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Farmington Valley Football

Simsbury looking to continue upward trajectory

Simsbury QB Riley Shanley returns for the Trojans for his fourth season. He has played in each of the last three seasons for SHS.

Simsbury QB Riley Shanley returns for the Trojans for his fourth season. He has played in each of the last three seasons for SHS.

SIMSBURY — Simsbury High football coach Dave Masters is convinced that his Trojans squad will be better than they were a year ago.

How will that translate into victories in 2016? Masters isn’t sure but he knows his team is stronger and more cohesive that it was a year ago when a young Trojans team struggled through a 1-9 campaign, giving up 371 points – the most in a single season in team history.

“The feel is different. The energy is good,” said Masters, beginning his second year as the head coach. “We’ve spent a lot of time on the (football) culture here at Simsbury. We’re trying to lay the right foundation. But we have some kids who can play football.”

Senior All-Conference quarterback Riley Shanley returns for his fourth season. A year ago, he completed 126 passes for 1,626 yards and 12 touchdowns – the first time that a Trojan QB has passed for so many yards since Conor Daly in 2006. The 12 TD passes was the third-best in school history and the most in a single season since Doug Cramphin’s school-record 17 TD passes performance in 1969.

In the Jeff Osborne era (2007-14), Simsbury kept the ball on the ground in the triple option veer.

Two of Shanley’s primary targets a year ago are back. Junior receiver Ralph Gilliard (49 receptions, 758 yards, 5 TD receptions), who also earned All-Conference honors, returns along with senior Alex Haggerty (25-372, 6 TDs).

Simsbury (1-9, 0-4 CCC Div. I West) will benefit from the return of senior linebacker and running back Sean Penney, who missed the 2015 campaign with an injury. As a sophomore in 2014, he ran for 319 yards and four TDs and caught 15 passes for 135 yards. Defensively, he was very solid. “He’ll play at the next level (college) somewhere,” Masters said.

Junior QB Jackson Masters makes a throw during a recent practice.

Junior QB Jackson Masters makes a throw during a recent practice.

Shanley won’t be the only quarterback seeing time. Masters’ son, Jackson, a junior, will be playing quarterback, too. “We’ll have a lot of personnel sets,” Dave Masters said. “Riley will be playing quarterback and other positions. Riley is probably our best athlete and we’re a better team when we can get Riley, Sean and Jackson on the field. We’re going to try and be flexible.”

Defensively, the return of Pinney will help along with the return of senior Jasper Stone, Gillard and Neil Alexander in the secondary.

“The pieces are there,” Dave Masters said. “We’re just trying to put them together.”

As usual, the schedule will be challenging, especially playing in the CCC Div. I Western Division with Southington, New Britain, Hall and Conard. The Trojans open the season with three consecutive home games against Manchester, Southington and Hall. They conclude the campaign with the second installment of the Valley Gridiron Classic at Avon on Tuesday, Nov. 22.

OF NOTE: All 10 Simsbury games will be played under the lights this season. … Last November, Shanley completed 18 of 29 passes for 305 yards and two touchdowns against Hartford Public. The 18 completions was the most since Conor Daley completed 17 in a game against Hall in 2006 and the 305 yards was one of the best single game performances in school history. … In Enfield, Fermi High closed and those students are now at Enfield High. Enfield has taken Fermi’s place in the Central Connecticut Conference and moved into CCC Division I East. The newly-christened Eagles take Hartford Public’s spot on the Simsbury schedule with Hartford Public moving to the CCC Div. 2 level. It will be Simsbury’s first game against Enfield since 1983.

SIMSBURY
Coach: Dave Masters, 2nd year (1-9)
Last year: 1-9, 0-4 CCC Division I West
Home field: Holden Field
Last championship: 2009 CCC Division I (shared)
Last playoff appearance: 2009 Class L quarterfinals
Last winning season: 2012, 6-4

2016 schedule
Friday, Sept. 9: MANCHESTER, 7 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 16: SOUTHINGTON, 7 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 23: HALL, 7 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 30: at East Hartford, 6:30 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 7: at New Britain, 6:30 p.m.
Bye week
Friday, Oct. 21: BULKELEY/HMTCA/WEAVER, 7 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 28: at Conard, 7 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 4: at Enfield, 7 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 11: GLASTONBURY, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Nov. 22: at Avon, 6:30 p.m. (Valley Gridiron Classic)

Gerry deSimas, Jr., is the editor and founder of The Collinsville Press. He is an award-winning writer and has been covering sports in Connecticut and New England for more than 30 years.

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