Last minute field goal lifts Simsbury to win; Farmington easily beats RHAM

SIMSBURY – Kyle Dougherty hit a 33-yard field goal with 49.5 seconds remaining as Simsbury erased a 13-point deficit in the fourth quarter and beat East Hartford, 23-20 Friday night at Holden Field to win its first game of the year. 

Simsbury (1-1) trailed 20-7 after three quarters but cut the lead to seven when QB James Helmsen scored on a six-yard run with 10:39 left in the game. A bad snap on the extra point left Simsbury down by six points, 20-13. 

On its next possession, Brad Helmkamp scored a nine-yard touchdown and Dougherty hit the extra point with 3:40 remaining to tie the game at 20-20. Helmkamp ran for a game-high 173 yards on 23 carries. 

East Hartford still had a chance at the end after Simsbury took its first lead of the night on Dougherty’s field goal. The Hornets got some luck when a deflected pass was caught by a Hornet receiver for a big gain. East Hartford had the ball on the Simsbury 10-yard line with 14.9 seconds remaining. 

An incomplete pass and a run for no gain left East Hartford with a 28-yard field goal attempt. William McIntosh’s attempt was wide to the right and Simsbury prevailed with the victory. It was SImsbury’s eighth win in nine years against East Hartford and its only loss in that span was a forfeit due to an ineligible player. Simsbury actually won that game by a point.

Simsbury 23, East Hartford 20
At Simsbury
East Hartford (0-2)    6  8  6  0 – 20
Simsbury (1-1)            0  7  0  16  — 23
First Quarter
EH: Mirajsh Barnes fumble recovered in end zone (kick failed)
Second Quarter
EH: Thomas Willingham 2 run (William McIntosh pass from Griffin Michalek)
S: Jake Cassano 27 pass from James Hermsen (Brad Daugherty kick)
Third Quarter
EH: Cameron Byrd 19 pass from Michalek (kick failed)
Fourth Quarter
S: Hermsen 10 run (run failed), 10:39
S: Brad Helmkamp 9 run (Daugherty kick), 3:40
S: Daugherty 33 FG, 0:49

Farmington 38, RHAM 7
FARMINGTON – Ivan Guadalupe ran for two touchdowns and 144 yards and caught a 15-yard TD pass from quarterback Jeremy Buck as Farmington (2-0) easily beat RHAM, 38-7. The Indians built a 31-0 lead at halftime. Buck completed 10-of-15 passes for 112 yards and a TD pass. Anthony Carpenter caught three passes for 60 yards for Farmington while Buck also ran for 65 yards on five carries. 

Farmington 38, RHAM 7
At Farmington
RHAM (0-2)              0    0  0  7 –   7
Farmington (2-0)    18  13  7  0  — 38
First Quarter
F: Ivan Guadalupe 60 run (kick failed)
F: Jeremy Buck 10 run (kick failed)
F: Buck 14 run (kick failed)
Second Quarter
F: Guadalupe 15 pass from Buck (Wyatt Queirolo kick)
F: Guadalupe 3 run (kick failed)
Third Quarter
F: Buck 18 run (Queirolo kick)
Fourth Quarter
R: Adam Arnold 35 run (Zack Dalton kick)