Southington wins showdown

By KEN LIPSHEZ AND ANDREW LOVELL
Staff Writers

EAST HARTFORD — Workhorse tailback Dylan Danko scored a pair of first-half touchdowns and the Southington defense turned in its best effort of the year Friday night as the Blue Knights held off a late New Britain charge, 20-14, in a CCC Division 1 showdown at Rentschler Field.

Danko scored on a pair of short runs and fueled Southington’s ball-control offense in the second half in amassing 117 yards on 31 carries. The Southington defense, without a sack in its first three games, pinned New Britain’s elusive quarterback Rafal Garcarz seven times. Garcarz, averaging nearly 20 yards per carry coming in, had just four yards in 13 keepers.

"That’s the way you want it," Southington coach Bill Mella said. "You want the offense to keep plugging. The offense had a long drive at the end. We took time off the clock. … It’s a complete team effort. That’s what we’ve been working for and that’s what makes this special."

Penalties hurt New Britain for the fourth straight week. The ’Canes were flagged 10 times for 84 yards, one erasing a long interception return by Chris Linares.

"The adrenaline is part of it but the other part of it is selfishness or playing outside of the game and when you do that, you’re letting your 60 other brothers down," New Britain coach Paul Morrell said. "We’re a family and we expect to pick each other up not let each other down."

New Britain trailed 20-0 when the offense finally kicked in late in the third quarter.

The Hurricanes trailed by two touchdowns with just 4:47 to go but with their quick-strike capability, the possibilities were endless.

Garcarz executed a perfect screen pass to Kaiuway Boima who sprinted 69 yards for a score. Garcarz added the placement and the ’Canes were within six.

New Britain’s defense held once again. With 2:48 to go they had 60 yards in front of them for a victory.

On fourth-and-9 from the Southington 34, Garcarz went deep to Jones at the 3 but Sowa knocked it away from Jones to preserve the win.

The first half was all Southington (2-2).

After New Britain (2-2) went three and out with the opening kickoff, Southington marched 59 yards in 18 plays. True to their first three games, New Britain committed four penalties to help extend the drive. Danko hammered it in from the 6 with 5:20 to go in the first quarter and squeaked the extra-point placement through for a 7-0 Southington lead.

New Britain moved inside the Southington 10 on its next possession but a jarring tackle after an 11-yard pass to Tarik Hightower resulted in a fumble recovered by Dave Nichols.

"[The secondary] loves hawking the ball," Mella said. "They do such a great job of flying around and getting to the ball, and they communicate so well so we were able to make adjustments."

The Knights, riding the legs of Danko and arm of Connor Butkiewicz, pushed the ball deep in New Britain territory when Linares intercepted at the goal line. An 83-yard return was negated by a penalty that buried New Britain on its own 3.

"They said block in the back and the referee said he saw it as clear as day," Morrell said. "I’ll take a look at it."

Four plays later, Tim Sowa picked off New Britain quarterback Rafal Garcarz as he scrambled right and tried to throw across his body, setting the Knights up at the 7. Danko punched it in from the 5 on second down.

The Southington defense bottled up Garcarz throughout the half.

Garcarz, averaging over 19 yards per carry coming in, was sacked three times in the second quarter, one by Jake Rodriques, another by K.J. Gemmell and the third by Enjan Mullaj, Rodrigues and Carmine Castiglione.

The Hurricanes were also unable to establish Jones. Jones caught Garcarz first pass of the game for four yards and didn’t get a touch the remainder of the half.

On the Southington side, Butkiewicz spread it around to five receivers – Danko, Tyler Dube, Anthony Florian, Mike Rhodd and Zach Etter – for 95 yards.

All told, New Britain was held to 65 first-half yards.

The Knights’ defense gave them another gift early in the third quarter when Joe Pesce made an interception at the New Britain 45 and took it into the end zone untouched.

The New Britain offense finally got in rhythm with Garcarz and Jones connecting three times for 50 yards. The ’Canes took the ball 86 yards in eight plays with Garcarz running it across from the 15 with a minute left in the quarter. It was no surprise that the penalties stopped hurting them.

"Penalties are momentum killers," Morrell said. "If someone wants to donate some money, I’ll be more than happy to pay some officials to come in and watch us practice. But other than that, you harp on it and preach it."

The New Britain defense held on the last possession of the third quarter.

The ’Canes had a fourth-and-1 on the Southington 48 and prepared to go for it when they were hit with a false start penalty and forced to punt.

Danko took over from there, picking up yardage in chunks and slicing precious time off the clock. By the time, Southington turned it over at the New Britain 19, only 4:47 remained.