The Lonesome Polecat: Greenwich and a whole bunch more
Howdy,
There was a lot of uncertainty about which teams were going to be the best in state high school football prior to the start of the season but no one received more hype than Greenwich.
The Cardinals were No. 1 in the GameTimeCT.com preseason media poll. They were ranked first when The Day state coaches’ poll began after week 2.
Greenwich certainly looked the part when it jumped Southington early and led by 21 points after one quarter in a Sept. 24 game between two CIAC Class LL title contenders.
Southington rallied for a 29-28 win to both spoil the Cardinals’ day and homecoming weekend.
“After a tough loss against Southington, we kind of had a moment where we looked in the mirror and asked ourselves who we (were) as a team,” Greenwich senior James Wailgum said. “And I think that really helped our team as a whole grow together.
“I think that’s the glue holding us together right now. It wasn’t there before, really, and now we kind of have that bond. We all hate the feeling of losing and we know we don’t want to feel it again and I think that’s a big motivator.”
Wailgum did his part last Thursday during the Cardinals’ 34-27 win over Trumbull. He filled in for an ailing Charlie Dixon, who was a late scratch due to blood pooling above a knee that prevented him from bending it.
Wailgum moved to the X receiver spot (i.e. the main receiver) and had eight catches for 121 yards and two touchdowns.
“James said, ‘I’ll go to the X’,” Greenwich head coach Anthony Morello said. “(Junior) Gavyn (Gennarelli, who started in Dixon’s absence) knows the S (slot receiver), so a selfless decision by James to move positions for the best of the team.
“We didn’t take as many shots (downfield) as we may have done with Charlie out there but I’m still pretty pleased by how we finished.”
Junior Jaden Scott also filled in at inside linebacker in the absence of senior starter Sebastian Parra.
“It was all about next man up,” Morello said. “We’re fortunate enough to be able to do that.”
Greenwich (5-1) won in large part to its offense as the Eagles (4-2) struggled to stop it. It had an edge in both plays (75-44) and time of possession (32 minutes, 3 seconds to 15:43).
Senior Jack Wilson completed 20 of 33 passes for 247 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another for the Cardinals while George Vomvolakis ran 21 times for 122 yards and a touchdown. Gennarelli also caught a 12-yard touchdown pass.
“We wanted to take what Trumbull would give us,” Morello said. “We wanted to churn out first downs and try to give our defense a little bit of time off the field.
“When we’ve scored this year, we’ve scored very quickly with three-, four-play drives and the defense (goes) back out on the field. It’s sort of been the tale of the last few weeks where in the fourth quarter we have the lead and the defense gets tired and teams start throwing the ball around and start having success and we’re sort of (forced) to have to finish games offensively and that’s fine.”
Trumbull was able to do that to a point. The Cardinals got up 20-3 late in the second quarter, forcing the former to have to abandon the run. It’s had great success doing that this season with junior Rowan Johnston emerging as a game-breaker (he’s rushed for 913 yards and 19 touchdowns). He had just eight carries for 35 yards last Thursday.
Senior Hunter Agosti, the Eagles’ veteran quarterback, led touchdown drives of five and seven plays in the fourth quarter. He finished completing 20 of 30 passes for 269 yards with three touchdowns.
“We’ve just got to continue to have an answer to whatever the opponent gives us,” Morello said.
Greenwich was playing on a short week after beating St. Joseph, ranked sixth in The Day coaches’ poll, 36-26 on Oct. 14.
The Cardinals have a little extra time to prepare for this Saturday’s game at defending LL champion Darien. The latter is 4-2 but Morello was quick to point out that he’s never been part of a Greenwich team that’s beaten the Blue Wave as either the head coach or an assistant.
The Cardinals haven’t beaten Darien since Sept. 20, 2007 (28-7).
“That’s a great football team we were playing tonight (Trumbull),” Morello said. “We have a gauntlet of great football teams we’ve seen this year.”
• • • •
MANY games of note from Week 7:
No. 1 Southington 27, Windsor 20
Lincoln Cardillo ran for 140 yards and a touchdown and Owen Hunt added 56 yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries as the top-ranked Blue Knights got past Windsor.
Will Chapman had two sacks and a fumble recovery for Southington (6-0) and Caden Angelo and Chris Totonis each added eight tackles.
It was a bit of an odd win for the Blue Knights as their defense held the Warriors to 142 yards, but the latter used big plays to stay in the game.
AJ Robinson threw for 187 yards and two touchdowns, both to Cashmire Lewis, for Windsor (3-3).
The Warriors’ Chilli White scored on a 79-yard kickoff return with under a minute left to cut the Blue Knights’ lead to seven. The latter recovered the ensuing onside kick to ice the game.
One other thing about Windsor — don’t let its record fool you, as it has given everyone on its schedule fits, even in losses, and it would be a real pain to play should it qualify for the CIAC’s Class MM playoffs (it’s currently ranked No. 15 with the top eight teams qualifying in each division.)
Two of the Warriors losses came by a point, to Wethersfield (21-20, Sept. 9) and Shelton (22-21, Sept. 23). Wethersfield (5-1) is sixth in Class MM and Shelton (4-2) is eighth in Class L.
No. 5 West Haven 34, No. 8 Shelton 28
The Westies took a big lead early in the third quarter and then held on for another big win over the Gaels last Friday.
Sophomore Nick Conlan completed 12 of 20 passes for 198 yards and two touchdowns for West Haven (6-0), including one in which he was blasted as he threw. He also ran 12 times for 35 yards while Demarco Eady added four catches for 89 yards and a touchdown.
Avian Evans had two of the game’s biggest plays for the Blue Devils. He scored on a 72-yard interception return with seconds left in the first half to give his team a 22-8 halftime lead.
Evans then recovered a Shelton fumble on the first drive of the second half to give the Westies the short field for a touchdown and go up 28-8.
The Gaels (4-2) wouldn’t go away, though. Michael Kinik completed 18 of 29 passes for 305 yards and three touchdowns. Ricky Feola (five catches, 164 yards, one touchdown) and Kayne Tinney (nine catches, 120 yards, one touchdown) were his top targets.
Ryan Heinz had 14 tackles for Shelton.
Cheshire 27, No. 10 Notre Dame (West Haven variant) 12
OK, here’s the setup — Cheshire got bonked in Week 6 by Fairfield Prep, 33-10. It also lost quarterback Matthew Jeffery to injury in the third quarter with Joe, Joe Morelli-o of the GameTimeCT/Heart Monolith reporting that Jeffery was wearing a sling on his right throwing arm after the game.
The Green Knights, meanwhile, had won five in a row prior to last Friday. That included a 14-7 win over North Haven and they moved up to No. 10 in The Day coaches’ poll last week.
Those of you who are rational #cthsfb fans know, however, that the SCC’s Tier 1 is the state’s equivalent of a barbed wire cage with its teams messing one another up on a regular basis, leading to lots of attrition and what-not.
Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, Mike Simeone started at quarterback last Friday, Jeffery moved to receiver (?!) and the two hooked up for two touchdowns in the Rams’ 27-12 win over ND.
It makes total sense.
Jeffery Gonzalez ran 22 times for 102 yards and a touchdown while Simeone completed 4 of 10 passes for 63 yards and two touchdowns and ran 11 times for 110 yards for Cheshire (5-1) and Jeffery scored on passes of 24 and 1 yards. Connor Moran added 11 tackles, Evan Russo had six tackles (including 2.5 sacks), Lucas Chymbor had six tackles and two interceptions and Micah Galloza kicked field goals of 20 and 39 yards and three extra points.
Jacob Staton had 11 carries for 65 yards and two touchdowns for the Green Knights (4-2) and Matthew Piechota completed 19 of 29 passes for 246 yards.
It’s sure swell when a game lives up to the hype.
David Cassetti ran 29 times for 196 yards and three touchdowns, including a go-ahead 7-yard run with 6:25 left in the game, as the Chargers fought past the Crusaders between the Naugatuck Valley League’s two remaining unbeaten teams.
Ansonia (6-0) now stands alone atop the NVL. Same as it ever was, same as it ever was.
Friday’s game had seven lead changes. Holy Cross had a chance to make it eight and go ahead late as it had first-and-10 from the Chargers’ 22-yard line in the final minute, but three incompletions and an interception by Machi Ingram iced the game for The Lavender.
The Chargers’ Mekhi Henton-Garrett recovered a fumble in the end zone and Paul Palmer kicked a 31-yard field goal and four extra points. Ingram added 16 carries for 93 yards.
Drew Caouette completed 16 of 24 passes for 201 yards and three touchdowns, all of which were caught by Marques Campbell (nine catches, 102 yards). Tom Ligi added 21 carries for 94 yards and a score.
Ansonia and the Crusaders are ranked first and second, respectively, in the CIAC’s Class S division, so they could see one another soon.
We know it’s a long drive and there’s no easy way in or out of town, but SS contenders, if you haven’t been sending your scouts to Redding yet, then WESTWARD HO.
Danny Shaban and the Falcons were LO-OOOOdicrous in last Friday’s beatdown in a matchup of unbeaten South-West Conference programs. They scored 33 on five touchdowns in the second quarter alone, including four touchdowns in the final 3:37 of the first half.
Yowzah.
Shaban ran 12 times for 205 yards and four touchdowns and also tossed a 49-yard touchdown pass to Evan Corazzeli for Barlow (6-0). Mason Leavitt added five carries for 137 yards and a touchdown and Dylan Taylor ran seven times for 84 yards and a score.
The Falcons ran a total of 35 times for 465 yards and six touchdowns and that is so, so sexy.
Not to be overlooked, but Evan Corazzelli added nine tackles and an interception for Barlow, which led 40-0 at halftime.
The Falcons have to put all that fun behind it, though, as they’ll play their toughest opponent to date this Friday — at Newtown (5-1), a perennial SWC scourge.
Justin McCormack completed 15 of 28 passes for 215 yards and two touchdowns, both of which were caught by Jaden Arterberry (nine catches, 147 yards).
Mike O’Brien ran FORTY-TWO TIMES like a golldang man for 265 yards and two touchdowns as the Grizzlies handed Law its first loss of the season last Friday and put itself in great position to win the SCC Tier 3 title.
The Lawmen drove to the Guilford 15-yard line late in the game but fumbled the ball away. They had one last chance to win with the ball at midfield in the closing seconds but a long pass was knocked down.
Tyler Hilgert completed 13 of 19 passes for 182 yards and two touchdowns and ran six times for 58 yards and a score for Guilford (4-2, 2-0). Alejandro Colberg-Martinez had a team-high nine tackles and recovered a fumble.
The Grizzlies host Foran (6-0, 3-0) on Nov. 4 in a matchup between the only remaining unbeaten teams in the SCC Tier 3.
Dereck Ledee scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 5-yard run in overtime and the Eagles stopped Wilby on its possession for a wild come-from-behind win last Thursday.
Kennedy trailed 28-18 early in the fourth quarter before rallying. Elliott Giordano ran for a 3-yard touchdown and Daniel Rodriguez scored on the conversion to tie the game at 34 with 5:20 remaining.
Rodriguez ran 23 times for 230 yards and a touchdown and caught a 7-yard touchdown pass, Ledee threw two touchdown passes and Giordano scored on two 3-yard runs for the Eagles.
Aaron James ran 13 times for 157 yards and two touchdowns (including a 99-yarder) and threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Jaremiah Coleman for the Wildcats. James Richards added 24 carries for 238 yards and two scores.
Bloomfield 28, Hartford Public 24
Darrien Foster threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Davien Kerr with 24 seconds left to put the WARHAWKS ahead to stay.
Oxford 13, Waterbury Career Academy 12
Michael Dorosh ran for go-ahead 10-yard touchdown with 1:12 remaining and the WOLVERINES blocked a 46-yard field goal with seconds left to win a thriller last Thursday.
Nick Cuomo ran for 121 yards and a score for Oxford (3-3).
D’Vonte Lane ran 19 times for 102 yards and a touchdown for the Spartans (4-2) and Dasani Yates added nine carries for 79 yards and a score.
East Hartford 26, New Britain 25
Dravyn Roberts tied the game with a 15-yard touchdown run with 1:04 remaining and Nana Acheampong kicked the go-ahead extra point as the Hornets rallied for a win last Friday.
East Hartford trailed 25-13 with six minutes left.
Roberts ran 21 times for 175 yards and three touchdowns and completed 7 of 17 passes for 129 yards for East Hartford while Acheampong had 11 tackles.
Cam Bond ran 15 times for 101 yards and three touchdowns for New Britain.
Haddam-Killingworth 15, North Branford 14
H-K’s defense turned the Thunderbirds over on downs at its own 10-yard line with under a minute left to secure the win.
Alex Phipps threw touchdown passes to Tate Callender (39 yards) and Wyatt Solosky (5) for the Cougars. Callender also ran for a two-point conversion that put H-K ahead 15-6 in the fourth quarter.
Jack Meehan ran for a 17-yard touchdown and AJ Sigel threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to Ian Kamienski.
Northwest United 14, Wilcox Tech/Kaynor Tech 10
Ben Roden threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to Wesley Wilcox and scored on a 1-yard run as the Workhorses beat WT/KT for the second time this season.
(Yes, the teams played twice in five weeks.)
Northwest is 5-0 and, much to the consternation of some, atop the Class MM rankings. Don’t hate the player, hate the game.
Thames River, another Connecticut Technical Conference team, is fourth in MM and, unfortunately, it and Northwest won’t be hooking up this season. That’s kind of nutty given the league has 11 teams but whatevs.
Brandon Alvarado ran 12 times for 117 yards and a touchdown for the WT/KT.
Gilbert/Northwestern/Housatonic 69, Crosby 42
If I had to choose to between becoming a defensive coordinator in an era in which the rules committees have all but neutered defenses or, say, crash test dummy, it wouldn’t be an easy choice
Freddie Camp ran 10 times for 183 yards and three touchdowns for G/N/H (4-2), which is faring well after leaving the Pequot League to go to the Naugatuck Valley League.
What else do we got here? Nolan Risedorf scored on runs of 7 and 2 yards, Aiden Avenia ran eight times for 84 yards and a touchdown, Greyson Ursone had five carries for 87 yards and a score and Yoedy Tavarez added one carry … for a 56-yard touchdown. (Colby Sanden also had one carry for a 21-yard touchdown).
(YOU may have picked up on a trend for the YELLOWHIGHMOUNTAINEERS — they were hyper-efficient on offense.)
Daryl Sharack also converted on seven of nine extra points for G/N/H.
Meanwhile, over on the Bulldogs’ side, Jeremiah Febus completed 15 of 28 passes for 353 yards and five touchdowns and Jashua Sanabria had four catches for 100 yards and two touchdowns.
John Herrington (four catches, 93 yards), Nevon Burke (three catches, 70 yards) and Syere Coleman (one catch, 80 yards) each caught a touchdown, too.
We saved the best for last — the Weaver Beavers are back playing varsity football this year and picked up their first win of the season last Thursday.
The Beavers were quite a fearsome program back in the nineties before elebenty charter and magnet schools opened around Hartford, drawing student-athletes away from the likes of Bulkeley, Hartford Public and Weaver and sending their enrollments plummeting.
Weaver folded its program in 2014 after finishing 0-11 and began a co-op with Bulkeley.
The Beavers last victory as just themselves was against Tolland, 45-42 on Nov. 15, 2013.
Weaver decided to return last season and hired Jude Kelley, who won three state championships at both East Catholic and Southington. It was a JV program last year and went back to varsity this season as a member of the Eastern Connecticut Conference.
Khalil Barno threw three touchdowns for Weaver, including one to Fazal Kahn, who also ran for a touchdown, in Thursday’s win.
• • • •
We’ll get to some notable performances later in this here blog but there’s two that deserve their own spot — Tyler Baldwin of Morgan and Seymour’s Caden Drezek.
Drezek completed 12 of 18 passes for 432 yards and SEVEN touchdowns as the Wildcats torched Torrington last Friday 55-10. It puts him in an elebenty-way tie for the fourth-most touchdown passes in a game, according to the Connecticut High School Football Record Book.
Michael Rossetti caught four passes for 247 yards and four touchdowns for Seymour and Dylon Ospina caught three passes for 100 yards and two scores and had a sack. Christian Sheehan added seven carries for 76 yards and a touchdown and caught an 8-yard touchdown pass.
Baldwin completed 21 of 38 passes for 381 yards and four touchdowns, ran 30 times for 189 yards and three scores, threw three conversion passes and caught another as Morgan downed the Coginchaug/Hale-Ray/East Hampton co-op last Saturday 58-29.
(That’s a far better job than Tom Brady did for our snakebit fantasy football team on Sunday.)
Jack Nye caught 12 passes for 224 yards and three touchdowns and caught two conversion passes for Morgan (2-4) while Jake Caprio caught seven passes for 133 yards and a score.
• • • •
BEHOLD, The Day of New London Top 10 state coaches' poll: 1. Southington (6-0, six first-place votes); 2. New Canaan (three first-place votes); 3. Greenwich (5-1); 4. Maloney (6-0, three first-place votes); 5. West Haven (6-0, one first-place vote); 6. St. Joseph (5-1); 7. Hamden (6-0); 8. North Haven (5-1); 9. Ansonia; 10. Barlow.
• • • •
The New Haven Register/GameTimeCT.com Monolith Top 10 media poll: 1. Southington (16 first-place votes); 2. New Canaan (seven first-place votes); 3. Maloney; 4. Greenwich; 5. West Haven; 6. St. Joseph; 7. Hamden; 8. Ansonia; 9. Shelton; 10. North Haven.
Shelton is No. 11 in the coaches’ poll.
Barlow is No. 17 in the media poll.
• • • •
Ned Freeman’s cold, calculating computer rankings for CalPreps and MaxPreps: 1. New Canaan; 2. West Haven; 3. Southington; 4. Greenwich; 5. St. Joseph; 6. North Haven; 7. Notre Dame-W.H.; 8. Hamden; 9. Cheshire; 10. Maloney.
Shelton is No. 12, Barlow No. 13 and Ansonia No. 23 in CalPreps’ rankings.
Cheshire is No. 14 and Notre Dame is tied with Fairfield Prep for No. 20 in the coaches’ poll.
Cheshire is No. 16 and Notre Dame is No. 26 in the media poll.
That computer sure loves itself some SCC.
Speaking of Fairfield Prep, CalPreps rates its schedule as the state’s toughest. Its best win was over Cheshire on Oct. 14 (33-10, Oct. 14) and it’s lost to New Canaan (14-7), Hamden (42-27) and Belen Jesuit of Miami (Florida, not Ohio) (15-14). And we’re going to continue to point out that it outgained New Canaan 155-93 in total offense and held the latter to six first downs. … and still lost because FOOTBALL.
The Jesuits may have already iced the nod for state’s toughest schedule as they finish the regular season at Shelton (Friday) and end with three straight home games against Notre Dame-West Haven (Nov. 4), North Haven (Nov. 11) and West Haven (Thanksgrabbing Eve). AIYEE-EEEE.
• • • •
Dig the ballot Polecat HQ filed for the GameTimeCT media poll:
1. Southington: One more week until Blue Knights at Maloney.
2. Greenwich
3. West Haven
4. St. Joseph
5. Maloney: One more week until Southington at Spartans.
6. Hamden: The Voices are telling us that we’re ranking it too low.
7. New Canaan
8. North Haven
9. Shelton
10. Fairfield Prep (3-3): We’re going to keep repeating the following — the Jesuits lost to Belen Prep of Miami (4-4), 15-14, in addition to two Top 10 teams. The first was New Canaan (14-7), a game in which they had more offensive yardage (155-93) and held the latter to six first downs. The second was to Hamden (42-27). We don’t believe many teams would do better than Prep has against that schedule.
11. Staples
12. Cheshire
13. Newtown
14. Notre Dame-West Haven
15. Berlin
• • • •
HATS OFF~! (FKA NOTABLES~!)
William Attianese, Carter Chambers and Will Migliaccio, Granby/Canton: Migliaccio ran for two touchdowns and threw for another as the WARRIORBEARS downed Rockville last Thursday 44-20. Attianese ran for two touchdowns for G/C (4-2) and Chambers scored on a 43-yard interception return.
John Balzi III, Darnell Cicero-Bronson and Alfredo Nevarez Jr., New Milford: Cicero-Bronson completed 17 of 24 passes for 276 yards and three touchdowns and ran eight times for 67 yards in the Green Wave’s 35-0 shutout win over Pomperaug last Friday. Nevarez had seven catches for 129 yards and a touchdown and Balzi caught six passes for 107 yards and a score. And why is New Milford nicknamed “Green Wave” when the town is landlocked? No, Lake Candlewood doesn’t count.
Jaxon Barboza, James Green and Jacob Lenz, Ledyard: Green ran 26 times for 223 yards and a touchdown in the Colonels’ 19-14 loss to Norwich Free Academy last Thursday. Lenz had 11 tackles for Ledyard (5-1) and Barboza added six tackles, including a sack.
Caden Bellmore, Michael Marques and Max Nylen, RHAM: Where would the Raptors be without Nylen? This dude ran 27 times for 218 yards and two touchdowns and added three catches for 35 yards as RHAM edged East Catholic on Saturday 14-13. The rest of the Raptors accounted for 21 offensive plays and 25 yards. Bellmore added 11 tackles and Marques had eight tackles, including a sack.
Josh Boganski and Kyle Valentine, Maloney: Valentine completed 17 of 26 passes for 218 yards and three touchdowns in the Spartans’ 35-7 triumph over Bristol Central last Saturday. Boganski added 18 carries for 124 yards and two touchdowns.
Emerald Charles, Jahiem Daniels and William Moy, McMahon: Daniels ran 29 times for 252 yards and two touchdowns as the Senators edged Fairfield Warde last Friday 35-33. Charles had four tackles, including three sacks, and Moy added 10 tackles.
Tyler Clark, James Hillhouse, Michael Nealon and Caleb Smith, Staples: Smith completed 20 of 30 passes for a school-record 398 yards with four touchdowns and ran five times for 33 yards and a score as the WRECKERS ran over Stamford last Saturday, 42-7. Clark had a single-game school record 12 catches for 208 yards and two touchdowns for Staples (5-1) while Hillhouse had four catches for 155 yards and a score. Nealon added 11 tackles.
Nick Cox and Di’Angelo Jean-Pierre, Valley Regional/Old Lyme: Jean-Pierre ran eight times for 65 yards and two touchdowns, caught a 15-yard touchdown pass, completed 3 of 6 passes for 77 yards and had an interception as the WARRIORCATS blanked Capital Prep/Achievement First last Thursday 28-0. Cox added eight tackles, an interception and caught four passes for 44 yards.
Seth Cunningham, Jack Philistin and Justin and Ryan Outlow, Thames River: RYAN Outlow ran six times for 60 yards and three touchdowns as the Crusaders mowed down Prince Tech last Friday 54-0. Cunningham had three carries for 73 yards and two touchdowns for Thames (5-0) and Philistin completed all three of his passes for 77 yards and two touchdowns, all of which were caught by JUSTIN Outlow.
Jack Cushman, Justin Daniel, Brandon Payne and Josh Smith, Foran: Cushman completed 13 of 22 passes for 208 yards and four touchdowns as the Lions ripped Plainville last Friday 42-20. Smith caught a 60-yard touchdown pass and had an interception, Daniel had eight tackles and Payne had six tackles, including two sacks.
Antwan Davis, Ariel Hanely and Raijon Pettway, Notre Dame-Fairfield: Pettway ran 11 times for 156 yards and two touchdowns, caught three passes for 45 yards and had EIGHTEEN tackles as the Lancers squeezed past Brookfield last Friday 33-27. Davis ran seven times for 105 yards and a touchdown and had nine tackles while Hanely added 17 tackles for ND (4-2).
Michael Deitelbaum and Jalen Martinez, Naugatuck: Martinez scored on a 22-yard run and a 71-yard interception return as the Greyhounds mauled Watertown last Friday 43-0. Deitelbaum ran six times for 104 yards and two touchdowns.
Jaiden Fore, Bristol Eastern: Scored on runs of 6, 2, 4 and 9 yards to pace the Lancers past Lewis Mills last Friday 41-21, their first win of the season.
Noble Gongon, Charlie Strayer and Mitch Wallman, Simsbury: Gongon ran for 102 yards and three touchdowns in last Thursday’s 38-26 win over Manchester. Strayer added 17 carries for 102 yards and threw a 4-yard touchdown to Wallman, who also scored on a 20-yard interception return.
Armani Gulley, Bullard-Havens/Kolbe Cathedral: Gulley ran 31 times for 259 yards and two touchdowns as the TIGERCOUGARS edged Platt Tech last Friday 31-26.
Hamden: We’ve got a few folks here. Camren Kemp ran eight times for 104 yards and two touchdowns in the Green Dragons’ 41-14 win over Sheehan last Friday. Shawn Mills ran 10 times for 131 yards and a touchdown, Anthony Bolden II scored on a 46-yard touchdown pass and a 46-yard run and had five tackles and Curtis McCray had 13 tackles, including a sack. Larell Biggs also scored on a 49-yard fumble return.
Nicholas Harkins, Jeffrey Karavas and Brendan Ryan, North Haven: Karavas ran 31 times for 213 yards and two touchdowns and threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Brian Lastomirsky as the Nighthawks ran down Xavier last Friday 29-7. North Haven ran a luscious FIFTY-SEVEN times for 403 yards and three scores. GOD’S FATHER’S OFFENSE. Harkins had 10 tackles and Ryan added four, including two sacks.
Daniel Hernandez, Corey Jerrick and Russell Smith, Sports & Medical Sciences co-op: Daniel Hernandez did Daniel Hernandez things again in last Saturday’s 45-14 rout of the CREC co-op. He completed 11 of 18 passes for 193 yards and four touchdowns and ran 17 times for 77 yards and two touchdowns for the TIGERHAWKS (6-0). Smith scored on a 41-yard interception return and had seven tackles while Jerrick added 11 tackles and forced a fumble.
Jova’n Hill and Cam Righi, Wethersfield: Righi ran 26 times for 153 yards and three touchdowns in the Eagles’ 35-21 win over Hall last Friday. Hill added 21 carries for 187 yards and two scores for Wethersfield (5-1).
Nathan Hynes and CJ Landry, Waterford: Hynes ran 18 times for 201 yards and two touchdowns and completed 8 of 17 passes for 95 yards and two scores as the Lancers downed Griswold/Wheeler last Friday 35-29. Landry caught two passes for 43 yards and two scores for the Lancers (4-2).
Dillon Jackson, Masuk: Completed 12 of 18 passes for 171 yards and two touchdowns as the Panthers blanked Stratford last Friday 49-0.
Gavin Janowski, Cristian Roman-Koenig, Lyman Hall: Janowski ran 17 times for 153 yards and two touchdowns as the Trojans beat East Haven last Friday 39-16. Roman-Koenig added 18 carries for 106 yards and two touchdowns.
Thomas Jeffers and Connor Ouellette, E.O. Smith: Ouellette ran 18 times for 102 yards and three touchdowns and completed 8 of 14 passes for 125 yards as the Panthers downed Farmington last Friday 37-21. Jeffers added seven tackles, including a sack.
Riley Jordan, Jack Kilmartin, Bryce Prince, Logan Spoelstra, St. Joseph: Jordan ran 27 times for 196 yards and three touchdowns in last Saturday’s 27-0 shutout of Ridgefield. Prince had nine tackles, Kilmartin had two sacks and Spoelstra added field goals of 40 and 30 yards and three extra points, too.
Jayden Kennedy, Jared Lidstrom and Nasir White, Manchester: Kennedy completed 20 of 30 passes for 240 yards and two touchdowns and ran 15 times for 128 yards and a score in the Red Hawks’ loss to Simsbury. Lidstrom caught eight passes for 131 yards and two touchdowns and White scored on an 85-yard kickoff return.
A whole lot of Killingly: It sure looked good on paper when the 2021 schedules were released and Killingly and Branford were matched up in a rematch of last season’s Class M semifinal in which the former escaped with a 13-12 win en route to winning its second state title in four seasons. Branford, however, has struggled this season after losing Nate Chieffo, last season’s leading rusher, to an injury in Week 1 while Killingly has remained Killingly. Thomas Dreibholz completed all four of his passes for 177 yards and three touchdowns, ran for two scores and kicked five extra points during last Friday’s 67-0 road rampage over Branford. Soren Rief ran 12 times for 119 yards and two touchdowns and scored on an 81-yard kickoff return, Ben Jax caught two passes for 105 yards and two scores and Noah Colangelo caught a 70-yard touchdown for Killingly. Brady O'Donnell added two carries for 78 yards and a touchdown and Gabe Torrente scored on an 28-yard run.
Ethan LaGuardia, South Windsor: Completed 9 of 17 passes for 198 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 44 yards and a score in last Thursday’s 31-21 loss to Glastonbury.
Connor Lavore and Nik Meltser, Avon: Meltser scored on a 73-yard punt return and an 85-yard kickoff return in the Falcons’ 47-15 win over Northwest Catholic last Thursday. Lavore ran 16 times for 167 yards and two touchdowns for Avon (3-3) while Meltser added 10 carries for 82 yards. We also salute the Falcons for attempting only one pass, just as the lord (Gaia) intended the game to be played.
Jamel Lee, Wilbur Cross: Ran 17 times for 139 yards and a touchdown and completed 5 of 8 passes for 159 yards and two touchdowns in a 31-20 loss to Amity last Friday night.
Robert Maclehose, Dashiell Ross and Jake Wilson, Darien: Wilson ran 24 times for 168 yards and three touchdowns in last Friday’s 35-25 win over Fairfield Ludlowe. Maclehose had seven tackles and an interception and Ross had six tackles and recovered a fumble.
Melakai Maddox and Kevin Saintvil-Ravix, Fitch: Saintvil-Ravix had 21 carries for 176 yards and a touchdown as the Falcons shut out Stonington last Friday 35-0. Maddox added nine carries for 80 yards and three scores.
Luke Maguder, Berlin: Caught a 30-yard touchdown pass and scored on an 80-yard kickoff return as the Redcoats took down Tolland last Friday 41-21.
Dante Mangiafico and Elijah Miller, Ellington: Mangiafico threw touchdown passes for 10 and 5 yards to Miller as the Knights beat Stafford/East Windsor/Somers last Friday 24-10. Mangiafico also scored on a 15-yard run.
Travis Mangual, Victor Mejia and Zachary Robinson-Smey, Windham: Robinson-Smey ran for 149 yards and two touchdowns in last Friday’s 42-20 win over New London. Mejia added 188 yards and a touchdown for the Whippets (6-0) and Mangual added 54 yards rushing and two scores.
Mason Mastropietro, Woodland: Ran 18 times for 118 yards and two touchdowns in the Hawks’ 33-6 win over Wolcott last Friday.
Seamus McDermott, Woodstock Academy: Caught a 42-yard touchdown pass from Teddy Richardson, scored on a 73-yard kickoff return and had a sack in the Centaurs 50-18 win over Montville last Friday.
Brady McManama, St. Paul: Scored on three 1-yard runs as the Falcons prevailed over Derby last Friday 36-12.
Jonathan Mercado, Norwich Free Academy: Rushed for 149 yards and two touchdowns to help the Wildcats to their first win of the season last Thursday 19-14.
Malachi Mercer-Robinson and WALLY WUCHISKI, Fairfield Prep: WUCHISKI ran 15 times for 111 yards and two touchdowns in last Friday’s 37-19 win over Hand. WALLY WUCHISKI also sounds like the name of a Chicago Bears player from their 1946 NFL Championship-winning team. Mercer-Robinson added 15 carries for 98 yards and two scores for the Jesuits (3-3).
New Canaan (most especially its defense): The Rams D continues to be nasty. Tucker Milligan (99-yard interception return), Charlie O’Connor (3-yard fumble return) and Walker Blair (36-yard fumble return) all scored for New Canaan in last Friday’s 45-0 rout over Wilton, its fourth shutout of the season. Matthew Salmini added nine tackles for the Rams (6-0), who’ve allowed a mere 21 points. Look who’s coming to town on Friday night, though – St. Joseph. Back to the game — Hunter Telesco ran 21 times for 134 yards and a touchdown and Reed added six carries for 30 yards and two scores. Lest we forget, New Canaan head coach Lou Marinelli said the following about Milligan to Dave Stewart of the GameTimeCT/Hearst Monolith, “I didn’t realize he was that fast.”
Newtown: Jack Chappa had 15 tackles, including 2.5 sacks, and Mark Sokk added 12 tackles, including a sack, in last Friday’s 28-14 triumph over Bunnell. Dylan Magazu had 16 carries for 83 yards and two touchdowns, Andrew Sweirbut scored on a 34-yard run and kicked four extra points and Caleb Smith scored on an 81-yard kickoff return for the Nighthawks.
Jack Petrone, Glastonbury: Ran 27 times for 223 yards and three touchdowns in the Guardians’ 31-21 win over South Windsor last Thursday. He’s already rushed for 1,289 yards in six games.
Brady Ramsdell, Rockville: Completed 21 of 49 passes for 325 yards and three touchdowns in last Friday’s loss to Granby/Canton.
Amari and Avery Robinson, Platt: AVERY Robinson completed 11 of 20 passes for 200 yards and three touchdowns as the Panthers thumped Rocky Hill last Thursday 42-7. AMARI Robinson, meanwhile, ran 18 times for 130 yards and two scores and blocked a field goal for Platt (4-2).
Julian Schneider, Conard: Completed 27 of 43 passes for 259 yards and three touchdowns as the Red Wolves edged Enfield last Friday 37-35.
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Thanks for reading. More soon.
Vaya con dios....
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