It was a first for me on Wednesday night, taking in a football game on Thanksgiving Eve rather than Thanksgiving Day and I wasn't the only one.
It was great to see over a thousand people out at St. Bernard despite the cool, blustery conditions and the game, as expected, was probably one of the better finales to this football season.
Host St. Bernard didn't let their upcoming state semifinal blur what their true goals were- win the ECC Small Division and beat Montville. For those who missed the final score, it was 17-7.
You have to give cudos to Coach Marc Romano and his staff who came in and guided the Saints to an 8-1-1 record, their second consecutive ECC Small Division title and the first state playoff appearance for the Saints in 28 years.
There's a little bonus to playing Thanksgiving Eve when you're involved in the playoffs, it's called an extra day to prep. Romano said he and his staff would give their players Thanksgiving off but the staff will meet Thursday night to discuss the game plan against either Windham, Ledyard or Hillhouse. The Saints still had an outside shot to host a game if both Ledyard and Hillhouse lost on Thursday.
Montville left the field with a 5-5 record, much less than what they hoped for but it was a tough season. First-year head coach Tanner Grove saw things go awry from the start when his Indians were shocked by Putnam (still the upset of the year) and later lost quarterback Brian Emery and receiver Nick Markovitz to injury.
"You put in all this time, all this work and all this effort and to not have it pay dividends, it stings. I think the kids gave me everything they had in them but we didn't have enough players who could make plays when we needed to," Grove said.