By Ken Lipshez
MaxPreps.com
Chris Linares scored an offensive and defensive touchdown to highlight a 35-point second quarter Friday night that sent the New Britain High football team to a 45-7 rout of Manchester in a CCC North clash at Willow Brook Park.
Linares had two interceptions to spearhead a defense that bent but didn’t break.
New Britain (7-1, 2-0 CCC North) also received a superb effort from reserve quarterback Jeremy Rosario. Rosario, playing for Rafal Garcarz, who is nursing a variety of bumps and bruises, completed eight of 11 passes for 127 yards in the decisive second quarter.
“(Garcarz) had a couple things going on but he’s a warrior,” New Britain coach Paul Morrell said. “We had to hide his helmet on him. We’re a family and he wanted to be out there with his family but right now it’s better for the family if he’s just getting healthy. He could be back and ready to go next week (at Simsbury).
“But just like it’s been all year, one guy goes down and the next guy’s ready to step in and fill the role.”
Manchester (5-3, 0-3) has lost three straight games in the division after a 5-0 start.
“You get to be 5-0 for a reason,” Morrell said. “I don’t want to hear they didn’t play anyone.”
The Indians defeated East Catholic, Hartford Bulkeley, E.O. Smith, Wethersfield and Fermi before hitting the wall against undefeated Glastonbury, once-beaten Southington and the ’Canes.
Leading by just 10-7, New Britain scored five touchdowns in the second quarter, turning the second half into junior varsity time with a clock that never stopped.
Boima raced 80 yards to the house promptly after the Manchester touchdown. An interception by Cameron Judge less than a minute later gave the ’Canes a short field again. On fourth-and-1, they went to a double wing and Linares bolted through the line for a 20-yard touchdown.
The first of two interceptions by Linares fired up the offense again. Rosario tossed a seven-yard scoring strike to Perris Williamson a minute later.
Jones, who had five catches for 89 yards in just one half, snared a 34-yard touchdown pass 44 seconds before halftime. On the next play, Linares delivered a “pick six” to give New Britain a 45-7 lead.
Newington Holds On
Jimmy Dombrow broke up a desperation fourth-down pass in the end zone, enabling Newington to edge Meriden Platt, 27-23, in a key CCC South encounter.
Newington (7-1), trailing 23-20 early in the fourth quarter, scored on a 61-yard pass play from quarterback Spencer Parker to Shane Leupold.
“This is what a football game is all about,” Newington coach Clay Hillyer told the New Britain Herald. “They came out swinging and they punched us first. We got some blood on our nose and we came back. That’s why victory is so sweet.”
Platt quarterback Kyle Laurendeau (12-for-20, 287 passing yards, 3 touchdowns) guided the Panthers (5-3) downfield, primarily on slant patterns by fleet Lenroy Neysmith, Raymond Fagan and tight end Derek Drag.
Newington, 3-0 in the division, meets 2-0 Bristol Eastern Friday in a game that in all likelihood will decide the champion.
Enfield Sets Record
Enfield completed an improbable fourth-quarter comeback, scoring 24 unanswered points to defeat Berlin, 52-50, Saturday night in the Nutmeg League.
Walter Moon scored with 6 seconds left for the margin of victory. Quarterback Eddie Bedard threw three touchdown passes to Brendan Thompson for the Raiders (4-3, 3-3 Nutmeg).
The loss puts a serious crimps in Class M playoff plans for Berlin (5-2, 4-2), which had allowed just 35 points in its first six games.
According to Connecticut high school football historians Bob Barton and Gerry deSimas, Jr., the 24-point comeback broke the 40-year-old record set when New London blew a 22-point lead against Norwich in 1968, only to pull the game out.
Berlin sophomore Max DeLorenzo ran for 136 yards and three touchdowns for Berlin, which has a showdown with St. Paul/Goodwin Tech (7-1) on Friday night.
Three Stay Unbeaten
* Tailback Jordan Brown scored three touchdowns on only five carries as Glastonbury (8-0) toyed with 1-7 Bristol Central, 48-0, in an interdivisional mismatch in the CCC. Brown gained 101 yards, surpassing the 1,000 mark for the season. Quarterback Erich Pfeffer passed for two touchdowns. Malcolm Crosson ran for two scores. Glastonbury has allowed less than five points per game while Central has permitted nearly 36.
* Boston College-bound back Andre Lawrence and receiver Desmond Salmon scored a pair of touchdowns each to lead CCC East-leading Hartford Public to a 44-19 waltz over E.O. Smith. Quarterback Eric Rodriguez threw three touchdown strikes for Hartford (5-2, 3-0).
* Undefeated Cromwell (8-0) staved off a late bid by Hamden Hyde Leadership (6-2) to eke out a 17-14 win in a key Pequot League encounter. Hyde drove inside the Cromwell 30 but turned it over on downs with four seconds left. Hyde coach Mel Wells accepted responsibility when quarterback Kendall Groom spiked a pass to stop the clock on fourth down. Cromwell quarterback Bobby Jordan threw for 96 yards and ran for another 42. He ran for one score and connected with Josiah Simmons on another.
* Troy Wigmore pushed his season scoring total to 161 points as undefeated Cheney Tech eased past outmanned Plainville, 58-14, in a non-league game. Wigmore rushed for four first-half touchdowns and three two-point conversions as the Beavers (8-0) gained a grip on the second spot in the Class M playoff point derby.
* Fullback Frank Carlson needed just seven carries to score two touchdowns and gain 91 yards in leading Rocky Hill (7-1) to a 32-0 victory over Prince Tech. Quarterback Ty Redd scored one touchdown and passed to Fernando Sanchez for another.
* Northwest Catholic pulled into fourth place in the Class S playoff race by holding off Bridgeport Central, 19-16, in an intersectional clash in West Hartford. Sean Murphy’s interception halted a late Bridgeport drive. Jake Golic, headed for Notre Dame next year, caught seven passes, two for touchdowns, from quarterback Jack Murphy.
Southington Cruises in CCC Volleyball Final
The CCC Tournament served its purpose for the Southington High volleyball team.
Unified, confident and efficient, the Blue Knights have once again hit their stride as they gird for the state Class LL tourney.
As for Farmington’s Indians, they played like they were just glad to be there in their inaugural season in the conference.
The Blue Knights were far superior in every aspect of the game Saturday night in thrashing Farmington, 3-0 (25-15, 25-19, 25-16) in the CCC final at Meriden Platt.
Southington, seeded third in LL for the state tournament, became the first volleyball team in school history to reach the 20-win plateau. The victory left no doubt that the Knights (20-1) have recovered sufficiently from their only setback, a 3-0 come-uppance at Coventry Oct. 20.
“(Senior hitter) Katie Byrnes said it best when she said that if left a bad taste in our mouths and we don’t want to taste that again,” Southington coach Rich Heitz said.
“We learned from it. We don’t want to experience that again. You see the difference good passing (makes). We didn’t pass well against Coventry and we passed well tonight.”
Heitz said Farmington’s success emanates from junior outside hitter Jess Frankowski so he instructed his girls to keep their serves away from her. They not only did that but they hammered them hard and low, preventing the Indians’ back row of libero Shannon DeBari and Michelle Gothers from getting Farmington’s offense in any kind of flow.
Southington served at 95 percent (70-for-74) and knocked down eight aces while Farmington was off its game at 86 percent (44-for-51), with just one that couldn’t be handled.
“We didn’t show up at all,” Farmington coach Laura Arena said. “None of it was there – the back row, our passing, it started with that. Our serving was way off, far too many service errors.
“We needed to block against this team and I don’t think we blocked one ball that resulted in a point. We never got into our rhythm.”
Ken Lipshez of the New Britain Herald covers central Connecticut for MaxPreps. He may be reached at kenlip@aol.com.
