Defense paves the way for Newington

The Newington Indians’ high-octane offense has received all the accolades so far this season, but it was their defense that dominated in Friday night’s 35-16 conference victory over the East Hartford Hornets. Newington’s defense held the Hornets scoreless in the first half and created three turnovers, one of which turned into a defensive touchdown on the bitter cold night at Abbate Field.

Marcus Guadarramma spearheaded the Newington defense and wreaked havoc in East Harford’s offensive backfield all game. The senior finished with seven tackles, three forced fumbles, and a sack. He credited the defensive success to the emphasis placed on forcing fumbles in practice. “We practiced it a lot this week,” an excited Guadarramma said following the victory, “The coaches did a great job of telling us to go for the strip, especially the second guy to the ball.”
 
Despite their success, the Newington defense was a little shaky to start the game as East Hartford took the opening possession and marched into the red zone. The Indians’ defense stiffened and forced a 44-yard field goal which drifted wide-left and the home team never looked back from that point on. The dangerous Newington offense, led by junior Jake Hedberg, methodically moved down the field on their first offensive possession, using short precision passes. The drive concluded with a 15-yard touchdown pass from Hedberg to fellow junior Andrew Grenier, who ran a fade route and beat man coverage to the right corner of the end zone. The opening drive showcased the potency of the Newington offense, which runs a spread formation with Hedberg operating almost exclusively out of the shotgun.
 
Newington added a wrinkle to their offense on the first play of their second possession when they ran a reverse flea-flicker. The result was a 58-yard completion from wide receiver Kyle Armour to fellow receiver John Massaro. The trick play brought the shivering home crowd to their feet and two plays later running back Isaiah Young scored from five yards out. On Young’s touchdown run, the coaching staff added another variation to their offense when they lined up in a Stack-I formation, giving Young two lead blocking backs. One of the lead backs was offensive lineman Ben Austin who helped plowed the way for Young to easily waltz into the end zone. The touchdown gave the Newington defense a 14-0 cushion, which allowed them to start attacking the conservative Hornet’s offense.
 
The aggressive nature of the Newington defense paid dividends late in the first half with East Hartford facing a fourth down in Newington territory. The Hornets ran a perfectly executed middle-screen pass to running back Mirajsh Barnes, who seemed to have a wide-open field in front of him, but Newington’s Sean Grover made a tremendous one-handed ball strip before Barnes broke into the Newington secondary. The loose ball was scooped up by the Indians’ Zach Truhan, who proceeded to weave in and out of would-be tacklers on his way to a 68 yard touchdown. Truhan added a two-point conversion reception and the shocked Hornets went to the halftime locker room trailing 22-0.
 
East Hartford kept the game interesting in the second half, thanks to the elusive running of quarterback Cameron Byrd and the ball-hawking of safety Michon Hunt. Byrd ran for two second half touchdowns and Hunt intercepted two passes to help tighten the score to 28-16 early in the fourth quarter. However, Newington turned back to the short passing game on their first possession of the final quarter and easily moved down the field on a number of quick strike passes. Young finished the drive with his second touchdown, this time from 10 yards out. The game sealing drive drained nearly five minutes off the clock and thwarted any chance of a Hornets’ comeback.
 
Next, Newington (3-4) will face their biggest challenge of the season when they welcome the Southington Blue Knights to Alumni Field this Friday night. Southington (5-1) is ranked in the top-ten in the Connecticut high school football rankings and are led by one of the state’s best quarterbacks, Stephen Barmore. The Blue Knights have also defeated the Indians the last four times they’ve played. However, this doesn’t shake the confidence of Guadarramma, who says the team will be ready for the challenge. “It’s going to be a good game, we’re going to prepare the same way we [always] prepare,” the defensive standout said, “I’m ready for it.” Kickoff is 6:30 p.m.
　
Football Around Town
 
Rocky Hill crushes Plainville
 
The Rocky Hill Terriers improved to 6-1 with a 35-6 whitewash of the Plainville Blue Devils. Rocky Hill’s Chris Young continued his magical senior season, rushing for 179 yards and three touchdowns on only 17 carries. With his three scores Friday, Young has now amassed 18 total touchdowns in seven games.  More amazingly, he is averaging a touchdown every six times he touches the ball this season. With the home win, Rocky Hill has now won 11 consecutive home games, last losing on September 23rd 2011.
 
The Terriers will welcome the Bristol Central Rams (2-4) to Rocky Hill Friday night.  Last season the Terriers destroyed the Rams 55-21. Bristol Central’s offense has underperformed this season, having been shutout twice, including a 35-0 loss to Farmington this past weekend. Kickoff will be at 7 p.m.
　
Eagles soar by Falcons
 
The Wethersfield Eagles won their third game in a row by defeating the struggling Fermi Falcons 40-20 in a Central Connecticut II East conference battle. Wethersfield’s defense held the Falcons scoreless in the first half and the Eagles cruised the rest of the way. With the win, Wethersfield took over first place in the conference and remain the only team in the East without a conference loss.
 
The Eagles look to keep their perfect conference record intact when they welcome the RHAM Sachems (3-4) to Wethersfield this Friday night. The Eagles have won the last three games versus the Sachems, including a 35-14 victory last season. Kickoff will be at 7 p.m.
　
Cromwell’s win streak stopped at four
 
The Cromwell Panthers had their four game winning streak snapped by the Sports & Medicine Sciences Academy Tigers at Dillon Stadium in Hartford Saturday. The Panthers could not stop the Tigers’ ground game as Kadeem Johnson and Wildredo Alicea combined for 277 rushing yards in the 36-19 upset victory. Cromwell had a chance to take a two game lead in the Pequot-North conference, but the loss narrows their overall lead and allows five teams to stay within a game of first place. 
 
Friday night, Cromwell will travel and battle the Enfield Raiders in another crucial Pequot-North conference game. Enfield (3-3) is coming off a 13-9 victory over Hyde Leadership and is led by head coach Jay Gaucher, who is coaching his tenth season with the Raiders. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
　
Xavier lights up scoreboard
 
The Xavier Falcons rebounded from last week’s heartbreaking loss and smashed the Notre Dame Green Knights 54-13. The Falcons dominated the game from start to finish, showing no ill effects from their highly publicized loss to West Haven last weekend.  The win put the Falcons (5-2) in a three-way tie, with Fairfield Prep and Shelton, for the lead in the Southern Connecticut I West conference. 
 
Xavier will now travel to the shoreline and play the Hand Tigers in Madison. Hand (6-1) has won the last two contests against Xavier and is coming off an impressive 44-41 victory over Shelton. Hand is led by sophomore sensation Nick Van Dell, who has thrown 17 touchdowns and ran for seven more this season. Kickoff will be a 7 p.m.
　
Middletown Turns Maloney into Bologna
 
The Middletown Blue Dragons improved to 7-0 with a 47-16 demolition of the Maloney Spartans Friday night. Duel-threat quarterback Dario Highsmith tallied four touchdowns and Jacob Homar caught 5 passes for 148 yards and a touchdown in the blowout victory. The Blue Dragons played most of the second half with their reserves after putting up 40 points over the first 24 minutes.
 
Next, the Blue Dragons will return to Middletown to welcome the Farmington Indians and their playmaking studs Ivan Guadalupe and Kenny Jones for the highly anticipated battle of undefeated conference foes. The winner will take over sole possession of first place in the competitive Central Connecticut II West conference. Both Middletown and Farmington have excelled on offense this season, but it has been their defenses that have been the most spectacular thus far, each surrendering less than 10 points per game this season. Kickoff for the top-ten battle is 7 p.m. at Rosek-Skubel Stadium.