The Hall Titans hosted the Berlin Redcoats on Friday night in West Hartford.

Sports reporting is sponsored by Keating Agency Insurance

By Paul Palmer

Hall football knew the Redcoats from Berlin were coming on Friday night. They also knew that if they could not stop the visitors’ running game they were in for a long night.

Berlin rode the legs of Brandon Sadowski, Gamaliel Ayizano, and Logan Carrubba to a 34-9 win on the Titans Senior Night. “They are a physical, running team,” said Hall head coach Steve Markie. “We slowed it down at times, but we didn’t stop it.”

Coming into the game Berlin had run for 1,301 yards and run for 17 touchdown in six games while passing for just 541 yards, and against Hall they stuck to that game plan. The Titans’ defensive scheme did its job in the first quarter keeping Berlin off the scoreboard, but its offense sputtered.

Once again the lineup featured running back Ben Carlson and receiver/running back Spencer Boucher-Zazzaro working as de facto quarterbacks out of the shotgun. They relied on the running game in the opening 12 minutes with neither team throwing a pass. On defense linebacker Dario Liburdi had a big stop for Hall on a 4th-and-2 for Berlin. Unfortunately, he would be lost to injury later in the first half.

Noah Suleiman and Ndaye Stevens had tackles for loss on the Redcoats’ second possession to keep them from getting their drive moving.

On the first play of the second quarter Hall punted and Noah Foster broke one tackle before finally being stopped at his own 47. On third down with Hall in a six-man front, Berlin quarterback Chace Hrubiec found a hole up the middle and went 44 yards for the score and the 7-0 lead. After another Hall punt, Hrubiec directed another long scoring drive that featured run, after run, after run.

It was a steady diet of Ayizano and Sadowski hitting for gains of five or six yards each carry either going around the right side or busting up the middle. They also got a boost from Hall when they were called for back-to-back penalties giving the Redcoats a free 20 yards. With :45 to go in the half, Hrubiec threw his third pass of the half – and picked up his first completion before finding G’Dore Dixon an 11-yard TD hook-up.

Markie opted to switch things up for the final drive of the first half by putting quarterback Noah Kabakoff back in the game and going to the passing game. Completions to Scher and James Jones, and a Kabakoff run, put the ball at the Berlin 26. With just seconds left on the clock Kabakoff lined up for a 36-yard field goal try. Berlin took a timeout to get organized but it didn’t impact the kicker as he drilled it through the uprights as time expired in the half to get Hall on the board at 14-3.

The hosts got a big break early in the third when a Berlin player tried to pick up a bouncing punt but fumbled it, and the Titans’ Josh Almodovar fell on the loose ball at the Berlin 21. Hall then used a trick to get a treat as Boucher-Zazzaro ran a play action pass to the left and found Scher all alone at the 1-yard line. He walked it into the end zone for the score, but the 2-point try failed, making it 14-9 just 2:25 into the third.

Berlin responded with a six-and-a-half-minute drive – once again helped by a Hall 15-yard penalty that moved the ball to the 45 and later a face mask call that put the ball at the Hall at the 8. Hrubiec would eventually punch it in from one yard out for the 21-9 lead.

Kabakoff was re-inserted into the quarterback spot on the next drive and just missed connecting with Scher on a long pass that would have put the Titans inside the Berlin 30. The drive ended with another punt by Hall and then it was time for another long, patient Berlin drive for a touchdown. Running back Anthony Dresko joined the party as he, Sadowski, Hrubiec, and Ayizano gashed a Hall defense that was wearing down after being on the field for so many plays. Berlin alternated between going up the gut and going wide right to pick up yards and first downs while eating time off the clock. Once again Hall helped the drive , this time with a pair of offsides penalties just before the end of the third.

Berlin began the final quarter with a 1st-and-10 at the Hall 43 as its drive continued. Hrubiec ran for a first down, and one play later Hall was called for another personal foul for unnecessary roughness and the ball was resting at the 15. The Redcoats used the pounding running game to finish the drive off with a two-yard run by Sadowski. The PAT was blocked but Hall was now down 27-9.

Hall stayed with Kabakoff calling the signals but the drive stalled when a long pass on fourth down was incomplete, giving the ball back to Berlin at the hall 37 with 7:17 to go. On second down it looked like Hall had Dresko for a loss, but the running back reversed course and found daylight on the right side for a 22-yard gain. Another offsides call on Hall and a first down run by Berlin set them up at the 3-yard line where Ayizano took it in with just 2:42 remaining and Berlin leading by 25 at 34-9.

Hall stayed with the Kabakoff passing game as it worked to get another score. A long pass with a spectacular catch by Boucher-Zazzaro put the ball at the Berlin 3. A first down run and a second down incompletion in the end zone left the Titans with 3rd-and-goal. Kabakoff tried to hit Almodovar in the front corner of the end zone but Berlin’s Ty Puzio stepped in front of the receiver for the interception with :46 to seal the deal. The INT was the sixth off Kabakoff this season, who has thrown for two TDs in seven games.

“On offense we did what we have been doing but they (Berlin) did a great job shutting us down,” Markie said. “They forced us to run in the middle.”

The loss drops Hall to 2-5 on the season and comes on the heels of a win over Wethersfield one week ago. “We’ve been in games and we knew this one would be a dogfight. Our kids worked really hard.”

Gane notes

• Berlin has 21 first downs in the game; 16 came on rushes, four by penalties, one on the INT and zero from passing.
• Hrubiec was 2-for-4 passing for 9 yards.
• Ayizano had 73 yards on 17 carries and four first downs earned.
• Scher’s touchdown was his sixth of the season and the teams 17th.
• Boucher-Zazzaro is the team leader having scored nine of the team’s TDs – eight running.
• Hall honored its 17 senior player in a ceremony before the game.
• The game marked the Titans’ final home game of the year.
• Next up is a road game at 2-5 East Hartford followed by a trip to 2-5 South Windsor on the 14th. Hall’s season ends with the traditional closing game against Conard on Saturday, Nov. 21.

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