Yellowjackets blank Granby/Canton to earn a Class M playoff berth

Granby/Canton and Will Attianese (22) found little room to run in Thursday’s 21-0 loss to Gilbert/Northwestern/Housatonic at Van Why Field. More game photos

WINSTED, Nov. 25, 2021 – Gilbert/Northwestern/Housatonic head coach Scott Salius knew that his Yellowjackets were a long shot to earn a spot in the Class M playoffs before Thursday’s Thanksgiving morning game with Granby/Canton had even started.

The Yellowjackets were ranked No. 10 in Class M with the top eight teams earning a playoff bid. Gilbert, which hadn’t played a game since Oct. 30 needed a win and some help.

Gilbert/Northwestern/Housatonic did their part and looked mighty impressive in doing it. The Yellowjackets shutout Granby/Canton, 21-0, holding the Bears to just 40 yards of offense and denying Granby/Canton sole possession of the Pequot Conference’s Uncas Division title.

The Bears (7-3, 5-2 Pequot Uncas) are sharing the Uncas Division title with Rockville (8-2, 5-2) and Stafford/East Windsor/Somers (6-4, 5-2).

Gilbert’s Freddy Camp ran for a game-high 159 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries to lead the Yellowjackets (7-2, 3-2 Pequot Uncas) to the victory while becoming the 12th runner in school history to rush for more than 1,000 yards in a single season. The last runner to run for more than 1,000 yards was Billy Komons in 2016.

With Torrington beating Watertown, the Yellowjackets slipped past Plainville to claim the eighth and final spot in the Class M tournament, according to unofficial tallies on the CIAC website. The official tournament rankings will be released by the CIAC’s football committee on Friday.

Gilbert/NWR/Housatonic’s Freddy Camp (5) ran for a game-high 159 yards and two touchdowns in Thursday’s Thanksgiving Day win over Granby/Canton. More game photos

It will be the first playoff appearance for the Yellowjackets since 2013. Even with Thursday’s shutout loss to the Yellowjackets, Granby/Canton will be seeded third in Class M. The playoffs begin on Tuesday and Gilbert/Northwestern/Housatonic is scheduled to face top-ranked Killingly while the Bears will host No. 6 Torrington.

“We will learn from this,” Granby/Canton coach Erik Shortell said. “It was a bad day (for us). We didn’t execute. It was a very sloppy day (for us) and Gilbert had a great day and outdid us in all aspects of the game.”

Gilbert/NWR/Housatonic had their Nov. 6 game against the SMSA co-op cancelled due to COVID issues at the Hartford school and a game against Derby on Nov. 18 was cancelled when Derby suspended their program earlier in November due to lack of players. An earlier game against the Coventry co-op was also wiped out due to COVID.

The last game for the Yellowjackets was a 14-0 shutout win over Ellington, which unofficially clinched a playoff berth before this weekend.

Gilbert closed out its season with a pair of shutouts against two teams going to the state playoffs.

“We played tremendous defense,” said Salius, who is taking his program to the playoffs for the third time. “Our defensive linemen were in the (Granby) backfield for most of the game. Most of our defensive linemen are one-way players and they buy into the face that they are quicker than most teams and they want to cause havoc. Our linebackers came up and supported (the defensive linemen) and our defensive backs did a great job on screen passes. Even if they completed one, they closed it down (quickly).”

In the first half, Granby had just two first downs and one was awarded due to a penalty. The Bears had minus 8 yards of offense after the first two quarters, thanks to three Yellowjacket sacks and a two separate snaps from center that sailed over the heads of Bear quarterbacks, resulting in a net loss of 25 yards.

Colby Sanden (1) breaks through the line in Thursday morning’s Thanksgiving Day win over Granby/Canton. More game photos

Camp scored on an 18-yard run with 5:47 remaining in the first quarter and Austin Bayer kicked the extra point to give Gilbert/Northwestern/Housatonic the early 7-0 lead.

Yellowjackets QB Nolan Risedorf scrambled 13 yards on a fourth down and one play to keep a drive alive late in the second quarter. On the next play, it was Camp scoring around the right side from 12 yards away to give his team a 14-0 lead with 50 seconds left in the first half.

The Yellowjackets made it 21-0 on a five-yard run from Chase Sanden with 8:55 left in the game. Gilbert/Northwestern/Housatonic converted twice on third down to keep the scoring drive alive with Sanden racing eight yards and Risedorf scrambling for 29 yards.

Granby/Canton didn’t run a play in Gilbert/Northwestern/Housatonic territory until there was less than three minutes left in the game and the Bears got there after the Yellowjackets were penalized 15 yards for roughing the punter.

“We knew we had to come out and punch them in the mouth,” Camp said. “They’re a good team, but all-around, we’re one of the toughest teams in the state. We shutout two playoff teams. We came out and gave 110 percent.”

Gilbert/Northwestern/Housatonic 21, Granby/Canton 0
At Winsted
Granby/Canton (7-3)      0  0  0  0  — 0
Gilbert/NW/Hou (7-2)    7  7  0  7  — 21
First quarter
Gilb: Freddy Camp 18 run (Austin Bayer kick), 5:47
Second quarter
Gilb: Camp 12 run (Bayer kick), 0:50
Fourth quarter
Gilb: Colby Sanden 5 run (Bayer kick), 8:55
Individual statistics
RUSHING: Granby/Canton – Will Migliaccio 4-minus 15, Michael Bronson 11-minus 10, Khalil Thomas 4-13, Will Attianese 1-5; Gilbert co-op – Freddy Camp 19-159, Aiden Avenis 9-23, Yoedy Tavarez-Garcia 2-5, Colby Sanden 4-26, Nolan Risedorf 8-54, Greyson Ursone 4-minus 17, Sears Russel 1-1
PASSING: Granby/Canton – Migliaccio 10-22-0, 48, Bronson 1-2-0, minus 1; Gilbert co-op – Risedorf 0-2-0, Ursone 2-3-0, 16
RECEIVING: Granby/Canton – Beach Sessions 3-26, Bronson 2-2, Khalil Thomas 1-9, Will Attianese 3-6, George Horst 2-4; Gilbert co-op – Camp 1-2, Russel 1-14
RETURNS: Sessions (Granby) 3-41 (KO), Attianese (Granby) 1-27 (KO); Camp (Gilbert) 1-36 (KO), 2-13 (punt); FUMBLE REC: Attianses (Granby) 1; SACKS: Austin Bayer (Gilbert) 1.5-14, Alexander Hedhill (Gilbert) ½-10, Bradley Mason (Gilbert) 1-4; Malique Thompson (Granby) 2-19, Cooper Boyd (Granby) 1-3, Connor Nadeau (Granby) 1-14

CIAC Class M playoff rating (unofficial)

y-shared division title
Wednesday, Nov. 24
Stafford co-op 56, Windsor Locks co-op 24
Rockville 27, Ellington 7
Thursday Nov. 25
Gilbert/Northwestern/Housatonic 21, Granby/Canton 0