Just like that, it's gone

It's a funny thing about destiny, just when you think you have the opportunity to control it- it controls you.
Montville has dealt with the agony of defeat before, a one-point loss on the last play of a game against New London is as perfect an example as you can have.
That New London loss, however, may pale in comparison to the one that the Indians suffered Wednesday night at St. Bernard.
All the Indians had to do was win and a Class SS state playoff berth was theirs, now they have to hope that something they haven't had too much of all season, luck is on their side.
Montville's 14-12 loss to St. Bernard means the Indians can only get into the state playoffs with a Holy Cross win over Wolcott on Thursday. Everyone on the Montville team inclined to do so should probably be getting out their prayer beads about now.
Everyone will ask the same question; How did St. Bernard pull it off?
The answer is rather simple actually, the Saints executed when they had to.
Down by two touchdowns, Jordan Rando dived towards the end zone and the ball popped loose. There was defensive lineman Lucas Bowman to scoop it up and made it a one-touchdown game.
When Montville had to gain just a foot for a first down with one minute to play, there was Bowman to stuff Tyler Girard-Floyd and give the ball back to the Saints.
When there were 38 seconds left to play, there was Ryan Brahm,broken hand and all, pump faking the defender into falling down and lofting a 27-yard pass to Sean Kydd for the game-winning score.
Unfortunately, I wish the rest of the story was just as good. That there were handshakes and wellwishes afterwards between teams.
Instead, school officials and law enforcement had to intervene to not only keep the two sides apart, but to keep Montville players and some of its own parents apart. It was a scene that I hated witnessing, especially on Thanksgiving Eve.
So as we move on to Thanksgiving Day high school football, let's all remember one thing, it's high school football not the Super Bowl.

Ledyard pulls off the upset

There was a feeling in the air on Wednesday.
A feeling of confidence.
It was almost palpable when I visited the locker room to do a preview story on the Ledyard-New London game that took place Thursday night.
It also turned out to be well founded.
The Colonels weren't cocky, but they weren't afraid of the mighty Whalers either. They spoke in praise of their upcoming opponents, but never put them on a much higher pedastal than they placed themselves.
Thursday night, the Colonels proved they knew what they were talking about as they dropped beat New London in Ledyard coach Jim Buonocore's words, "convincingly", 27-6.
Defense not only wins championships, it also wins games.
The Colonels didn't allow an offensive touchdown as the only offense the Whalers could muster came from the legs of Richie Vitale.
Quarterback J.J. Jablonski may have put himself into the same sentence as New London's injured Jordan Reed and Griswold's Sean Brackett with a 183-yard, two-touchdown performance.Barquis Haley, a former Whaler, scored the only touchdown the Colonels would need in the third quarter. Jablonski hit Drew Roselle twice in the fourth quarter for scores and later crossed the goal line himself to account for Ledyard's scoring.
Lost in all the hoopla of beating New London was the fact that the Colonels also qualified for the Class M state playoffs with the win.
No one really cared, no one even mentioned it.
After all, they had just beaten New London.

Wethersfield takes 2-0 lead over East Lyme

Wethersfield has taken a 2-0 lead over East Lyme in the Class L boys soccer championship match at Willowbrook Park in New Britain.
Colin Doody scored 18:43 into the match when he took a rebound off a shot by Michael Morrissette and pushed it past East Lyme keeper Matias Francone.
The Eagles came back just eight minutes later when Andrew Whitehead took advantage of a three-on-one break and gathered in a cross from Brian Walsh to make it 2-0.

State championship weekend

After a marathon Class LL girls volleyball state champioonship match Saturday night which was won by NFA, 3-2, over Fitch, we're back at it on this Sunday.
Weather is playing a role at Willowbrook Park in New Britain this afternoon as East Lyme is battling Wethersfield in the Class L boys soccer championship.
The wind is whipping around at 20 miles per hour plus and East Lyme is going against it in the first half. The Vikings have had one good shot thus far when Jacob Stanford passed to Dom Cassrino in the middle,but his shot flew over the top of the Eagles net.
Wethersfield, with the wind, has four shots already and keeper Matias Francone has made two saves. The most dangerous opportunity was a header off a corner by the Eagles' Bill Noiset that went wide to the right of the East Lyme net.
Later on this afternoon, the St. Bernard girls team plays Immaculate in the Class S girls championship at 4:30 p.m. at Municipal Stadium in Waterbury.

NFA avoids shutout, down 2-1

Maybe the long second set took something out of Fitch.
The Falcons fell behind NFA early in the third set and never recovered as the Wildcats bested the Falcons 25-15 and now trail 2-1 in the Class LL volleyball state championship match at Newington High School.
Jennifer Escobido served up three points to put the Wildcats up 24-12, but NFA had to wait out three straight points by Fitch before it scored the game point on a tip by Kastine Evans.

Fitch outlasts NFA in second set

A net violation against NFA ended a marathon second set with Fitch coming out on top, 35-33, to take a 2-0 lead in the Class LL state championship volleyball match in Newington.
NFA had fought back from an early deficit behid eight consecutive service points by freshman Kaylyn Levine but the Falcons rallied to tie and forced the marathon overtime.
The Falcons finally took the advantage when the Wildcats couldn't return a tip and the net violation gave the Falcons the win.

Fitch dominant in first set

Norwich Free Academy has to be wondering why they can't play against Fitch like they did against Trumbull, Cheshire and Greenwich.
The Falcons dominated the first set of their Class LL state match at Newington High School and posted a 25-15 win.
Devyn Frank had three kills and two service aces while Rachael Dempsey served up eight points in a run that gave Fitch a 15-5 lead.
Kastine Evans has been a little frustrated early on as she has been called for three net violations.
Funniest moment of the first set: A ball was sent upward into the gym ceiling and never came back down, wedging itself between two steel beams.