Staples, New Canaan, St. Joseph reach high school finals.
FAIRFIELD COUNTY, Conn. — The debate about which conference in king in Connecticut high school football goes back-and-forth on a yearly basis. It’s hard to argue with the numbers this season, however.
The Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference will be looking to bring home three of Connecticut’s six championship plaques when the state football finals kick off Saturday.
The FCIAC had all three of its postseason qualifiers advance, as the Staples Wreckers, New Canaan Rams and St. Joseph Cadets all won semifinal games on Tuesday.
Staples, the league champion, is 12-0 and has a shot at an undefeated season. With a victory, the Wreckers could give the FCIAC the state’s top-ranked team for the second consecutive season. New Canaan was 13-0 and finished atop all the polls last fall.
The SWC had two qualifiers, and both Pomepraug and Bethel won their semifinal contests. Pomperaug and Staples are the only two undefeated teams remaining.
Class LL: No. 1 Staples (12-0) vs. No. 3 Cheshire (10-1)
The Wreckers survived a wild battle with Xavier in the semifinals and won 31-28 to reach the state final for the seventh time in school history. No. 1 Staples, which has won three titles, will face No. 3 Cheshire for the Class LL championship at 7 p.m. Saturday at West Haven’s Ken Strong Stadium. Cheshire, which beat Glastonbury 20-6 in the semis, is playing in its ninth state final and won a record six consecutive championships from 1992-1997.
The Wreckers scored two early touchdowns for a 14-0 first-quarter lead against Xavier, but Xavier came back to tie the score early in the third quarter, beginning a seesaw battle which lasted into the final minutes.
Staples senior running back Matt Kelly regained the lead with a 54-yard TD run to make it 21-14 in the third, but Xavier answered with a scoring drive of its own, capped with a 2-yard run by Julian Hayes.
In the fourth quarter, Kelly scored on a 3-yard run to make it 28-21, and senior kicker Santiago Cuertas booted a 35-yard field goal to put the Wreckers up 31-21 with 2:40 remaining. The field goal was Cuertas’ 12th of the season, breaking the old Connecticut single-season record.
Xavier had life left and came back with an 18-yard TD pass from QB Alex Pace to WR Jordan Hyman with 1:43 remaining. The ensuing onside kick was recovered by Staples LB Jack Ambrose to nail down the win.
Kelly was the star of the game for the Wreckers, as he rushed 25 times for 231 yards and three TDs, including the 54-yarder that put the offense back on track.
Senior QB Keith Gelman completed 8-of-10 passes for 133 yards and a TD, and also rushed four times for 35 yards. Senior WR Brandon Rankowitz led the receiving corps with five catches for 92 yards and a touchdown.
On defense, senior LB Jake Santora had 16 tackles, including 12 solo, while junior LB Rob Gau had 13 solo tackles and an interception to set up the final field goal. Junior Pat Murray had three solo tackles, a sack and an interception.
Class L: No. 1 Pomperaug (12-0) vs. No. 3 Notre Dame-West Haven (10-1)
Pomperaug moved to within one victory of the school’s second state football championship, as well as a perfect season, when the Panthers defeated Simsbury, 41-26, in the Class L semifinals.
The top-seeded Panthers will take on No. 3 Notre Dame-West Haven in the final at 2 p.m. Saturday at Shelton High.
Notre Dame easily won against No. 2 Conard, 42-14, in the semis. Notre Dame will be playing in its sixth state final, and has won twice.
Pomperaug, which beat Masuk for the SWC championship two weeks ago, was simply too strong for Simsbury, as the Panthers found the end zone six times. Senior QB Andrew Clements completed 8-of-9 passes for 151 yards, including TD passes of 23 and 15 yards to split end Wade McNamara, and 27 yards to sophomore receiver Matt Paola. Clements also rushed 16 times for 95 yards and scored on an 8-yard run.
Senior RB Ben Crick led the ground game with an average of better than 10 yards per carry. Crick rushed 12 times for 124 yards and TDs of 1 and 38 yards. McNamara caught six passes for 94 yards and a TD, while Paola had two catches for 57 yards and a TD. Simsbury QB Kyle Decker ran for a pair of touchdowns and threw for one more. 
Tim Robustelli, New Canaan
File photo by Richard Stieglitz
Class MM: No. 1 New Canaan (10-1) vs. No. 2 East Lyme (10-1)
Three-time defending Class MM champion New Canaan received quite a scare from the St. Paul/Goodwin Tech Falcons, but held on for a 14-13 victory when St. Paul’s final 2-point conversion pass fell short with 49 seconds remaining.
The top-seeded Rams scored the first time they touched the ball as junior Kevin Macari returned a punt 48 yards to the end zone. That accounted for all the scoring in the first half, but New Canaan doubled its advantage when senior QB Turner Baty hit senior wide out Cody Newton for a 6-yard TD on the opening drive of the second half.
St. Paul came back behind the strong running of senior RB Chris Bachand, who scored on a 2-yard run to make it 14-7 with 6:28 remaining in the third quarter.
The Falcons missed one opportunity to tie the score when Bachand fumbled at the goal line late in the game, but the defense forced a punt with two minutes remaining. St. Paul cashed in on a short field when QB Tanner Bachand connected with Travis Thomas for a 7-yard TD with 49 seconds to play.
Instead of kicking the extra point to tie the game, head coach Jude Kelly elected to go for two points and the victory. The attempt came up inches short when Tanner Bachand’s pass to Byron Jones was just out of reach of the 6-2 receiver.
Baty finished with 193 yards on 17-of-37 passing, and also rushed 15 times for 43 yards. Newton had seven catches for 106 yards, while RB Peter Park caught six passes for 42 yards. For St. Paul, Chris Bachand rushed 19 times for 135 yards and a TD, while Jones had four catches for 75 yards.
New Canaan will face No. 2 East Lyme in the Class MM final at 2 p.m. Saturday at Bunnell High in Stratford. The Rams have won three consecutive State championships and are 7-3 in their previous 10 appearances in State finals. East Lyme will be playing in its fifth State final and scored its only championship when it defeated Masuk, 17-14, in 2003.
Class M: No. 3 Berlin (9-2) vs. No. 4 Bethel (9-2)
Bethel which won 34-12 over the New London, the top seed in the Class M tournament, will be playing in its first State final in 21 years when it kicks off against Berlin at 7 p.m. Saturday at Municipal Stadium in Waterbury. Bethel’s 1988 trip to the Class M championship game is the program’s only appearance in a final. St. Joe’s won that game, 25-21.
Berlin, the No. 3 seed, defeated No. 2 Avon, 35-28, to reach the final. Berlin has played in five State finals and has never won a championship.
Fourth-seeded Bethel never trailed in its semifinal game against heavily-favored New London, and in fact led 20-0 before the Whalers finally found the end zone.
Running back Peter Gallagher scored the game’s first TD on a 17-yard run on fourth down with less than a minute remaining in the first half.
Bethel’s defense gave the ball back to the offense quickly and Bethel struck again when QB Bill Ramirez connected on a 28-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Schmidt. Ryan Conroy’s PAT put Bethel up, 13-0. Bethel then went ahead 20-0 when Gallagher hit paydirt later in the second quarter.
New London came back with consecutive scores as QB Joshua Clements threw a 75-yard TD pass to Nicholas Singleton and a 51-yard TD pass to Craig Dysard, cutting the deficit to 20-12 heading to the fourth quarter.
Bethel put the win in the books in the fourth quarter on TD runs by Ramirez and Gallagher. Gallagher finished with 31 carries for 186 yards and three TDs, while New London receiver Singleton had five catches for 147 yards and a touchdown.
Class SS: No. 2 Montville (10-1) vs. No. 4 St. Joseph (9-2)
The St. Joseph Cadets had to sweat out the Thanksgiving Day football games to slip into the Class SS playoffs as the No. 4 seed, but they played like the top dogs in a 56-7 rout of No. 1 Holy Cross in the semis.
The Cadets will face No. 2 Montville, which defeated Bullard-Havens Tech 49-12, in Saturday’s title game. The Class S final will kick off at 2 p.m. at Ken Strong Stadium in West Haven.
St. Joe’s was a familiar sight in the State finals back in the 1970s and 1980s, but this return trip marks the Cadets’ first final in 19 years. The Cadets have played for a State championship 10 times in their history and have won eight championships. Montville has been to four title games, but has never won.
St. Joe’s scored six touchdowns for a 42-0 lead at halftime against Holy Cross, as juniors Joe DellaVecchia and Tyler Matakevich had huge nights.
QB DellaVecchia was 9-of-11 passing for 165 yards and four TDs, while Matakevich had 12 rushed for 133 yards and scored three times — twice on the ground and once through the air. Patt Mulligan also caught two TD passes.
Holy Cross scored its only TD on a 73-yard pass from QB Ryan Plourde to WR Matty Czapor.
Class S: No. 1 Northwest Catholic (10-1) vs. No. 2 Hyde Leadership (10-1)
The Class S championship game will feature No. 1 Northwest Catholic and No. 2 Hyde Leadership. Northwest Catholic defeated Bloomfield 40-26 in the semifinals, while Hyde was a 24-0 winner over Ansonia.
Hyde is making its fourth appearance in the final and has won three times, including back-to-back titles in 2004-05. This is Northwest Catholic’s first trip to the final.
The Class S final will kick off at 2 p.m. Saturday at Waterbury’s Municipal Stadium.
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.
