Monday, October 26, 2009 10:12 PM EDT
By ANDREW LOVELL
Staff Writer
No matter how it's looked at, the numbers are impressive. Three touchdowns, 196 rushing yards, 20 receiving yards and one field goal.
But for Southington's Dylan Danko, stat lines like that are becoming the norm.
The senior running back crafted his latest performance during a 35-7 home victory against Middletown last Friday in a game the Blue Knights had to win to keep their playoff hopes alive.
"The o-line did a great job getting him to that first level and then Danko does such a great job of exploiting that second and third level, by either running you over, making you miss or leaving you in the dust," Southington coach Bill Mella said. "It's just so much fun to watch that kid play football because you can tell that he just likes it. He loves the competition. I couldn't be happier for him."
Danko's 196 yards on 14 carries were a season high, but he has eclipsed 100 yards rushing in three of the Blue Knights' six games this season. Even more impressively, he has only failed to top 100 total yards from scrimmage in two games, which includes one lopsided contest that saw Danko spend a good portion of the second half on the sidelines.
His 697 total yards from scrimmage – and 116 scrimmage yards per game average – lead the team by a wide margin. His nine touchdowns scored are also a team high.
Danko is quick to give credit to his offensive linemen, and deservedly so. The senior quintet of Dave Bielewicz, Ryan Pickney, Brandon Boudreau, Greg Cop and Shane Duncan was nothing short of dominant against the Blue Dragons, opening "the biggest holes all year," according to Danko.
"It was awesome," Danko added. "I couldn't ask for anything more."
When it comes to his football duties, there really isn't much more Danko could ask for, short of driving the team bus. On top of his role as the workhorse out of the backfield, Danko has handled the place-kicking duties for Southington this season.
His highlight in that area of play came against Middletown, when the right-footed Danko banged home a 27-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.
"I think he chili-dipped it a little bit there," Mella said. "It's kind of like chili-dipping a nine-iron, but God love him, he kept his head down and swung his foot. He kicks the extra points for us, so it wasn't that much farther. And regardless, I knew that Dylan was going to attack it with the same competitiveness when he runs the ball, so we thought that was a better option and maybe try something new."
Mella's teams will never lead the state in field goals or punts, so the field goal attempt – in the rain, no less – drew some intrigued expressions.
Danko, however, has embraced the extra role, even though he's basically learning on the fly.
"That was the most exciting part of the day for me," Danko said about converting his first career field goal. "... I had no idea I was going to be the kicker going in. Coach had tryouts, I won and I'm the kicker. I'm enjoying it a lot, it's one of my favorite parts of practice."
ON THE DEFENSIVE: For the third straight game, Southington's defense was dominant. It's hardly a coincidence that the Blue Knights have won all three of those games.
"They're doing a great job," Mella said of the defense. "Those kids are doing a great job. There's about 13 or 14 of them, we have some rotating guys in, they're all playing. ... We're trying to see how good we can be, and then the wins and those things take care of themselves."
The Blue Knights held versatile Middletown quarterback Jason Woods in check all night. Woods finished 20-of-46 passing for 210 yards and one touchdown, but was also intercepted four times and limited to just seven rushing yards. All told the Blue Knights forced five Middletown turnovers, sacked Woods three times and held Middletown to just 22 rushing yards as a team.
QUITE A START: Before Middletown's offense even took the field Friday night, the Blue Dragons found themselves in a 6-0 hole thanks to Southington's Mike Rhodd, who returned the opening kickoff 74 yards for a touchdown.
It wasn't exactly how they drew it up, but the Blue Knights will take it.
Rhodd fielded a bouncing, squib kick, shimmied through some traffic in the middle of the field and found an opening down the right sideline. A final block by fellow wide receiver Anthony Florian sprung Rhodd for the score.
"I thought it was going to go over my head for a minute," Rhodd said of fielding the bouncing ball. "I thought about it, then I turned around and grabbed the ball and then I just did what I had to do. I ran and got the touchdown."
Mella said it was encouraging to see Rhodd, who has struggled in the last two or three games, get his edge back.
"That was nice for him man," Mella said. "He's had a couple of hard games and he works real hard, he's a great kid. He got the ball in his hands and he showed you what he can do. I just thought that was wonderful for him."
NO PLACE LIKE HOME: The Blue Knights played in just their second home game of the season last Friday – the game against New Britain at Rentschler Field was technically a "home" game for Southington, but was obviously not played at Fontana Field. After opening with a home against Hall all the way back on Sept. 16, the Blue Knights dropped back-to-back road games against Glastonbury and Windsor. But since that point, Southington has knocked off New Britain, Weaver and now Middletown at home.
Two of Southington's final four regular-season games are at Fontana Field, including this Friday's battle with Simsbury.
After that, the Blue Knights face Newington on the road, then return home to play Conard before wrapping up the regular season at Cheshire on Thanksgiving.
"We've got a big game against Simsbury, we need the crowd," Danko said. "There's nothing like being at home. You don't have to travel, you don't have to sit on a bus, it's awesome."
INJURY BUG: Senior linebacker and captain Jake Rodrigues was helped off the field late in the second quarter. Rodrigues wasn't able to put any pressure on his right foot, but, according to Mella, Rodrigues said at the end of the game that he'll be OK.
Rodrigues leads the team in tackles (53) and sacks (three and a half) this season.
