Canton’s Sebby Gumbs (8) ran for a game-high 119 yards on 17 carries in Canton’s 28-21 loss to Capital Prep/AF in the Class S Small semifinal at Torrington High on Saturday.
TORRINGTON – It looked like a golden opportunity for the Canton High football team to seize control of Saturday’s Class S Small semifinal against the Capital Prep/Achievement First co-op football team.
Early in the third quarter, Canton held a 13-point lead and after two mistakes by the Trailblazers – a bad snap that caused a 22-yard loss and their punter inadvertently kneeling on the turf to secure another bad snap – Canton had the ball, first and goal, on Capital Prep/AF’s nine-yard line.
But the Trailblazers didn’t wilt. They sacked Canton quarterback Cam Daley for a six-yard loss on first down. Canton was penalized 10 yards for holding on second down. After an incompletion, it was fourth down and goal from the 23. Under pressure, Daley threw downfield and was intercepted by Capital Prep/AF’s Dexter Lawson who weaved his way 61 yards upfield to the Canton 29-yard line.
Five plays later, Capital Prep scored and was back in the ballgame. It was the beginning of 20 unanswered points in the second half by the Trailblazers, who became the first Constitution State Conference team to ever win a CIAC football playoff game with a 28-21 decision over Canton in a steady rain at the Robert H. Sports Complex at Torrington High.
It ended a magical season for the Warriors, who won a school-record 10 games, captured their first league championship since 1958 and earned its first-ever invitation to the state tournament in football.
Capital Prep/AF (11-1) will play North Branford (11-1) for the Class S Small championship next Saturday at Central Connecticut State’s Arute Field at 10:30 a.m.
“That turned the game around for us,” Capital Prep/AF coach Chris Fulton said. “We gave them some big plays early. We just had to persevere.”
“That was a huge, huge moment in the game, no doubt,” agreed Canton coach Paul Philippon. “People talk about momentum all the time and you could clearly see it move from one sideline to the other and we couldn’t wrestle it back.”
Capital Prep/AF took Canton out of their comfort zone. The Trailblazers had 12 tackles for a loss. They limited Canton to just 42 yards rushing in the second half and forced the Warriors to take to the air, something they have had limited success with in 2014.
“They outplayed us,” Philippon said. “There were certainly winning most of the one-on-one battles. We were just getting beat. When a team takes away your inside game, takes away your outside game and the misdirection you’ve used all year, it’s because the other team is doing something really good. They certainly earned the win and we tip our hats to them.”
“This feels great,” Fulton said. “The kids have been through so much this week and we’ve lost games like this before when we’ve gotten down. We adjusted.”
Capital Prep’s Terrell Boseman (7) looks to move upfield as Dexter Lawson (5) blocks Sebby Gumbs (8).
Capital Prep couldn’t play on their home field, Dillon Stadium, due to mud. They wanted to play at Trinity College but that didn’t work out so they traveled to Torrington for a home game.
Playing on the new synthetic surface in Torrington allowed the game to be played at a high level despite the constant rain.
Junior quarterback Rayshawn Phillips had an excellent game for the Trailblazers, completing 18-of-28 passes for 239 yards and two touchdowns. Phillips ran for a team-high 106 yards and the other two touchdowns.
At halftime with his team trailing 21-8, he walked through the locker room buoying the spirits of his teammates on both sides of the ball. “We’ll get it done, “ he told his teammates. “We’re the better team.”
After Lawson’s interception and the 61-yard return, Capital took over on the Canton 29 and promptly lost nine yards on a mishandled snap. An illegal motion penalty pushed Capital back another five yards.
But Phillips scrambled for 13 yards and on the next play, he hit Jakai Gill for a 14-yard gain and a first down. Terrell Boseman caught a seven-yard pass from Phillips to cut the Canton lead to 21-14 with 6:53 left in the third quarter.
On its next drive, Canton drove to the Capital Prep 40-yard line. But on fourth down and one, the Trailblazer defense didn’t give up a yard and Canton turned the ball over on downs.
Capital Prep marched 60 yards on five plays in 1:03 to score on a 12-yard run by Phillips with 3:27 left in the third quarter. The conversion run failed and Canton still held a slight 21-20 lead.
In the fourth quarter, Phillips converted on a 66-yard pass to Boseman, who broke a few tackles and raced down the left sideline to the Canton 16-yard line. A few plays later, Phillips scored from the two with 8:52 remaining. The conversion pass to Nasir Williams was good to give the Trailblazers their first lead of the day, 28-21.
Canton (10-2) gained just one first down on its remaining two possessions.
“We had our chance and we actually did it,” Capital defensive lineman Sidney Jones said. “It feels great. We learned from previous games. You can’t get discouraged. We just have to keep working. We gave them the first half. It was our time in the second half.”
Canton’s Matt Bangs (30) tackles Capital Prep/AF QB Rayshawn Phillips causing a fumble that was recovered by the Trailblazers in Saturday’s Class S Small semifinal game.
Capital Prep/AF’s Nasir Williams (8) can’t get a hand on a 65-yard touchdown pass to Canton’s Eddie Melton (4) from Cam Daley.
Canton, making its first-ever CIAC football playoff appearance, took a 14-0 lead on a four-yard run from Dan Delos and a 80-yard run by Sebby Gumbs down the left sideline.
On its second drive, the Warriors marched 70 yards on 14 plays to take a 7-0 lead on Delos’ touchdown run. Twice on third down, Canton converted to keep the drive alive on runs of 10 and four yards, respectively by Gumbs. The big play on the drive was a 19-yard scamper by Delos that brought the ball down to the Capital Prep 18-yard line.
On its next drive, Gumbs broke two tackles and sped down the left sideline with his 80-yard run for a touchdown. Despite a Capital defender getting a hand on the ball, Melton’s extra point cleared the crossbar for a 14-0 lead with 9:42 remaining in the second quarter.
Canton’s defense came up some big plays in the first half. Early in the second quarter, Phillips nearly completed a third down pass to Jakai Gill at the Canton 10-yard line but Gill couldn’t secure the catch when he was hit by Daley ending that drive.
Later in the second half, Capital Prep/AF put together an impressive 13-play drive, converting three times on third down. The Trailblazers had the ball on Canton’s four-yard line but fumbled it away with Matt Bangs recovering to end that threat.
The Trailblazers cut the lead to six on a 19-yard pass from Phillips to Lawson and a two-point conversion pass to Jakob Verda with 1:38 remaining in the second quarter.
Canton took a 21-8 lead when Daley found Melton behind the Trailblazer defense for a 65-yard touchdown pass with 1:00 minute left in the first half. It was just the fourth TD pass of the year for the Warriors and its longest TD pass. Gumbs led Canton with 119 yards rushing on 17 carries.
“I thought our effort was really good. The kids played hard,” Philippon said. “It’s obvious we don’t have a lot of them but they gave it everything they had.”
NOTES: Capital Prep was 0-3 in previous CIAC playoff appearances. …
Capital Prep/AF 28, Canton 21
At Torrington
Canton (10-2) 0 21 0 0 — 21
Capital Prep/AF (11-1) 0 8 12 8 — 28
Second quarter
C: Dan Delos 4 run (Eddie Melton kick), 11:55
C: Sebby Gumbs 80 run (Melton kick), 9:42
CP/AF: Dexter Lawson 19 pass from Rayshawn Phillips (Jakob Verda pass from Phillips), 1:38
C: Melton 65 pass from Cam Daley (Melton kick), 1:00
Third quarter
CP/AF: Terrell Boseman 16 pass from Phillips (pass fails), 6:53
CP/AF: Phillips 12 run (run fails), 3:27
Fourth quarter
CP/AF: Phillips 2 run (Nasir Williams pass from Phillips), 8:52
Individual statistics
RUSHING: Canton – Cam Daley 13-16, Henry Bonini 3-1, Sebby Gumbs 17-119, Dan Delos 14-65; Capital Prep/AF: Rayshawn Phillips 20-106, Jourdayne Ross 7-25, Steffan Napoleon 3-3, Team 1-minus 22
PASSING: Canton – Daley 1-9-1, 65; Capital Prep/AF: Phillips 18-27-0, 239
RECEIVING: Canton – Melton 1-65; Capital Prep/AF: Terrell Boseman 4-108, Nasir Williams 4-45, Jakai Gill 4-36, Edgar Torres 1-minus 1, Jakob Verda 2-14, Dexter Lawson 3-37
KICKOFF RETURNS: Canton – Melton 1-22, Gumbs 1-20, Bangs 1-4; Capital Prep/AF – Elijah Hales 1-10, Jakai Gill 1-30, Jourdayne Ross 2-27
FUMBLE RECOVERY: Melton (C), Bangs (C); INTERCEPTIONS: Lawson (CP/AF) 1-61; SACKS: Shane Toland (C) 1½-5, Dillian Murray (CP) and Michon Hunt (CP) 1-11
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