Hillhouse surges past Berlin in 2nd half to win Class M title

Hillhouse’s Tevin Roberts (50) celebrates in the waning minutes of Saturday night’s Class M championship game win over Berlin.

EAST HARTFORD, Dec. 8 – For more than two quarters, the Berlin High football team was able to keep high-scoring Hillhouse High off the field in Saturday’s Class M championship game at Rentschler Field.

In the first half, Berlin ran 44 offensive plays to eat up more than 15 minutes while the Academics ran just 11 plays and had the ball for five minutes. The Redcoats led by six points at the half, 12-6, and began the third quarter by stopping a Hillhouse scoring drive on their own 1-yard line.

But Berlin stubbed its toe late in the third quarter and Hillhouse never looked back. The Redcoats tried to gain a first down on a fourth down and one play on its own 23 yard line with 4:58 remaining and were stopped when junior linebacker Harold Cooper hit senior back Scott McLeod for no gain.

Hillhouse took over on downs and scored six plays later on a three-yard run by Cooper. Je’Vaughn Moore kicked the extra point and the Academics took a lead they would never relinquish. Hillhouse scored on its final four possessions of the game to erase a six-point deficit and beat Berlin, 34-12 for its second Class M championship in three years.

Berlin’s Kevin Main (7), Kyle Young (12) and Dan McCleod (34) try to stop Harold Cooper (1) in Saturday’s Class M championship game.

Cooper scored two TDs and ran for 88 yards for Hillhouse (11-2). He also caught 62-yard touchdown pass from Moore.

“I was surprised they didn’t punt (late in the third quarter),” Cooper said. “But that’s what they do. We knew we had to stop them on that down and we did.”

Berlin coach John Capodice said the gamble was to try and keep the ball out of Hillhouse’s hands. “When you are in that situation and you are a significant underdog you need to pull out all of the tricks,” Capodice said.

Berlin (11-2) was successful in many short yardage situations in the first half. On a 21 play, 80-yard drive that gave the Redcoats a 12-6 lead, Berlin converted on third down three times and once on fourth down with a four-yard run by McLeod.

Berlin took a 6-0 lead in the first quarter on a long scoring drive, marching 69 yards on 10 plays with Kevin Main scoring on an 18-yard pass from Mitch Williams. Hillhouse tied the game at 6-6 on its next possession on Cooper’s 62-yard touchdown reception.

And Berlin nearly added three points at the end of the second quarter but a 25-yard field goal attempt from Pat Lomaglio was just short.

“There weren’t really any halftime adjustments for us,” Hillhouse coach Tom Dyer said. “Our adjustment was to play with some heart. The kids responded. We had to step up and make plays.”

Trailing 12-6 at halftime, Hillhouse marched to the Berlin one before being stopped. They took a 13-12 lead on its next possession when Cooper scored from the three.

In the fourth quarter, Andre Anderson scored on a 20-yard run, Moore scored on a 62 yard run and Cooper added a six-yard scamper with 4:33 remaining.

“We knew what we had to do,” Cooper said. “Play our type of football and play with some heart. And we did in that in the second half.”

Moore led all rushers with 106 yards on the ground. He completed 2-of-3 passes for 90 yards and a 62-yard TD pass to Cooper. Terrell Fairweather led the Academics defense with nine tackles including one for a four-yard loss.

Berlin played  without leading rusher Justin Gombotz, who hurt his ankle in the quarterfinal win over Bullard Havens. Gombotz was in uniform and ran twice for four yards in the fourth quarter once the game had been decided. McLeod led the way for Berlin with 71 yards on 19 carries. Kevin Main ran for 59 yards while Mitch Williams completed 8-of-16 passes for 77 yards and 1 touchdown.

More championship game photos

Hillhouse 34, Berlin 12
At East Hartford
Hillhouse (11-2)                        6  0  7  21 – 34
Berlin (11-2)                             6  6  0  0  — 12
First quarter
B: Kevin Main 18 pass from Mitch Williams (kick failed), 7:30
H: Harold Cooper 62 pass from Je’Vaughn Moore (kick failed), 6:33
Second quarter
B: Wjtus Zak 1 yd run (run failed), 5:49
Third quarter
H: Cooper 3 run (Moore kick), 2:43
Fourth quarter
H: Andre Anderson 20 run (Moore kick), 9:23
H: Moore 62 run (Moore kick), 6:14
H: Cooper 6 run (Moore kick), 0:31
Individual statistics
RUSHING: Hillhouse – Moore 8-106, Cooper 19-88, Anderson 8-43, Facinete Haidara 5-8, James Moore 1-4; Berlin – Scott McLeod 19-71, Kevin Main 16-59, Mitch Williams 6-16, Michael Tirinzoni 1-8, Justin Gombotz 2-4, Wojtus Zak 2-1
PASSING: Hillhouse – Moore 2-3-0, 90; Berlin –Mitch Williams 8-16-0, 77, McLeod 1-2-0, 9; Team 0-1
RECEIVING: Hillhouse – Cooper 1-62, Anderson 1-28; Berlin – Kevin Main 5-46, Tyler Bouchard 2-22, McLeod 2-18

Class L
Hand 23, Windsor 6
EAST HARTFORD, Dec. 8 – A six-point deficit early in the second quarter of Saturday night’s Class L championship against Windsor certainly didn’t faze the Hand High football team. The Tigers came from behind twice to beat Xavier earlier this season, 40-20.

The Tigers (13-0) did it again, scoring 23 unanswered points to win its second straight Class L championship with a 23-6 decision over Windsor before 5,189 fans at Rentschler Field. Hand earned its 11th state championship. Only Ansonia (18) has won more.

Windsor (11-1) had a 6-3 lead at halftime but Hand took the lead on a 23-yard TD pass from quarterback Brandon Bilcheck to Caleb Ewald with 8:33 left in the third quarter. On Windsor’s next possession, the Warriors fumbled the ball away and Daniel Rogers gobbled up the ball for a 42 yard fumble return for a touchdown. After the extra point, Hand led 17-6 with 5:43 left in the quarter.

Bilcheck hurt Windsor in two ways. He completed 15-of-25 passes for 141 yards and two touchdowns while also running for 82 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries.

Hand 23, Windsor 6
At East Hartford
Windsor (11-1)                        0  6    0  0  — 6
Hand (13-0)                            0  3  20  0  — 23
Second quarter
W: Ryheime Moore 28 pass from Robert Fleeting (kick blocked), 7:57
H: Tyler Phan 27 FG, 0:00
Third quarter
H: Caleb Ewald 23 pass from Brendan Bilcheck (Phan kick), 8:33
H: Daniel Rogers 42 fumble return (Phan kick), 5:43
H: Bilcheck 4 run (Phan kick), 1:43
Individual statistics
RUSHING: Windsor – Robert Fleeting 22-34, Devonte Dillon 4-18, Ryheime Moore 2-2, Jaylen Berry 2-0, John Nolan 1-minus 2; Hand – Brendan Blichek 14-82, Ian O’Toole 8-33, Taylor Houghton 1-14, Matthew Sullivan 6-13, Team 3-minus 5
PASSING: Windsor – Fleeting 11-27-1, 131; Hand – Bilcheck 15-25-2, 141
RECEIVING: Windsor – Rashad Ramsey 4-68, Moore 3-52, Dillon 3-3, Terrell Huff 1-8; Hand – Caleb Ewald 8-74, Kyle Anderson 4-49, Thomas Schultz 1-13, Ian O’Toole 1-3, Jason Raleigh 1-2

Class LL
Xavier 48, NFA 14
EAST HARTFORD, Dec. 7 – Top-ranked Xavier won its third straight state championship as DeAngelo Berry ran for 260 yards and three touchdowns in a 48-14 victory over NFA in the Class LL championship game on Friday night before 4,576 fans at Rentschler Field. The Falcons (12-1) ran for 408 yards and six TDs.