GLASTONBURY – The Glastonbury football team had just chewed up a lot of time on the clock in the third quarter in the game Thursday night against Maloney with a 17-play drive that culminated in a touchdown.
With 2:33 left, Maloney got the ball on its own 38. Three plays and a little over a minute later, there was senior receiver Jesus Martell beating his defender and putting himself in place for his quarterback Ethan Nedinsky to send a touchdown pass his way.
Glastonbury had cut Maloney’s lead to seven. And quickly, after Martell scored on the 33-yard play and the PAT was good, Maloney had a comfortable lead again.
Martell and Nedinsky, also a senior, connected four times for touchdowns Thursday night in Maloney’s 41-27 win in the CCC Tier I game. Martell had 201 receiving yards for the Spartans (1-1).
Ethan Nedinsky to Jesus Martell TD 35 yards, Maloney leads 21-14 5:59 left 2Q #cthsfb pic.twitter.com/MneOxUcqKv
— Lori Riley (@lrileysports) September 19, 2024
“We really started to connect a lot of times for touchdowns last year,” Nedinsky said. “Getting closer and closer every day with him. He’s such a big part of this team.
“He’s tall. He goes up and gets the thing. Makes my life easy.”
Martell, 6-3, also plays basketball and runs track. He’s tough to defend.
“Those two got a good connection,” Maloney coach Kevin Frederick said. “I’m not surprised. They worked hard in the offseason together. Jesus is long, he’s rangy, he’s got good speed. Ethan gets the ball out to him.”
Martell scored his first touchdown in the first quarter, on a 47-yard pass, to give the Spartans a 14-7 lead. In the second quarter, he hauled in a 30-yard pass from Nedinsky with 5:59 left to put Maloney up 21-14 and the two connected again on a 27-yard TD pass with 2:07 left in the half to give Maloney a 28-14 lead going into halftime.
On that pass, Martell dove in front of the Glastonbury defender in the end zone to make the catch.
Maloney answers with an Ethan Nedinsky TD pass and Spartans lead 35-21 1:16 left 3Q #cthsfb pic.twitter.com/eseC9JoMsd
— Lori Riley (@lrileysports) September 20, 2024
“First, I got to worry about beating my defender off the release and winning the route,” Martell said. “Then it’s all about tracking the ball. That’s how you put points on the board.”
Martell said he and Nedinsky have been building that connection since they were freshmen.
“It’s been getting better and better and as you could see (Thursday night), it was amazing,” Martell said. “What he does that I appreciate is definitely put the ball in the right spot at all times. He always has good ball placement.
“He has a great mindset. I love having him as my QB.”
Ethan Nedinsky TD pass to Jesus Martell, Maloney leads 27-14 2:07 left first half #cthsfb pic.twitter.com/xk1vSwJ4Z6
— Lori Riley (@lrileysports) September 19, 2024
Last year, Martell had over 800 receiving yards to lead the Spartans, who advanced to the Class L semifinals where they lost to New Canaan. Maloney lost to New Canaan in the season opener 42-13 and could not capitalize in the red zone more than once. So the Spartans came to Glastonbury with something to prove.
“We was in the red zone five times (against New Canaan) and couldn’t get any points,” Martell said. “I felt like we cut down on most of our mistakes and we’re just getting better as a team.”
Frederick also likes the fact that he has options. Senior Messiah Abrahante caught a touchdown pass in the fourth quarter Thursday and senior running back Donald Highsmith had 125 yards and a first-quarter touchdown.
“I was happy we were able to spread it out,” Frederick said. Donald ran the ball well. Jayden Reed ran the ball well, Messiah caught the ball well.
“I mean teams are going to try to take Jesus away. So, we got to find other guys to get involved – it’s harder to defend us.”