Class L semifinals
Panthers pull away from Simsbury
SOUTHBURY, Dec. 1 -- Senior quarterback Andrew Clements passed for three touchdowns and ran for another Tuesday to lead the top-seeded Pomperaug High football team to a 41-26 victory over No. 4 seed Simsbury in a Class L state semifinal at Edward Arum Athletic Field in Southbury.
Wade McNamara caught two touchdown passes and Matt Paola caught one for the undefeated Panthers, while Ben Crick added two touchdown runs. Kyle Decker ran for two touchdowns and passed for one to lead Simsbury.
Pomperaug built an early 21-7 lead but Simsbury rallied and pulled within seven points after three quarters, 27-20. Early in the fourth quarter, Pomperaug's Kevin Foley missed a 31-yard field goal attempt but Simsbury was penalized for roughing the kicker. The Panthers kept the ball and Clements scored on a 8-yard TD on the next play for a back-breaking touchdown.
Masuk defeat clinches playoff berth for SImsbury
SIMSBURY, Nov. 25 – With Newtown’s 36-22 victory over Masuk-Monroe on Wednesday night, Simsbury (9-1) clinched a spot in the CIAC Class L playoffs for the second straight year. The loss pushed Masuk to the No. 4 spot while Simsbury rose to No. 2 and will host undefeated Conard (10-0) in the Class L semifinals on Tuesday, Dec. 1 at 6:30 p.m. at the high school.
Notre Dame-West Haven has an opportunity to knock Masuk (9-2) out if they can beat Hamden on Thanksgiving Day morning.
It will be Simsbury’s fourth appearance in the CIAC playoffs. The Trojans lost to Newington in the Class L semifinals last year, 28-7. In 1993 and 1994, they dropped decisions twice to Cheshire in the Class L championship games when only two teams qualified.
Simsbury wins share of CCC Div. I title with thrilling win in OT
GLASTONBURY, Nov. 14 – Simsbury’s defense made the play of its season Saturday, stopping a two-point conversion run in overtime to stun defending Class LL champion Glastonbury, 34-33 and win a share of the CCC Division I championship. The host Tomahawks scored two touchdowns in the final six minutes and had a chance to win with 47 seconds left but missed an extra point (wide right) to send the game into overtime tied at 27-27.
Simsbury scored first in OT when Kevin Kucinskas scored on a fourth down run from the one and James Poggio added the extra point for a 34-27 lead. The Tomahawks answered on Sean McQuillian’s 1-yard run. On the extra point try, Simsbury blocked Glastonbury's attempt for an extra point but someone on the SImsbury sideline called timeout. With another chance, Glastonbury went for the win with McQuillian trying to run in a two-point conversion. Simsbury stopped him just inches shy of the goal line for the thrilling victory.
Simsbury finishes the regular season 9-1 and 6-1 in the CCC Division I with a share of its first championship since 1994. Glastonbury (9-1, 6-1) had a 22-game winning streak snapped. McQuillan scored four TDs. Simsbury remains alive for a berth in the CIAC Class L tournament for the second straight year.
Glastonbury took the early lead but after a fumble, the Trojans marched 75 yards with Kucinskas scoring from the two. McQuillan’s 1-yard TD run with 26 seconds left in the quarter gave Glastonbury a 14-7 lead at halftime.
In the second half, Simsbury took a 27-14 lead with three unanswered TDs. Conely Cummings scored on a 1-yard run, Poggio pulled in a 33-yard pass from Kyle Decker and Decker scampered in from 10 yards out with 6:04 left in the game. But after Decker’s TD, Poggio’s extra point attempt was blocked leaving the lead at 13 points.
Glastonbury cut the lead to six when Ryan McCarthy pulled in a six-yard pass from McQuillian with 3:32 remaining. Simsbury got the ball back but Glastonbury made a big stop on fourth-and-1 at the Trojan 45-yard line with 1:27 left in the game.
Kuchinskas led the Trojan attack with 185 yards while Cummings added 96 yards. Simsbury ran for 365 yards on 56 carries
Playoffs, league title on the line
By beating Farmington, it all comes down to game with Glastonbury
FARMINGTON, Nov. 13 – Simsbury took care of business on a wet, rainy Friday evening in Farmington and now the stage is set for an epic regular season finale next Saturday in Glastonbury. The Trojans rolled over the Indians for 362 yards of rushing in a 54-19 victory.
With the win, Simsbury (8-1, 5-1 CCC Division I) sets up a showdown with defending Class LL champion Glastonbury (8-0, 6-0) next week on the road at 1 p.m. With a victory, Simsbury wins a share of the Division I title and clinches a berth in the CIAC Class L playoffs for the second straight year. A loss likely ends the season.
Against the Indians, senior Connely Cummings led Simsbury with 3 TDs and 103 yards rushing on the ground. QB Kyle Decker continued to close in on 1,000 yards rushing with 97 yards and a TD. Decker has rushed for 920 yards in nine games. Defensively, James Poggio had a superb evening, scooping a fumble return and running 17 yards for a touchdown and intercepting a pass and racing 42 yards for a second defensive TD. Simsbury back Kevin Kucinskas also ran for a TD.
The 35-point victory was the second-largest win in the series’ long history. Last year, the Trojans won by a record 42 points in a 42-0 shutout. Simsbury also won by 35 points in the first year the two teams played in 1923. Simsbury, which has won 15 of the last 17 meetings between the two schools, leads the series, 18-14-1. The 54 points is the most points ever scored in the series by either team.
Trojans still in Division 1 title hunt
Simsbury gives up yards but stays on track with victory
By GERRY deSIMAS, JR.
Collinsville Press.com
SIMSBURY, Nov. 6 – The game had long been decided and there was under a minute left. Hall was driving on Simsbury and had the ball on the Trojan 19-yard line with about 20 seconds left. It was no time to exhale. For defensive coordinator Peter Bourquin, this was another teachable moment.
Defensive back Josh Gowdy batted away a pass on first down. And pressure from Simsbury’s front four including Bill Amarante and Michael Mormile forced a pair of incomplete passes from Hall QB Riley Carroll to end the game.
Simsbury’s Kyle Decker ran for a career-high 181 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries to lead the Trojans to a 40-19 victory over Hall on a chilly Senior Night in the regular season finale at the high school. Kevin Kucinskas ran for 98 yards and a touchdown while James Poggio pulled in a 40-yard TD pass from Decker.
The win keeps Simsbury (7-1, 5-1 CCC Division I) in the hunt for a Class L playoff berth but it also keeps alive Simsbury’s hopes for its first conference championship since 1994. Simsbury travels to Farmington on Friday night but they play for a piece of the CCC Division I title when they tangle with Glastonbury (8-0, 6-0) on Saturday, Nov. 21 on the road.
“This team has some big goals,” Simsbury coach Jeff Osborne said. “They have to stay hungry and keep plugging away.”
It wasn’t the prettiest win for the Trojans but style points don’t count in high school football. Carroll completed 25 of 51 passes for 264 yards, 2 TD passes and one interception. Most were quick, short passes but he did complete some nice passes down the middle of the field. Teammate Jake Rosario rushed for 122 yards on 21 carries.
In the first half, Hall had three drives over 11 plays each and scored a touchdown and two field goals. “Hall is a competitive team. They can score,” Osborne said. “Our kids played hard and they were ready to play.”
The problem was that Hall (1-7, 1-6) couldn’t keep up with Simsbury, which scored three touchdowns in the second quarter to take a 26-13 halftime lead. Simsbury opened the third quarter with a 69-yard scoring drive with a wide open James Poggio collecting a 40-yard TD pass from Decker to open a 33-13 lead.
Hall lost two yards on its first drive and punted. On its next drive, the Warriors had a 10-play drive early in the third quarter but that ended with an interception by Simsbury’s Josh Helmkamp.
With its no huddle offense and Carroll completing 7 of his first 11 passes for 41 yards, Hall ate up four minutes on an 11-play, 55-yard drive to take a 7-0 lead. Carroll found Edgar Hannibal open on a 10-yard scoring strike.
It took Simsbury 59 seconds to respond thanks to a 67-yard run down the sideline from Decker. Kevin Kucinskas scored from the seven. Poggio’s extra point try bounced off the right upright for a 7-6 Hall lead.
Hall ate up the final four minutes of the first half and extended its lead to 10-6 on Steinberg’s 32-yard field goal. Again, Simsbury struck quickly, scoring in about 2:22 on Colby Vanderbeck’s five-yard run to take a 12-10 lead. Decker’s 41-yard pass to Poggio down the middle of the field was the big play. The two-point conversion failed.
Hall drove to the Simsbury 34 before its drive stalled. Simsbury took over and marched 66 yards in less than a minute in a half with Decker scoring from the one for a 19-10 lead with 6:02 left in the second quarter. Connely Cummings had a 37 yard run and Kucinskas added a 23-yard run of his own.
It took Simsbury a little longer to score on its next drive, about 2:30 when Decker scored from the two with 1:59 left in the half for a 26-10 lead. The big plays were consecutive big runs from Decker (17 yards) and Kucinskas (29 yards) to get the ball to the Hall 11.
“We’re better than we were in the beginning,” Osborne said. “We’re better than we were last week. They are continually improving.”
Simsbury showed persistence early in the fourth quarter. A 27-yard run by Vanderbeck and a 13-yard run from Kucinskas gave Simsbury first-and-goal from the Hall 3. But three consecutive penalties pushed the ball back out to the Hall 25. Josh Helmkamp scored on a nice reverse with some good blocking to extend the lead to 40-13.
Simsbury earns first victory over Southington since 1971
Another curse retired by Trojans
By GERRY deSIMAS, JR.
Collinsville Press.com
SOUTHINGTON, Oct. 30 – It was appropriate that the Simsbury High football team pulled another skeleton from their closet the day before Halloween. Two years ago, Simsbury ended an 11-year winless streak against Bloomfield. A year ago, the Trojans earned their first win over New Britain in 12 years.
On Friday night, Simsbury overcame two early turnovers and two first quarter scores by Southington to put up 22 points in the second quarter and beat the Blue Knights for the time since 1971 with a 29-26 victory that wasn’t decided until the final play.
It was a big win for the Trojans (6-1, 4-1 CCC Division I) especially after a tough 40-25 loss to New Britain the week before when Simsbury gave up 20 unanswered points in the fourth quarter. “We call this a program victory,” Simsbury coach Jeff Osborne said. “Everyone played well.”
Southington (4-3, 3-3 CCC Div. 1) played with a sense of desperation knowing that a loss would eliminate the Knights from serious CIAC playoff contention.
A week after allowing New Britain quarterback Rafal Garcarz to carve up the Trojan secondary by completing 19 of 26 passes for 244 yards and two touchdown passes, Southington QB Connor Butkiewicz completed seven of his first eight passes for 147 yards and 2 TDs, including a 73-yard TD pass to Anthony Florian that gave Southington a 12-7 first quarter lead.
But the Trojans didn’t panic. They changed their coverage in the secondary and began to apply more pressure on Butkiewicz. Simsbury rarely got a hand on him but Butkiewicz began finding fewer receivers open. And the Simsbury offense gave its defense time to regroup.
After Florian’s 73-yard bomb, Simsbury marched 32 yards into Southington territory. The drive stalled but punter James Poggio had a nice, high punt that was nearly downed inside the five-yard line. Southington was penalized for holding on the return and took over its own one.
On the next play, Simsbury’s Michael Mormile tackled Dylan Danko in end zone for a safety to cut the lead to three, 12-9. On its next possession the Trojans marched 48 yards on eight plays with QB Kyle Decker scoring from the nine for a 16-12 lead.
Simsbury held Southington to five yards on its next possession, forcing a punt. The snap to Southington punter Nick Gothberg was too low. He tried to run but he was tackled for a 13-yard loss. Simsbury took over on the Southington 25 and two plays later, Cummings ran through a big hole and made it untouched on a 23-yard TD run for a 23-12 lead.
“We have the best line in the state,” said Decker, who ran for a team-high 123 yards on 25 carries. “They did just a great job.”
Southington responded with a 24-yard TD pass from Butkiewicz to Michael Rhodd with 1:57 left in the half to cut the lead to three, 23-20. But Simsbury received a 40-yard kickoff return from Vanderbeck and marched 52 yards in less than a minute, scoring on a 4-yard run from Cummings with 54 seconds remaining to take a 29-20 lead. It was the third touchdown of the game from Cummings (21-105).
In the second half, the Simsbury defense bent but did not break. They batted down four passes and received a key interception from Kevin Kuchinskas that stopped a Southington drive to the Simsbury 10-yard line.
Southington cut the lead to three, 29-26, with a third quarter touchdown and was driving to take the lead late in the third quarter. They had first and goal from the 10 but Simsbury’s Andrew O’Connor made a TD-saving tackle on first down, Daniel Hewitt made a big stop on second down for a six-yard loss and Mormile and Poggio batted down passes on third and fourth down, respectively, to end the drive.
With 6:48 left in the game and Simsbury still holding a 29-26 lead, the Knights drove to the Simsbury 10. On fourth down and three, Kuchinskas stepped in front of the receiver for the interception to end the drive.
Simsbury’s offense ate up nearly six minutes marching to the Southington nine before being stopped. The Knights got the ball back with 50 seconds left but ran out of time.
Simsbury hosts Hall in its home finale on Friday before concluding the regular season at Farmington on Friday, Nov. 13 and a challenging Div. 1 finale at Glastonbury on Nov. 21.
NOTES: The two teams combined for four turnovers on the first four possesions of the game. Both team fumbled the ball away twice. Simsbury coughed up one ball at the one, just before Decker crossed into the end zone for an apparent touchdown. ... Billy Felice and Kuchinskas each recovered fumbles. ... Kuchinskas gained 21 yards after intercepting the ball in the fourth quarter. ... Simsbury had lost seven straight to Southington since its last win in 1971, 27-20. The two teams resumed their series in 2004 when the CCC established the CCC North. The series between the two schools dates back to 1920.
Hurricanes' one-two punch is too much for Simsbury
By GERRY deSIMAS, JR.
Collinsville Press
SIMSBURY, Oct. 23 – New Britain High quarterback Rafal Garcarz softened up the undefeated Simsbury High football team Friday night in a light rain. And then teammate Kaiuway Boima broke them down.
Garcarz carved up the Trojans, completing 19 of 26 passes for 244 yards and a touchdown. But it was Boima who scored two touchdowns and rushed for 75 of his game-high 122 yards in the fourth quarter as the emotional Hurricanes snapped a two-game losing streak by handing Simsbury its first loss of the season, 40-25.
The game was much closer than the final score. The Hurricanes (3-3) scored a pair of touchdowns in the final three minutes of the game, including its final touchdown after Simsbury (5-1) coughed up the ball on its own 35-yard line with 2:35 remaining.
Simsbury held a 25-20 lead after three quarters but New Britain’s Chris Linares intercepted QB Kyle Decker and returned the ball 24 yards to the Simsbury 46-yard line on the second play of the fourth quarter.
Boima was the workhorse, carrying the ball on six of seven plays for 31 yards, including a one-yard leap into the end zone for a touchdown with 8:03 remaining. Facing third down and one from Simsbury 23, Garcarz hit Kian Downes on a quick pass for a 15-yard gain to keep the drive alive.
The two-point conversion pass failed but New Britain extended its lead to 26-25 lead with 8:03 left.
Simsbury gained just two yards on its next possession and punted with New Britain taking over on its own 42 yard line. The Hurricane drove to the Simsbury 28 and faced third down and nine but Garcarz found Tebucky Jones, Jr., on a slant and he cut back across the field, broke a few tackles and scored with 2:47 left. Garcarz’s successful conversion run extended the lead to 34-25.
Simsbury fumbled on its next and Boima, who ran for 75 yards and 2 TDs in the fourth quarter, scored three plays later with 1:33 remaining.
Garcarz foiled Simsbury for the first three quarters, converting on numerous third down conversions to keep New Britain’s hands on the ball. In New Britain’s first drive of the game, he converted on three consecutive third down possessions with a 12-yard pass, a 27-yard scamper and a 13-yard scramble.
On a fourth down and six early in the second quarter, he fired a 16-yard pass between two Simsbury defenders to Kian Downes for a touchdown.
“He managed the game the best he has done all year,” a jubilant New Britain coach Paul Morrell said. “He played within the system.”
Garcarz made 12 of his 19 completions in the first half, including a run where he completed on six of seven attempts. He enabled New Britain to run 38 offensive plays in the first half compared to 19 for Simsbury.
New Britain scored on its opening drive, eating up 6:11 by marching 65 yards on 15 plays. Boiway had a 1-yard TD run but the extra point was blocked. Simsbury responded with a 59-yard march on 12 running plays capped off by Decker’s 1-yard run up the middle.
Undefeated Simsbury marches past Berlin
By GERRY deSIMAS, JR.
Collinsville Press
SIMSBURY, Oct. 16 – Using its veer option offense, the Simsbury High football team erased an early seven-point deficit to score 28 unanswered points and remain undefeated with a 28-7 victory over Berlin Friday night.
After fumbling the ball away on its fourth offensive play, the Trojans made a goal line stand stopping Berlin at its own five yard line and proceeded to march 95 yards on 16 plays to tie the game. On Berlin’s next offensive play, Simsbury (5-0, 3-0 CCC Division I) forced a turnover and scored six plays later for a 13-7 lead than they never relinquished.
Simsbury back Connely Cummings led a balanced Trojan attack with 98 yards and 2 TDs on 13 carries. QB Kyle Decker rushed for 79 yards and 2 TDs on 19 carries. Decker only attempted three passes. Two were incomplete and one completion was wiped out by a penalty.
“The veer wasn’t a distraction. We knew what was coming,” Berlin coach John Capodice said. “You can only do three things with the ball. But they dominated at the line of scrimmage. They’re big, physical and strong up front and they pushed us around.”
Simsbury coach Jeff Osborne was pleased with his team’s effort. “We executed our game plan and ran what we wanted to run,” he said. It took Simsbury just two plays to extend its lead in the third quarter.
Kevin Kucinskas, the third option on a running play, took the pitch from Decker and swept around the outside for a 35-yard gain to the Berlin 31-yard line. On the next play, Cummings powered his way up the middle, outfaced a Berlin defender at the 10 yard line and zipped into the end zone with a 31-yard touchdown run. Decker’s two-point conversion run made it 21-7.
Simsbury recovered from a shaky start in the first quarter. Berlin (4-1, 4-0 CCC Division 3) took the opening kickoff and marched 68 yards in 12 plays to take a 7-0 lead. Max DeLorenzo (17-74) gained much of his yardage running behind the right side of the line and also pulled in a 15-yard pass from Berlin QB Dan Hackett (11-18-1, 119 yards). Hackett scored on a three-yard run.
When Hackett ran into a Berlin defender on its fourth offensive play, the ball popped out and Berlin’s A.J. Marsiglia recovered on the Simsbury 38-yard line. On fourth down and 1 on the Simsbury 29, DeLorenzo converted with a key four-yard run to keep the drive alive. Five plays later, Berlin again had a key fourth down and three from the Simsbury 6. But the Trojan defense stiffened, allowing only one yard and taking over.
“We’re a bend and don’t break defense,” Osborne said. “We don’t take risks and see what we can come up with.”
Capodice said the game turned there. “If we could have punched it in, it could have changed the tempo of the game.” Hackett completed 11-of-18 passes for 119 yards and one interception for the Redcoats. Brian Malloy caught eight passes for 97 yards.
As a Division III team in the CCC that is vying for a CIAC playoff spot in Class M, Capodice wasn't thrilled to play a Division I team from Class L. "You have no choice," he said with a shrug. "You play the games that you are dictated (to play)." It was the first-ever meeting between the two schools in football.
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