GHS Football Sinks Simsbury

No. 13 Connor Finnerty celebrates a touchdown catch in the second quarter with No. 20 Joshua Smith as No. 79 Jayden Tenney comes over to join the celebration. Photo credit – Glastonbury Sports Photography.  
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After losing 27 seniors and 10 offensive starters from the 2022 playoff team, the Glastonbury High School football team had a lot of unknowns coming into what looked like a rebuilding year this fall.

But the Guardians exceeded expectations, closing the regular season by winning three of their final four games to finish with a 5-5 record. 

Last Friday night they put an exclamation point on the regular season, defeating Simsbury 21-7 at GHS. 

“All week we talked about 5-5 sounding a lot better than 4-6,” head coach Eric Hennessy said following the 14-point victory. “It may not be the record we dreamed of or aspire for around here, but with this young group it’s actually huge.” 

Freshman running back Dante Casdia was a workhorse, rushing for 186 yards and scoring two touchdowns on 34 carries to lead an efficient offense that put together three long-sustaining drives. 

Casdia said it was important for the team to give the seniors the proper sendoff at home. 

“It feels great, we dedicated this game to them,” added Casdia. “I left it all out on the field for them.”

After the Guardians defense forced the visiting Trojans into a three-and-out on the game’s opening possession, the Guardians offense marched 47 yards in six plays to take the lead on five-yard touchdown from Casdia, who scampered around the right end for the game’s opening score with 7:39 to play in the first quarter. 

The Guardians then marched 78 yards on a dozen plays on their second possession, which culminated with an 11-yard scoring blast up the middle from Casdia. 

Casdia credited the guys up front, saying of the team’s offensive line, “They are the reason why I could do that and get those yards and touchdowns – it’s all them.”

Hennessy said they knew they had something special in Casdia in training camp, adding that he showed the “instincts” which began to translate onto the field about midway through the season.

“He does things you can’t coach,” added Hennessy. “There’s a bright, bright future for that young man.” 

Late in the first half, Glastonbury used a little razzle-dazzle to add a third touchdown. 

 Sophomore quarterback Connor Finnerty handed the ball to Luke Shannon who rolled to his right before firing a pass towards the left sideline which Finnerty hauled in for a 25-yard touchdown, putting the home team up 21-0 with 1:40 left in the second quarter.

Shannon was the team’s quarterback for a majority of the season, but Hennessy said that Finnerty has grown into the position after excelling at the junior varsity level, earning the start for the finale. 

“It allows us to get the ball in Luke’s hands more and keep defenses honest,” stated Hennessy.  “You saw a little of the blueprint for the future.”

Finnerty and Shannon rotated behind center throughout the game and combined to complete 11 or 12 passes as the Guardians were nearly flawless through the air. 

But it was the Guardians defense that closed the door. The seven points were the fewest the team allowed in a game all season. 
Luke Lavery led the charge with 13 tackles and also intercepted a pass. Lavery, a junior, finished with a team-high 91 tackles this season. 

Middle linebacker Nick Filiault had 10 tackles and two sacks, while Luke Barran also posted 10 tackles. 

Senior captain Sean Stebbins said the team talked about protecting home field prior to the finale. 

“It’s special, real special. It’s always good to leave on a win,” added Stebbins. “We came out and here and showed what we could do.”

Stebbins is one of six seniors that leave the turf at GHS on a high note. Five of the six seniors have been with the team since their freshman year in 2020, which was the year canceled because of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Hennessy called his seniors “a tight group” that approached each practice with a workman-like attitude.  

After starting the season with a 21-7 loss in Danbury, the Guardians quickly grew up as a team, winning a thrilling game in week two in Middletown when Camden Combs scored a strip-six when he ripped the ball out of Zy'Kie Askew hands late in regulation before scoring a touchdown. A two-point conversion run by Shannon secured the team’s first victory of the season (14-13). 
Glastonbury also defeated rival East Hartford (26-8) in the team’s home opener on Sept. 28 and earned back-to-back victories over New Britain (22-20) and Conard (37-10) in weeks seven and eight. 

“We took some stumbles along the way and took out lumps, but we continued to come back and continued that process of getting 1% better every day, and it shows,” said Hennessy. “We are truly a better football team now than when we started the season and as a coach that is really the only thing that you can ask for.”