Copyright Hartford Courant
Last year, the CREC (Capitol Region Education Council) Colts co-op football team won one game. Saturday, the Colts’ game against Rockville went down to the wire – and CREC hung on for the 22-21 victory. It was Rockville’s first loss. On Oct. 18, CREC beat Ellington 50-27. That was the program’s biggest win – until Saturday. “It might have taken six months off my life but it was worth it in the end,” CREC coach Chris Kennedy said. “We are a baby of a program, compared to Rockville, in terms of history. We are still learning how to win close games. First, we had to get into close games. The next step of that process is to learn how to win them. Although we’re very proud of some of our wins this year, this is the first one that was close to the end and we were able to pull through and get that win. That’s what I’m excited for the kids about.” CREC (5-2 and sixth in the Class SS standings) got off to a good start in the game. An accidental onside kick to open the game gave CREC the ball and the Colts scored and by halftime, led 14-0. “In years past, we’ve been able to play with Rockville for a half,” Kennedy said. “We weren’t taking anything for granted. We were in a very close game at halftime (last year). It wasn’t close at all by the end. “We wanted to make sure when we came out at halftime we were doing all the same things the same way. Rockville got a stop right away. Then they got on the board. I was impressed in that moment with our kids’ resilience.” Trailing 22-7 heading into the fourth quarter, Rockville mounted a rally. Luca Houle had a touchdown pass and Kayden Boland had a 1-yard TD run but the conversion failed and CREC led 22-21. Rockville decided to go for an onside kick on the kickoff. Kennedy was confident. “We have dynamic kick returners,” he said. “We’re used to people kicking onside. We spend a lot of time on it. I don’t know the exact number, maybe high teens but we’ve recovered every onside kick that’s been attempted on us this year – until that one (Saturday). “There’s the other side of the football gods. We got one early, then late in the game, I was 100 percent confident and as the football gods would have it, that was the first one we gave up this year.” But the CREC defense held. Rockville drove to the 30-yard line but a fourth-down pass by Houle was deflected in the end zone and that was it. “We feel confident in our secondary and the way they’ve played all year,” Kennedy said. “It was a wild one.” Senior quarterback Keith Agba had two touchdown runs and a 27-yard TD pass to senior Nyquawn Jefferson for CREC. Those two have led the team all season, offensively and defensively, along with senior center/defensive tackle Sebastian Desir. “Our offensive and defensive line has been the biggest difference,” Kennedy said. Next up is North Branford (5-1), another difficult Pequot foe, followed by the Weaver co-op the following week. Here are some highlights from last weekend: – South Windsor handed Middletown its first loss, 30-8, and Jalil Montgomery had 15 carries for 114 yards and two touchdowns for the Bobcats (5-2). Jaden Bridgeforth and Dominic MacNeil each scored a touchdown for South Windsor. Middletown is 6-1. – Jacoby Roman completed 21 of 26 passes for 317 yards and four touchdowns in Southington’s 48-14 win over Platt. Walter Mierzejewski had 109 receiving yards and two touchdowns for the Knights and Lonnie Green had two rushing touchdowns. William Cumberlidge and Mason Nardi each had 11 tackles for Southington. – Berlin’s Brandon Sadowski rushed for 128 yards and one touchdown and Eli Rice and Cody Puzio also scored TDs in the Redcoats’ 24-8 win over Enfield Thursday. Josh Durant scored three touchdowns in Sheehan’s 42-2 victory over Harding Thursday. – Aaron Ladr had four touchdown passes, including a 1-yard pass to Mattox Dimovski in the third overtime and Ellington’s conversion was good to give the Knights a 37-35 win over Granby Wednesday. Joseph Lewie led Granby with 25 carries, 173 yards, three touchdowns and on defense, he had nine solo tackles (12 total), one sack and one forced fumble. Games to Watch CREC (5-2) at North Branford (5-1), Friday, 6:30 p.m.: CREC will see if it can keep its win streak alive. Glastonbury (4-3) at Maloney (5-2) Friday, Falcon Field, Meriden, 6:30 p.m.: Maloney is coming off a two-point loss to New Britain and would like to get on a winning track after losing two of its last three. Glastonbury is one of four teams that are 4-3 from fifth through eight place in the Class LL standings. Hand (6-1) at Fairfield Prep (6-1) Friday, 6 p.m., at Rafferty Stadium, Fairfield University: Big SCC interdivisional game featuring the No. 1 team in the Class LL rankings vs. No. 3 in the Class SS rankings (behind unbeaten Killingly and Nonnewaug).
