By Hal Levy, Shore Line Newspapers
Special to Max Preps
No exoneration the second time around.
The second instance of a Connecticut high school football team winning a game by more than 50 points had a different conclusion from the first.
East Hartford rolled to a 60-0 win over Fermi-Enfield Sept. 29 and coach Dan Lawrence sat this weekend's game with Wethersfield per the new Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference score management rule.
In the first instance, a 50-plus win by Bridgeport Central, coach David Cadelina's appeal was upheld by a CIAC panel. But this one has some significant differences.
To begin with, Cadelina had the support of his administration while East Hartford principal Craig Jordan decided not to file an appeal. That alone took care of the matter, but the extenuating circumstances were different as well.
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Cadelina's team and its opponent, Bassick-Bridgeport, played running time for much of the game and Central had no starters in the contest in the second half. Officials and coaches agreed Central did what it could to keep the score down.
East Hartford scored 60 points, adding one more touchdown after the one which put it over the 50-point barrier. Although the team had substitutes in the game, a starter scored on the opening kickoff return of the second half.
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Lawrence was quoted by the Hartford Courant as saying the player, Kasey Brown, was in the game to "block for younger players", but the return was for 85 yards, meaning he hadn't moved up all that far. Then, the Hornets went for two-points on the conversion. Lawrence was quoted in that same article as saying that was because of a poor snap on the placement try.
The point which appears to have swayed the principal is that a week earlier, East Hartford won its game against Sport and Medical Sciences, 57-8 (i.e. by 49 points).
"One of the things I also based by decision (not to appeal) on is the fact that a week before we were almost in the same boat," Jordan said. "We've got to learn from these things and try to make a positive out of it."
Lawrence is allowed to attend practice this week but cannot be at the Saturday game.
Split Decision
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The state's coaches and media continue to differ on their take as to the best high school football team.
The Day of New London's panel of coaches tabbed Greenwich (3-0-0) as the top team. The New Haven Register's media poll puts West Haven (3-0-0) first. Greenwich beat Danbury, 28-14, last weekend and plays Warren Harding-Bridgeport Saturday. West Haven topped Wilbur Cross-New Haven, 28-7, and has a tough game Friday night with cross-town rival Notre Dame-West Haven which is also 3-0-0 and received top-10 consideration in both polls.
Greenwich and West Haven cannot decide the question on the field since the two are in different divisions for state playoffs. Greenwich is in Class LL and West Haven is a Class L team.
The Day poll has Ansonia second, Southington third and West Haven fourth while the Register goes with Greenwich second, Ansonia third and Holy Cross-Waterbury fourth.
Southington got a big win of its own last week, knocking off previously-unbeaten Bristol Central, 46-22, overcoming a 22-14 halftime deficit.
Barron Still Contributing for Branford
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Branford High School's football team has added a special captain.
Senior Greg Barron was expected to be the starting center for the defending CIAC Class MM state champs, but he was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia, a disease which generally strikes much younger persons than Barron, 17.
While Barron is gaining on the disease, a contact sport like football was out of the question. But Barron's teammates didn't forget his contributions or leadership qualities.
During a pep rally, they urged coach Gary Gravina and his staff to name Barron as a captain and it was done. Barron still has to face chemotherapy and he's already undergone 13 spinal taps. But he is walking and regaining his strength and showing everyone why his teammates consider him so special.
Wickham Invitational Gives Teams a Championship Preview
Many state cross country teams will get a big mid-season test this weekend at the annual Wickham Invitational.
Wickham Park, on the East Hartford-Manchester border, is the site for the state cross country championships later this month. The invitational gives teams a change to run the state course and to match up against other top competitors.
Glastonbury is ranked first in both the boys' and girls' polls. Danbury, Xavier-Middletown, Norwich Free Academy and Newtown round out the top five boys' teams while Glastonbury's girls are followed by Lyman Memorial-Lebanon, Ridgefield, Guilford and Simsbury.
Lyman is doing its running without coach Peter Oviatt. The third-year mentor was relieved of his duties decently, apparently because of comments he made on a cross-country web site about the running of the season-opening Windham Invitational. The coach was upset that the course did not appear to be clearly marked and that several runners, including a couple from his team, made a wrong turn and wound up on a traffic-infested street.
He withdrew his remarks at the request of school officials, but was removed from his post anyhow.
Gene McGrath, an eastern Connecticut cross country coaching pioneer, came out of retirement to coach Lyman Memorial. McGrath coached at Norwich Freer Academy in the late 1960s and 1970s and then was at Bacon Academy-Colchester for some years.
