Friday, October 16, 2009 10:34 PM EDT
By ANDREW LOVELL
Staff Writer
SOUTHINGTON — Six days after the Southington football team’s best overall performance of the season, three of the unit’s leaders echoed the same sentiment — the defense must continue to improve.
“As long as we can keep that emotion high, [we’ll get better],” senior defensive back Tim Sowa said after practice Thursday. “We’re running on this momentum and we’ve got to keep getting better. Every week’s a bigger game than the last one.”
With mud coating their jerseys and pants and a light-rain-turned-steady-snow-flurries that dipped temperatures into mid-30s, conditions were far from ideal for Thursday’s practice.
But that didn’t stop the Blue Knights from getting in their daily reps.
After all, what would the defensive effort in a 20-14 win against New Britain at Rentschler Field last Friday be worth if the team couldn’t build off it in today’s game against Weaver?
In short, not much.
“After two rough games, that was a good coming-out party for us,” said junior Joe Pesce, who tallied five tackles and returned an interception for a touchdown against the Golden Hurricanes. “That was our best game so far, but we’re still looking to improve.”
The numbers Southington posted against New Britain speak for themselves — six sacks, two interceptions, one forced fumble, countless quarterback pressures and only 14 points allowed.
Senior linebacker Jake Rodrigues finished with team-highs in total tackles (11) and sacks (2.5). Senior K.J. Gemmell, junior Enjan Mullaj and senior Carmine Castiglion each collected a sack, while junior defensive back Dave Nichols was credited with the other half sack on Rodrigues’s.
“It was all on our d-line,” Gemmell said. “Our d-line played great in that game, they got a lot of pressure, they were able to contain and squeeze the quarterback in. When [Rafal Garcarz] broke outside, we had contain there for our LBs coming downhill. It was just great pursuit all around.”
New Britain entered that contest averaging close to 39 points per game. Garcarz was averaging nearly 20 yards per carry, but Southington limited him to just four yards.
Had it not been for a late 69-yard pitch-and-catch from Garcarz to Kaiuway Boima, the Blue Knights’ numbers would have shined even more.
“A win is a great thing to have,” Coach Bill Mella said Wednesday. “There’s a lot of things that we can do an awful lot better. One of the things we need to do is eliminate the big play. But I thought defensively we played an excellent game, the kids played very, very well. Besides those two plays, it’s a completely different outcome.”
While the defense stole the headlines, the offense turned an efficient, time-consuming outing. Senior running back Dylan Danko topped 100 yards (32 carries, 119 yards, two touchdowns) for the second straight week, while Anthony Florian (eight receptions, 65 yards) was the top receiving threat.
Southington faces Weaver in Hartford this afternoon in what, at least on paper, appears to be a matchup heavily favoring the Blue Knights.
The Beavers enter today’s game with an 0-4 record, which includes three shutouts. Weaver has only managed one offensive touchdown this season, but Mella has cautioned his team against Weaver’s powerful ground game.
“I expect an excellent ball game,” Mella said. “Those kids and that staff work really hard. I’ve seen a few of their games. They have tremendous athletes, good size, good speed and they do some things that we haven’t really seen. They pound the rock and I think they do a good job at it.”
Still, Southington would seem in perfect position to put together back-to-back strong defensive performances. With his team back at .500, Mella said a win this weekend is crucial as the season moves forward.
“We have to [win]. We need to,” Mella said. “At 2-2 we’ve kind of moved out of the driver’s seat, so we have to win. Every team, their goal at the beginning of the year is a state championship, and I don’t think that changes with one loss or two losses. But you certainly can’t hold on to that if there’s more than that sometimes. But last year there were three-loss teams, so it’s crazy.”
On the injury front, junior backup running back Zach Wholley remains probable this week after missing the New Britain game. Wholley is nursing a lingering injury that he suffered against Windsor in week three.
Other than that, Mella said the team is battling normal bumps and bruises at this point in the season.
It’s Gameday
SOUTHINGTON
AT WEAVER
When: Today, 2 p.m.
Where: Weaver High School
Records: Southington 2-2, Weaver 0-4
The skinny: The numbers don’t lie in this matchup. Southington enters with a high-powered offense that’s averaging 33.5 points per game and a defense that’s coming off a dominant performance against New Britain. Weaver, well, they’ve had some struggles. The Beavers have allowed 40 or more points to all four of their opponents this season, a fact that doesn’t bode well when matching up with Connor Butkiewicz, Tyler Dube and company. In fact, Weaver has only managed one offensive touchdown and has been out-scored 171-14 through four games. Look for Southington to maintain momentum with a convincing victory.
Andrew Lovell’s prediction: Southington 44, Weaver 6
