Scores and highlights of playoff games played Oct. 25-26, 2014.
Submitted by the West Hartford Youth Football League
West Hartford Youth Football League, Week 7. Photo credit: Scott Caricato, Rookie Pix.
The West Hartford Youth Football League (WHYFL) concluded its 59th regular season Sunday afternoon at Sterling Field and Conard High School in West Hartford and at Westwood and Farmington High School fields in Farmington, with a full slate of games at the Mighty Mite (7, 8 and 9 year olds), Pee Wee (10 and 11 year olds), and Pony (12,13,14 year olds) divisions.
PONY DIVISION PLAYOFFS – SEMIFINALS
WH #1 seed Brewer Paving Eagles 19 – WH #4 seed West Hartford Chargers 8
The top seeded Brewer Paving Eagles remained undefeated and outlasted #4 seed West Hartford Chargers 19-8 Saturday afternoon at Conard High School to advance to next week’s West Hartford Championship against #2 seed Raiders.
WH #2 seed West Hartford Health & Rehab Raiders 13 – WH #3 seed Northstar Wealth Partners Wildcats 6
Saturday Night Lights! The playoffs began at Conard on a cool autumn night, complete with scoreboard and Coach LaSpada working calling the play-by-play. The Wildcats were looking to avenge an early-season loss to the Raiders, but couldn’t quite make it happen.
The Wildcats received the opening kickoff, and didn’t move the ball far in their first possession, but a 51-yard punt by Nolan Tibball pinned the Raiders deep in their own territory. But the Raiders struck immediately with a big play up the middle on what looked like a sure touchdown for 70 yards, but the ‘Cats’ Daquan Shaw chased down the Raider half back Silas Bridges, catching him on the 10 yard line to temporarily save a touchdown. On their next play, the Raiders punched the ball in for a 6-0 lead with 7:17 to go in the first quarter.
The Wildcats marched up the field with a strong running game. A 15-yard run off left tackle by Daquan Shaw tied the score at 6-6 with 3:43 left in the first quarter.
On the Wildcats’ next possession, a long drive ended with a fumble as the ‘Cats’ runner was trying to break away from the defenders. Nolan returned the favor by forcing a Raider fumble and the half ended in a 6-6 tie.
In the third quarter, the Raiders completed the play of the game, with Otis Donaldson hauling in a bomb from quarterback Zach Cohen on a dead run to get behind the Wildcats defense and go up 13-6.
The teams exchanged field position throughout the fourth quarter, but the Raiders defense kept the ‘Cats out of the end zone. Final score: 13-6. Congratulations to the Raiders who move on to play the Eagles for the West Hartford title.
Notable Performances:
Raiders: James Cheverier: 6 tackles and several key blocks on offense; Silas Bridges, Otis Donaldson and Jack McHale all performed above and beyond on both offense and defense.
Wildcats: Daquan Shaw: 131 rushing yds, 1 TD, 4 solo tackles, 4 assists; Nolan Tibball: 42 yds rushing, 4 solo tackles, 4 assists, onside kick recovery; Dario Laraia: 4 solo tackles, 4 assists; George Andrews: 5 solo tackles, 2 assists.
Farmington # 3 seed Farmington A Squad White 26 – Farmington #2 seed Farmington A Squad Black 20
The #3 seed Farmington A Squad White team upset #2 seed Black 26-20 Sunday afternoon to advance to the Farmington Championship against #1 seed A Squad Blue.
PEE WEE DIVISION PLAYOFFS – SEMIFINALS
WH # 2 seed Hartford Healthcare 49ers 18 – WH #3 seed The Watts Group Giants 6
The Giants and 49ers faced off in one of two West Hartford Pee Wee semifinal games on Sunday. The Giants’ defense came on strong to start the game by recovering two fumbles on the 49ers’ first two drives. The 49ers’ defense however was stingy and stopped the Giants on their ensuing drives, leaving the score 0-0 after the first quarter. Early in the second quarter the 49ers we able to get into the end zone with big plays by Matt Schwab, Andrew Reicher and “Izzy” Henriques-Sento. The Giants stuffed the PAT, leaving the score 6-0. The Giants then mounted an impressive 11 play drive including great efforts by Jack Kennedy and Pete Langevin. However, the Niner’s defense held strong on the 7 yard line and denied a Giants score to end the half.
The momentum continued in the second half for the 49ers with an onside kick recovery and eventually a touchdown run by Divine Edwards. Once again the Giants wouldn’t relent on the extra point and the score was 12-0. In the fourth quarter the Niner’s managed an 8 play 50-yard drive, capped by a touchdown by Nick Urso. The 49ers could not punch in the extra point and the score was 18-0. The Giants then marched down the field into the 49er’s red zone and scored on a nice pass from Kennedy to Rowan Sierra. The extra point conversion attempt was thwarted and the score was 18-6. The 49ers’ Jack Lubin recovered the onside kick attempt by the Giants and that helped seal the victory as time ran out.
The 49ers saw very strong performances from many players including Mason Chabot, Scott LaBranch, Eziah Velasquez, and Marcus Ramsey. Similarly the Giants were led by Rich Aponte, Kevin Tiernan, Rowan Sierra , Pete Langevin and Riley McCoy.
Next week is the rematch between the Patriots and 49ers for the WH Championship. These two teams played just a week ago with the Patriots coming out on top.
WH #1 seed Dick’s Sporting Goods Patriots 32 – WH #4 seed Sports Authority Colts 19
In a rematch of the Week 2 regular season, the #1 seed Dick’s Sporting Goods Patriots leveraged a solid ground game and tough defense en route to a hard fought 32-19 semifinal victory over the #4 seed Sports Authority Colts in front of a packed sideline Sunday afternoon at Sterling Field.
The Patriots’ offense was captained by quarterback Jack Brown and led by a bevy of ball carriers, including Dillon Bent, Robert Parrotta, Luke Duzan, Logan Murphy, Dylan Swift, and Tommy LaSpada.
The Colts were led by the talented trio of quarterback Emmett Coco, and half backs Max Rodman, Drew Currier, and the fleet feet of Namar Gaynor.
The Patriots kicked off to open the game, and DJ Romano made a great play on the ball to recover the kick to give the Patriots favorable field position to open the game. Three plays later, Bent scored to push the Patriots out to an early 6-0 lead. The Colts responded quickly, as quarterback Emmett Coco faced a 4th and 15 from mid field and looked as if he would be brought down shy of the first down marker before bursting from the scrum and sprinting downfield for the score to tie the game at 6-6. The Colts and Patriots each forced consecutive turnover on downs before the Colts took the lead on a nice run by Gaynor to make the score 12-6 Colts.
On the ensuing drive, Bent connected with Parrotta to setup a Patriot score late in the 2nd quarter, Bent converted the extra point, and the Patriots entered the half with a slim 13-12 lead.
The Patriots opened the second half strong, as Tommy LaSpada recovered the attempted on sides kick, and the Patriot offense leveraged the legs of Murphy, Parrotta, Swift, and Bent en route to score four plays later to pull ahead 19-12. The Colts responded on the next play as Miguel Knight returned the ensuing kickoff for the score to knot the game at 19-19.
After making a few defensive adjustments mid-way through third quarter, the Patriots’ defense held strong and Bent and Parrotta each capped the scoring with a touchdown each to push the final score to 32-19.
The Colts would not relent and continued to methodically move the ball down the field on gains by Coco, Currier, Rodman and Gaynor. The Colts moved the ball down to the 20-yard line late in the game, and Coco’s pass to Rodman nearly pulled the Colts within a score, but Rodman was tackled shy of the end zone by Bent, Ethan Tiffany, and DJ Romano to seal the victory for the Patriots.
The Patriots received outstanding defensive play from Parrotta (fumble recovery, two quarterback sacks and several big tackles on key downs), Bent (forced fumble and several big tackles on key downs), Luke Duzan (sack), DJ Romano (fumble recovery), Tommy LaSpada (fumble recovery, and several big receptions) Brockway, Beverly, Joey LaSpada, Maldonado (great stop on 4th down), Swift (forced fumble and excellent defense), Aidan Dorian, Murphy, and newcomers Abraham Dunn and Daniel Chavez.
The Colts were led by Coco, Currier, Rodman, Knight, Gaynor, and Mateo Moran. Colts coaches Flaherty, Moran, Coco, Guzman, and Dowd did an excellent job preparing the Colts for the hard fought game and should be commended for their outstanding sportsmanship.
The #1 seed Patriots will move on to the West Hartford Championship where they will face the #2 seed 49ers Sunday at 12 noon at Sterling Field.
Farmington #1 seed Farmington B Squad Maroon 33 – Farmington #4 seed Farmington B Squad White 12
Top seeded B Squad Maroon defeated #4 seed B Squad White 33-12 Sunday afternoon at Farmington High school to advance to next weekend’s Farmington Championship against #3 seed B Squad Blue.
Farmington #3 seed Farmington B Squad Blue 23 – Farmington #2 seed Farmington B Squad Black 13
The #3 seed B Squad Blue upset #2 seed B Squad Black 23-13 Sunday afternoon at Farmington High school to advance to the Farmington Championship.
Next week, the #3 seed B Squad Blue will play top seeded B Squad Maroon for the Farmington Championship.
MIGHTY MITE DIVISION PLAYOFFS – SEMIFINALS
WH #1 seed Macca Plumbing Cowboys 38 – WH #4 seed Beachland Tavern Jets 6
The Macca Plumbing Cowboys faced off against the Beachland Tavern Jets for the first round of playoffs and leveraged big offensive plays and solid defense for a 38-6 victory.
Cowboys offensive standouts were Trevor Tanis (63 yard TD catch), Walker Disque (50 yard TD run and extra point conversion), Chase Fountain (50 and 70 yard TD run), Declan McCann (20 and 30 yard TD run) and CJ Nelson (extra point conversion). It was a great team blocking effort by the offensive line of Bruce and Luke Jones, Braden Sohn, Jack Archambeault, CJ Nelson, Nathaniel Corona, and Jaime Kennedy. First year players Tyler Walsh, Noah Macko, Jack Archambeault, CJ Nelson and second and third year players Rashad Collier and Jaime Kennedy also had contributions out of the back field with some hard fought running against a swarming Jets defense.
On the defensive side it was an all-around team effort from Declan McCann, Jaime Kennedy, Bruce Jones, Chase Fountain, Walker Disque, Trevor Tanis, Luke Jones, Noah Macko, CJ Nelson, Tyler Walsh, Brian Acevedo, Braden Sohn, Nathaniel Corona, Jack Archambeault, and Rashad Collier.
Jets offensive and defensive standouts include Jonny Robinson, Austin Bourgoin, Isaac Ramsey, Spencer Schwartz and Ben Hall.
The Cowboys move on to face the Steelers for the town Championship Sunday afternoon at 12pm at Sterling Field.
WH #2 seed Doctors Express Urgent Care Steelers 27 – WH #3 seed Fischman Orthodontics Browns 0
The #2 seed Doctors Express Urgent Care Steelers defeated the #3 seed Fischman Orthodontics Browns 27-0 Sunday afternoon to advance to next week’s Mighty Mite West Hartford Championship.
Next weekend the #2 seed Steelers will matchup against the #1 seed Cowboys in the West Hartford Championship at 12 noon at Sterling Field.
Farmington #1 seed Farmington C Squad Black 30 – Farmington C Squad Maroon 13
Top seeded C Squad Black improved to 6-2 on the season with a hard fought 30-13 semifinal victory over C Squad Maroon Sunday afternoon.
C Squad Black will take on the winner of the West Hartford Champion on Sunday, November 9 at Farmington High School.
FLAG DIVISION
Mooyah (Green) 20 – Joey’s Pizza Pie (Black) 19
The Mooyah’s (Green Team) squared off against the Joey’s Pizza (Black Team). This week he Mooyah’s played a balanced offensive and defensive game against a tough determined Joey’s Pizza team.
As for the game highlights, on the Mooyah’s team touchdowns scores were made by Leo Sussman scoring two touchdowns and Dominic Burgos scoring the other. Capping off the game scoring were two extra point five yard runs by Leo and Dominic as well. Long rushing runs were made by Armen Arakelian, Josh Almodovar and Benji Halpert. Excellent defensive played by Cooper Trantraporn and Joe O’Connell. For Joey’s Pizza Pie, Anthony McKeown had an interception and a caught pass for two touchdowns. Jack Wahl-Cox caught pass ran for a touchdown. Luc Abbatemarco also caught 5 yard pass for 1 point conversion.
Sweet Frog (Purple) 26 – Dick’s Sporting Goods (Red) 7
The defense was stingy from the start for the Ravens as they ended the season with a 26-7 victory over Dick’s Sporting Goods. The team gelled from the first snap as all players contributed and all but one score was from a different player.
The Ravens put up the first points on a fourth and long, Calvin Borio took a pitch around end for a long elusive dash down the field for 6. Dick’s battled back with a great run down the left sideline then back to the middle, darting to the end zone. Dick’s converted the extra point from the five on a sweep play off the left end, 7-6.
The Ravens bounced back with a Ben Goldstein sprint down the right field sideline to set the tone. Aidan Bailey had a speedy run to the end zone from 60 yards out. Julian House went right then left and around but came up shy on the extra point attempt. There were contributing runs on that series by Cole Keegan, Seamus Egan and Gavin Cykley.
The second half continued with the offensive attack, a 70 yard run was closer to a couple hundred yards as Tyler Redden scanned the field a couple times before taking it home for 6. Cristian Ortiz put up his first points of his Ravens 2 year career with a blasting run off tackle, even his teacher was there.
The Ravens had some more juice in them. There were solid runs by Grady Sack and Griffin Krupp that kept the momentum going. Borio made a great catch and then scampered 70 yards for a touchdown. Aidan Bailey snagged a pass over the middle to finish the season.
