Football Game Preview: Maloney Spartans vs. Glastonbury Guardians

Two dominant backs in Devan Bacote and Dante Casdia are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Maloney Spartans will be playing at home against the Glastonbury Guardians at 6:30 p.m. on Friday.

Maloney is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Connecticut's top teams: New Britain, who was ranked 15th at the time (Maloney was ranked 21st). The Spartans fell just short of the Golden Hurricanes by a score of 30-28 on Friday. The Spartans were up 21 in the first, but they couldn't quite seal the deal.

Glastonbury's found some homefield redemption this week after a overtime loss to New Britain on Friday. Everything went the Guardians' way against Hall as they made off with a 27-7 victory. The game marked the Guardians' most dominant win of the season.

One reason for the win was Glastonbury's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for three sacks. James Simek was particularly dangerous to the passing game, picking up two himself. He has been hot recently, having also posted five or more total tackles the last three times he's played. Another thorn in Hall's side was Nick Filiault, who picked up a sack and made 15 total tackles (3.0 for loss).

Maloney's loss was their first in the league, dropping their league record down to 3-1 and their overall record down to 5-2. As for Glastonbury, they now have a winning record of 4-3.

Maloney strolled past Glastonbury when the teams last played back in September of 2024 by a score of 41-27. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Casdia, who rushed for 238 yards and two TDs. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will the Spartans still be able to contain Casdia? There's only one way to find out.