Blue Wave is 6-2 overall and 5-0 in the FCIAC — one of three teams still undefeated in conference play. Staples is 6-0 overall and 5-0 in the league, while New Canaan is 5-1 overall and 4-0 in the league. Darien and New Canaan will square off on Saturday at 3 p.m. at DHS. The Warriors dropped to 3-3 overall and 3-2 in the FCIAC.
Darien head coach Jeff Brameier downplayed the importance of the victory
"It’s regular-season," Brameier said. "It’s just prelim to seeing them again, if not once, then twice. We are just happy we came out and played a better second half."
Brian Annecchino led the Wave with a four-goal performance, while Henry West had a hat trick. Graham Maybell notched two goals, while Case Matheis and Brian Gleason had one assist apiece. Goalie Andrew West had a huge game, racking up 17 saves. For Wilton, goalie Sam Somers collected 12 saves.
4. New Canaan comes up big versus Big Red: The New Canaan Rams outscored the Lawrenceville Big Red 8-1 during the final two-and-a-half quarters to overcome a 6-1 deficit and win 9-7 on April 21 at Dunning Field.
The victory over the New Jersey power was a big one for New Canaan, which is in a tough stretch of games, which includes St. Anthony’s and Garden City of New York, as well as rival Darien. The Rams, who fell to St. Anthony’s on Saturday 13-8, are 6-2 this season.
New Canaan received big games from senior Cody Newton, who scored four goals, and Joe Costigan, who had a hat trick. Costigan, a junior, recently committed to play lacrosse at the University of North Carolina. Ram senior Todd Bratches scored once and had an assist, while senior Oliver Norton had one goal. For Lawrenceville, Westy Hopkins had four goals and two assists, while Mark Leonhard, Nick Ogden and Brendan Newman also scored.
The Big Red built a big lead in the second quarter. Hopkins had three goals during a span of 1:25 to make it a 6-1 game with 5:53 remaining before the break. New Canaan fought back with two goals to make it 6-3 at halftime, and then continued the rally in the third quarter, eventually tying the score at 6-6 on a goal by Newton. Hopkins responded with his fourth goal to give Lawrenceville a one-goal lead heading to the fourth.
Newton then tied it again before Bratches gave the Rams their first lead at 8-7 with 5:51 to play. Costigan then shut the door with a goal with 1:58 remaining.
5. Wave girls nip Greenwich in FCIAC showdown: Seniors Lanning McDonald and Corinne Sommi combined for three goals in the final 6:01 as the Darien Blue Wave girls lacrosse team toppled Greenwich, 15-13, in a game that had tremendous implications on the FCIAC playoff race.
Darien is unbeaten in conference play and has already beaten its three top challengers for the No. 1 seed: New Canaan, Wilton and Greenwich. The Blue Wave should thus finish the season as the league’s top-ranked team.
The Cardinals, New Canaan Rams and Wilton Warriors have all lost to Darien, giving the Blue Wave the tiebreakers against all three. Darien received several big efforts in the spotlight against Greenwich. Senior co-captain Cali Ceglarski racked up four goals and an assist, McDonald had a hat trick and two assists, and Sommi scored three goals.
The score was tied at 12-12 with less than 10 minutes remaining, before McDonald took a feed from Ann Fucigna and scored the go-ahead goal with 6:01 to play. Sommi added a pair of goals in the final 4:29 and the Wave held on to win by two. Also for Darien, senior co-captain Liz Calby netted two goals; Fucigna had two goals and one assist, and Ellie Bullitt scored once. Freshman goalie Caylee Waters and junior Claire Dickson each made three saves.
Greenwich received a huge performance from sophomore attack Claire Feeney, who collected a game-best seven goals. Sarah Kramer added two goals and two assists; Taylor Stafford had two goals and one assist; Shannon Colligan scored once; Storm Kodde had two assists, and Maddie Johnson had one assist.
Goalies Kaitlin Bedford (two saves) and Hannah Jeffrey (eight) both saw time in the net for the Cards.
Dave Stewart, the Sports Editor of the New Canaan (Conn.) Advertiser, is a MaxPreps.com writer and photographer. He may be reached at 203-966-9541 or at sports@ncadvertiser.com.