Southington's Stephen Barmore a true leader in Connecticut football

Stephen Barmore has had a long career as the starting quarterback for Southington (Conn.). It began midway through his freshman season, at age 15.

His numbers, which include more than 4,000 yards passing, 39 touchdown passes and a 22-3 record as a starter in about 3 1/2 years, are impressive, but his leadership qualities rank as high, if not higher.

A defining moment came last season against Manchester on the road in Week 9. Southington, 8-0 and driving toward a playoff spot in highly competitive Class LL, trailed late in the game at 12-7 against a tough and resurgent CCC opponent (6-2 at the time). The Blue Knights had one last chance with one minute, 40 seconds remaining.

"It was a tough game for us offensively," Southington head coach Mike Drury recalled. "We really weren't clicking."

"We were trying to maintain a perfect record, and it was not one of our best games by far," Barmore said.

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Southington took over on its 30-yard line. Barmore methodically drove his team down the field in the Blue Knights' spread offense. He converted three times on fourth-down situations, and found himself on Manchester's 30-yard line with 1.2 seconds left in the game.

Barmore went deep on a fade into the end zone and hit senior Cobin Garry for a touchdown with .01 seconds showing on the clock for a 13-12 victory.

"To me that showed his mental toughness and his never-give-up attitude," Drury said. "He stayed calm, cool, collected."

Barmore has his team at 2-0 heading into Week 3 for a matchup with Simsbury (1-1) on Friday. The Blue Knights have already overcome two of their toughest CCC rivals in Glastonbury, which eliminated them in the state quarterfinals last season, and Manchester.

For Southington and Barmore, there are a couple of goals in sight.

"We want to repeat what we did last season. We want to go 10-0 (regular season) again," Barmore said. "This time, because it's such a realistic goal, the expectations for us are higher once we get to the playoffs. And our expectations are higher. The goal is every year to win a state championship."

Drury says it's that drive and determination, along with his physical abilities and work ethic, that have helped Barmore become a team leader.

"He's got great physical attributes, but there's a lot more to him than that," Drury said. "He's a tremendous worker, not only during the season but through the entire off-season. Working on his quarterback position, going to (five) camps, working with some personal quarterback trainers, in the weight room, speed training. He does everything year-round, so he's a tremendous worker.

"He's also an extremely intelligent kid," Drury added. "He's at the top of his class academically, member of the National Honor Society. Has the whole package going."

Barmore has already committed to play for Yale next fall. Interested in majoring in biology with an emphasis on genomics or genetics, he was given offers by Bryant, Central Connecticut State, and was actively recruited by Villanova, Iowa and Boston College, but chose to stay close to home. He said he felt most comfortable at the Ivy League school, which offered him a scholarship last fall when he attended a Yale game.

"Above all the other schools, it seemed they wanted me the most," Barmore said. "They seemed to really care about me. I wanted to go to a place with not only great academics and good football, but I wanted to go somewhere where people cared about me and really wanted me."

Drury says at 6-feet-2, 201 pounds, Barmore is not your typical quarterback. He is probably the strongest kid on the team, able to bench 385 pounds. He has also rushed for nearly 1,000 at four yards a clip and 18 touchdowns during his career. So he adds another dimension to his effectiveness.

"His ability to run ball really helps him extend plays on the field," said Drury of his QB, who qualified for New Englands in the 400 meters in the spring. "We not only have set running plays for him, but scrambling, in the pocket, making plays downfield. And then with his arm, he has the ability to make any throw we ask of him on the field.

"He's been the leader of our offense the past three years. He gets along with everybody. He's the type of kid who kids look up to on the team. They see how hard he works. He gives a lot of respect to kids and they respect him for that. Just his ability to bring the team together, whether it's sophomore, junior of senior, he does a great job at that."

Although Southington graduated a number of receivers and offensive lineman, Barmore has a capable, developing stable in juniors Alex Jamele, Kyle Borawski, and a converted lineman at tight end, Zach Maxwell. He also has a big target in sophomore Jasen Rose (6-4, 225).

But he is most impressed with the job the veterans and newcomers have done on the O-line.

"We have two returning starters (Jim Nardi, Carlos Gil); the other four guys (Sal Conti, Joe D'Agostino, Noah MacDonald and Jonathan Rouch), not a lot of people know about," Barmore said.

"They don't get that much press and they don't get talked about that much but the amount of work that they have put in over the course of the off-season and the start of the season, and progress they have made has been unbelievable."

Paul Rosano, the former assistant sport editor of The Hartford Courant and sports editor of The New Haven Register, is a MaxPreps contributor. He may be reached at pjrosano@cox.net.