Four games on Thanksgiving week to close out regular season

The final week of the high school football regular season begins Tuesday night. From left, Farmington’s Luke Watson, Granby’s Beach Sessions and Avon’s Tabor Engle.

Thanksgiving Day football is a mixed bag in the Farmington Valley.

Some relish the idea of meeting together on Thursday morning to see the old friends and classmates and watch the high school team end the season on Thanksgiving morning.

Others prefer their Thanksgiving football reunions on Wednesday (Thanksgiving Eve) or even on Tuesday so they can meet with friends and family.

Four games are scheduled for Farmington Valley teams on Thanksgiving week. Avon establishes what hopes to be a long and fruitful Thanksgiving week series with Lewis Mills on Tuesday at 6 p.m. on the turf field.

The Falcons gave up their Thanksgiving week series with Simsbury, who was pleased to move on as well. In the last three years, it was clear that the Falcons were overmatched. It should be a much more competitive game with Lewis Mills (4-5, 2-3 CCC Tier 4).

Simsbury will be renewing a rivalry with undefeated No. 13 Bloomfield when the Trojans hit the road on Tuesday night. The Warhawks (9-0, 7-0 CCC Tier 3) have already clinched the CCC Tier 3 title and are looking to secure a CIAC playoff berth.

There will be two games on Thursday morning.

In Winsted, the Gilbert/Northwestern/Housatonic co-op team will host the Granby/Canton co-op squad beginning at 10:30 a.m. at Van Why Field with the Bears looking to secure a second straight trip to the Class M tournament with a victory.

In Farmington, the River Hawks will be looking for their first win of the season but it will be a difficult task against a Plainville (6-3) looking for a win and a possible spot in the Class M tournament that begins on Tuesday, Nov. 30.

Avon (6-2, 5-0 CCC Tier 4) can win outright their first divisional championship since 2015 with a win over Lewis Mills on Tuesday night. With a win, the Falcons will likely secure their first CIAC tournament berth since 2012 and just the fourth state tournament invitation in school history.

The Falcons have run the ball down people’s throats all season long, led by QB Tabor Engle who has run for more than 1,400 yards and 16 touchdowns. Avon eats up huge chunks of time to keep the opposition off the field.

Mills has bit more balanced attack. Colby Cables leads the team in rushing (78-484, 4 TDs) and receiving (13-160, 3 TDs) with QB Jack Stanislaw throwing for 413 yards and six TD passes.

Simsbury will have their hands full with a quick Bloomfield team that is ranked No. 13 in the latest state sportswriters poll from GameTiimeCT. QB Darrien Foster has completed 78-of-113 passes for 1,160 yards and 17 TDs. Jose Feliciano is the team’s leading receiver witih 18 receptions for 307 yards and 8 TDs.

On the ground, the Warhawks are led by Conellius Patrick (109-1112, 14 TDs) and Dallas Rose (98-1102, 8 TDs), who have both rushed for more than 1,000 yards.

Simsbury’s leading receiver, Issac Rivera, took over at quarterback in last week’s win over East Hartford due to an injury to Evan Wallace, who was the team’s leading rusher with 840 yards and 11 TDs.

John Mairano returned from a knee injury and scored with 2:02 left in the game to lift the Trojans to a 17-14 win over East Hartford. The defense stood tall to secure the win but the Trojans moved players all over the field to compensate for injuries.

Granby/Canton needs a win to secure their first-ever Pequot Uncas championship. The Bears have been solid on offense and outstanding on defense. The squad has 15 interceptions and six fumble recoveries this season and have blocked three punts.

QB William Migliaccio has completed 72-of-131 passes for 674 yards and two touchdowns. Luke Maher (110-573, 7 TDs) is the team’s leading rusher with Beach Sessions (19-242, 1 TD) as the leading receiver.

Defensively, Malik Brown-Smith leads with 91 tackles, eight for a loss and four sacks.

Granby/Canton will be facing a Gilbert co-op squad that hasn’t played in a month since beating Ellington on Oct. 30, 14-0. A game against the SMSA co-op on Nov. 6 was cancelled and Derby forfeited their Nov. 18 contest when they shut down the team in early November due to a lack of players.

Freddy Camp is the leading athlete for the Yellowjackets (6-2, 2-2 Pequot Uncas). He has run for nearly 1,000 yards with 926 yards and 15 TDs on 89 carries. He has scored another two TDs on punt returns and one interception return for a team-leading 18 TDs.

Lewis Mills at Avon
Tuesday, 6 p.m.
Records: Avon (6-2, 5-0 CCC Tier IV), Lewis Mills (4-5, 2-3 CCC Tier IV)
All-time series: Began 2013. Tied 1-1
Thanksgiving week series: First meeting
Outlook: This is Avon’s third game in 11 days because the Falcons had to squeeze in the game against Rocky Hill that was postponed earlier in September due to COVID protocols. The Falcons will look to control the game with their running attack. Avon has just attempted a total of 10 passes in the last three games. A win will clinch the CCC Tier IV title outright and should secure a berth in the Class M playoffs for the first time since 2012.
Of note: Avon grabbed a share of the Tier 4 title with a dominating win over Rocky Hill on Thursday night. It is the first league title for the Falcons since winning the CCC Division III East title in 2015, their first year in the Central Connecticut Conference.

Simsbury at Bloomfield, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, 7 p.m.
Records: Simsbury (5-4, 4-3 CCC Tier 1), No. 13 Bloomfield (9-0, 7-0 CCC Tier III)
All-time series: Began 1967. Simsbury leads 10-3
Thanksgiving week series: First meeting
Outlook: The Trojans will have their hands full with a quick Bloomfield High squad looking to finish with an undefeated regular season. The Warhawks clinched the CCC Tier III title earlier this month.
Of note: The series began when both schools were in the Central Valley Conference and the Trojans won all eight meetings as CVC members from 1967-74. … Bloomfield won three straight games in 2002, 2003 and 2006. … The teams last played in 2008.

Granby/Canton at Gilbert/Northwestern/Housatonic, 10:30 a.m.
Thursday, 10:30 a.m.
Records: Granby/Canton (7-2, 5-1 Pequot Uncas), Gilbert/NWR/Housy (6-2, 2-2 Pequot Uncas)
All-time series: Began 2010. Gilbert/NWR/Housatonic lead the series, 5-4
Thanksgiving Day series: First meeting
Outlook: The Bears will looking to win their first Pequot Uncas Division title by beating the Yellowjackets at Van Why Field while the Yellowjackets will be looking to keep their slim playoff hopes alive with a victory. Gilbert has lost four games this season, three due to COVID-related reasons. The Yellowjackets are led by Freddy Camp, who is 75 yards shy of 1,000 for the season. Camp has scored 18 touchdowns, including two punt returns for TDs.
Of note: This is the second season as a co-op for Granby and Canton. Gilbert has been in a co-op with Northwestern since 2002, one of the longest-running co-op programs in the state. Housatonic joined the Gilbert co-op this season. … The Bears have played four times on Thanksgiving morning with the most recent game coming in 2016 when Granby beat Canton. … The Yellowjackets played Housatonic on Thanksgiving morning for the Berkshire Bowl trophy from 1985 through 2013. … The last title by the Bears came in 2015 when they won the Pequot West title when the league was split up into three divisions. They also claimed the overall Pequot Conference crown with a 10-0 record.

Plainville at Farmington
Thursday, 10 a.m.
Records: Farmington (0-9, 0-6 CCC Tier III), Plainville (6-3, 3-3 CCC Tier III)
All-time series: Began 1931. Farmington leads the series, 29-25-1
Thanksgiving Day series: Began 2011. Farmington leads series, 7-2
Outlook: It’s been a tough season for the River Hawks who have not been able to put together a winning formula this fall. Luke Watson can run the ball well and Kevin Ives has been solid at QB but Farmington is looking to avoid their first winless season since 1958 when the team went 0-8. Plainville hopes a win will move them up in Class M in their quest for a playoff berth.
Of note: The two teams have been rivals in several conferences beginning with the Central Valley Conference and North Central Conference in the 1950s, the Northwest Conference from the 1960s through the 1990s and then the Nutmeg Football Conference before both programs ended up in the Central Connecticut Conference.