High Impact Times: Football State Championship Recap, An Array Of Fundraisers, A Guest Post From MetalNED
Football State Championship Recap, An Array Of Fundraisers, A Guest Post From MetalNED.
Lost in the Rent? I Think Not!
A Guest Post From James Thomson
Having been involved with Connecticut High School Football for 24 years and counting, I have heard all the talk about state championship and even All Star Game locations. Anyone who's been involved for even half that long remembers the various locations that the CIAC has held football state championships. I'm not attempting to rehash all of those locations and the pros and cons of all of them. I am attempting to address one specific location, Rentschler Field.
Is the "Rent" too big for high school football? The detractors decry, "You get lost in there!" or "It's so far for some teams to travel to!" The supporters counter, "It's a once in a lifetime opportunity for the players!" or "It's worth the drive to play in the best stadium in our state!" I've been caught on both sides of the argument and I found myself there again on Saturday as I took in the Class S State Championship game between Bloomfield and Cromwell/Portland. The stands were sparsely filled on the Cromwell/Portland side and seemingly empty on the Bloomfield side.
It was my second year in a row taking in a state championship game between two NFP Sports High Impact Teams at the Rent. Last year, I attended to watch Killingly take on North Haven in the Class MM State Championship. I brought my middle son with me, who was blown away by being on the field with the "big boys" and standing right next to Killingly's Ben Desaulnier as he manned the touchdown cannon and blasted off when Killingly scored. It left an impression on my then 10 year old son and one that he remembered vividly when he convinced my youngest son to join us this year. The crowd in 2022 was noticeably larger than this year's Class S finale. Right before Kick Off, I thought to myself, "where is everyone?"
When Kick Off came, that thought quickly went away and we were caught up in the action with Cromwell/Portland scoring the 1st touchdown and Bloomfield quickly answering with a score of their own. The first half was pretty evenly matched with Bloomfield punching in their third touchdown with zero seconds on the clock to make it 21-14 at the half. The players and coaches on both sides were playing and coaching their hearts out. The fans in attendance were focused on the action on the field and didn't seem to care about how many empty seats surrounded them. My 11 year old and 8 year old boys were wide eyed and overwhelmed. "That was crazy!" they screamed. They were watching the best of Connecticut high school football in the biggest stadium in the state and that was all that mattered. Not once did they mention all the empty seats. They were in the moment and it was one helluva moment at that! They sat on the field and watched as Bloomfield pulled away in the second half and won the championship.
On Saturday, high school kids were gridiron superheroes and they competing in the biggest arena the state could find. That is exactly what happens in Massachusetts when they play the state championships at Gillette Stadium and in New York when they play at the JMA Dome (formerly the Carrier Dome). In Connecticut, Rentschler Field is our biggest venue for football. Allowing our student-athletes to play there is the right call and one I hope us grouchy adults don't ruin anytime soon!
I-iiiiiiit’s Bacon
A Guest Post From MetalNED
Overtime had just finished in the CIAC Class M girls’ soccer championship game on Nov. 18 and Bacon Academy and top-seeded Suffield were still tied at 1, meaning that a state title was going to come down to penalty kicks. Penalty kicks are a nerve-wracking experience under any circumstances. To have a state title hanging in the balance, something that Bacon Academy had never won, boys or girls, well, that’s enough pressure to make any athlete’s stomach go on the spin cycle.
The Bobcats were built for the moment, though.
Junior Elizabeth Glover, Bacon’s starting goaltender who missed over half the season recovering from an ACL tear, scored the game’s final goal as the Bobcats knocked off unbeaten Suffield after an absurd 15 rounds of penalty kicks, 2-1 (11-10 PKs). “We told the girls (before states) that we’re playing our formation our way and it’s just going to go the way we go,” Bacon head coach Matt Rapala. And what is the “Bacon Way”? “Gritty, tough, 1-0 games,” Rafala said.
The Bobcats (16-5-1) were young but experienced having advanced to last season’s Class M final before losing to eventual champion Mercy. That made them believe they could at least get back to the semifinals this year, although that would require them to weather the absence for Glover for all but their final eight games. She injured her knee playing basketball last February.
Bacon got a huge boost from backup keeper Arianna Pennington that allowed it to get off to an 8-1-1 start. “We knew going into (the season) that we were going to be down our starting goalie,” Rafala said. “That wasn’t a surprise to anybody. So, we had been planning a course of action and our secondary goalie, Arianna, was phenomenal. “She came up with massive wins and saves. She got a win against Waterford, which was a top-rated team, and Stonington and other big programs. So, she held her own.”
The Bobcats were hit with more adversity in mid-October when Pennington was sidelined with a concussion, forcing them to get creative. “(We played) arguably three of our hardest games in a row with a field player (in goal), “Rafala said. “Every 20 minutes, a new field player (went into goal). It was kind of everybody’s turn. Take your turn and go do it.” “That kind of sums up the end of our season.” Bacon lost those three games to Waterford (2-0, Oct. 14), Norwich Free Academy (3-2) and Berlin (3-0, Oct. 18). “We just took the mantra of we’ll get Elizabeth back in times for states,” Rafala said. “Even if we lose, we’re already in states. It was just constantly reminding the team, like, ‘These games matter, but they don’t super-matter. We made states. We’ll be okay.’”
Glover made her season debut in late October and the Bobcats were seeded No. 11 in the Class M tournament. “We thought we’d be a low seed (while Glover and Pennington were out), like a 20 seed,” Rafala said. “Well, we’ll be the most dangerous 20-something seed the state has ever seen. It was kind of true.” Bacon ended up in the bottom half of the Class M, meaning that second-seeded Woodland and No. 3 Granby Memorial were lurking.
The Bobcats edged Granby in the quarterfinals, 3-2 (4-2 PKs) on Nov. 10. They shut down Woodland four days later, 1-0, to earn a trip to their first state final. “We joked about it, but I’ve never been part of a team over the past few years that feels so comfortable up a goal,” Rafala said, “and, in a big moment, where they’re just like, ‘Yeah. We’re good.’ I mean, you’ll see all these top teams scoring three, four or five goals (a game) and that’s just never been us. We will win that 1-0 game and be okay with it.”
Up next was unbeaten Suffield. Bacon took the lead with 18 minutes, 56 seconds left in the first half when Alyssa Blanchette scored off an assist from Katelyn Novak. The Wildcats’ Hazel Qua scored with 3:08 left in regulation to tie the game as they Bacon ended up going to penalty kicks, which kept going on-and-on-and-on. “The way state does it, you have to take (penalty kicks) in groups of five, so you have to have 10 different players,” Rafala said. “We pretty much identified the 10 kickers four weeks before (states).
“Every single day, we did (penalty) kicks so much. We made them walk from midfield instead of just starting at the box, like simulate everything. The walk. The noise. We had the boys’ soccer team make a tunnel at one point and just start hooting and hollering and try to get in (the girls’) heads.” It was perhaps appropriate the game-winning goal was scored by Glover, who immediately asked an official if Bacon had just won the game as her teammates spilled onto the field. “She had been a field player for a very long time and the confidence is very high with that one,” Rafala said about Glover. “She likes to tell the girls she could still score if she had to.
“Fifteen rounds of penalty kicks are one of the wilder sports stories I’ve seen. I forget what reporter said, ‘That’s the stuff movies are made of.’ That’s kind of funny that they did (win a state title) with the injuries and the adversity and being down in games and coming back. It was a heck of a ride that the girls are still enjoying.”
CIAC Football State Championships
Class S: Bloomfield
In the Class S State Championship game, which James wrote about prior, we saw Bloomfield matchup with Cromwell/Portland Co-op at The Rent. Despite a valiant effort from Cromwell/Portland Co-op, Bloomfield won another state title, this time 42-20.
Class SS: Joel Barlow
In Class SS, the seven seed, Joel Barlow matched up with the eight seed, Watertown in the State Championship. Joel Barlow beat one seed Granby and five seed GNH to make the game. For Watertown, they beat number two Coginchaug/EastHampton/HaleRay and number six Sheehan to advance. In a game that came down to the wire, Joel Barlow was able to secure the win 21-20. What was awesome about this day of championships was that this wasn’t the only game decided by one point. The other came in Class LL.
Class M: Daniel Hand
For the Class M State Championship, Daniel Hand and Rockville kicked off at 1:45 at Arute Field on the CCSU campus. Daniel Hand had their closest matchup in round one against number eight St. Joseph when they won 29-14. In round two, they beat ATI 48-0 and in the finals on Saturday, the Tigers beat the Rams, who despite losing in the finals had an unbelievable season, by a score of 57-20.
Class MM: North Haven
The Class MM finals had two unlikely teams. Number five North Haven, who knocked off number one Windsor 21-0 in the semi-finals, was playing against number three Wilton, who upset number two Masuk in the semi-finals 35-10. North Haven was able to thwart any offensive attack from Wilton, which led to them winning the game 21-0. This win makes them back-to-back state champions after winning last season vs Killingly.
Class L: New Canaan
In the Class L finals, we saw a classic FCIAC battle. Number eight Darien and number two New Canaan, who played on Thanksgiving this year, were matched up. On Thanksgiving, New Canaan beat the Blue Wave 31-17 and earned the number two seed in the playoffs. Darien overcame that late season loss and beat number one Naugatuck and number four Newtown to make the finals. However, they found themselves in a similar situation to Thanksgiving. They lost 28-21 and New Canaan took home another state title.
Class LL: Staples
The Class LL finals was filled with fireworks. Number one Staples, who beat Fairfield Prep and Southington to make the finals was facing off against number three West Haven, who beat New Britain and knocked off number two Greenwich to make the finals. This game came down to the wire, but the one seeded Wreckers from Westport High School won the game in nail biting fashion 21-20.
East Lyme Boys' Soccer State Championship Recap & Online Donations Campaign
This years Class L Boys' Soccer State Champions were the East Lyme Vikings. Hailing from the ECC, they earned the three seed in the Class L tournament and beat Windsor, Simsbury, Bethel, Cheshire and finally Notre Dame-West Haven at Trinity Health Stadium in the finals. Through the tournament, they outscored opponents 12-5.
With their season concluding and the celebration from winning a state championship over, the Vikings are looking towards next season with an intention to repeat on this past seasons success. In order for them to be a successful team, they need to fundraise. Right now, you can donate to the Class L State Champion East Lyme Vikings by clicking on THIS LINK. From there, you’ll be able to choose which student athlete you’d like to support with your donation and then you can pick the amount. This is an awesome way to support the Vikings in their quest to repeat in 2024.
CHSCA Girls' Swimming & Diving Banquet Photos
We wanted to thank everyone who attended the CHSCA Girls’ Swimming & Diving Banquet. The event truly was great as it is alway fantastic to see some of the states best student athletes get honored.
If you’re looking to purchase pictures from the banquet of the Class LL, L, S, M or Team of the Year, you can click on THIS LINK. From there, you’ll be able to click on the photo you’d like to purchase and you will be prompted to choose the quantity and sizing of the photo. It’s as easy as that! These photos serve as a great memento to remember your student athletes accolades.
Plainville Wrestling Holiday Coffee Cake Fundraiser
Nothing is better on a winter morning than a nice cup of coffee, or hot chocolate with some coffee cake. If you’re interested in purchasing a delicious coffee cake that comes in six different flavors, you can click on THIS LINK.
Whether you pick cinnamon, apple walnut or pumpkin spice, you won’t be disappointed. Every purchase of a coffee cake will directly benefit the Plainville High School wrestling team as they’re gearing up for a huge season on the mat.
Conard Wrestling Online Donations Fundraising Campaign
This wrestling season, the Conard High School wrestling team is fundraising through an online donations campaign. To donate to the Red Wolves and ensure that they have a great season, all you have to do is click on THIS LINK. From there, you’ll be able to choose which student athlete you’d like to support with your donation and then you can pick the amount. This is an awesome way to support the Conard wrestling team as they also gear up for an exciting season.
Hall Wrestling Online Donations Fundraising Campaign
This wrestling season, the Hall High School wrestling team is fundraising through an online donations campaign. To donate to the Titan wrestling team and ensure that they have a great season, all you have to do is click on THIS LINK. From there, you’ll be able to choose which student athlete you’d like to support with your donation and then you can pick the amount. This is an awesome way to support the Hall wrestling team as they also gear up for an exciting season.
Thank You To Our Sponsors
The NFP team would like to extend a sincere thank you to all of the sponsors who work with us and make it possible to highlight the high school athletes across the state of Connecticut. Thank you to:
Buffalo Wild Wings
Stadium System
University Orthopedic
Domino's of Southeastern CT
Game On & JayPro Sports
We appreciate their continuous support and hope that you’ll frequent them in the future.
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If you’re interested in fundraising with NFP or looking to work with us on the sports marketing front, you can send an email to james@nfpbrands.com.