
Granby/Canton running back Marquis Thomas had a career-high 98 yards and 3 TDs in Tuesday’s Class M playoff loss to Torrington.
Both teams were shorthanded on Tuesday night in the Class M quarterfinals. Visiting Torrington came with just 23 players due to a positive COVID test that resulted in the Raiders leaving 15 players home, including several starters on defense.
Granby/Canton was also missing two starting defensive linemen, who missed the playoff game for violating school rules.
In the end, it was about making plays and the No. 6 Raiders made a few more to outlast No. 3 Granby/Canton, 37-29 in Granby. The Raiders, who won their first-ever CIAC playoff game in football, advance to Sunday’s Class M semifinals at Rockville.
“We played how we should,” Granby/Canton coach Erik Shortell said. “It was a tough loss but the boys played well. We went drive for drive with them. We played good football but we just ran out of time.”
Shortell was disappointed how his team looked in a 21-0 loss to Gilbert/Northwestern/Housatonic on Thanksgiving Day. It was a different story against Torrington. The Bears came to play.
“Offensively, we executed our game plan,” he said. “I am beyond proud of our guys. We battled back and forth, play by play. We played to our potential.”
The Raiders held a 14-7 lead at the half before the shootout began in the second half.
Granby/Canton’s Beach Sessions tied the game at 14-14 with a 79-yard kickoff return. A 27-yard run from Raider QB Tyler Semonich put Torrington ahead 21-14 but the Bears responded with a long drive that ended with Marquis Thomas scoring from the one-yard line and with George Horst’s extra point, it was tied at 21-21.
In the fourth quarter, Semonich, who ran for a game-high 161 yards and a season-high three TDs on 20 carries, scored on three yards out to put the Raiders ahead, 29-21 with Clinkscales racing in for the two-point conversion.
The Bears tied the game with 3:30 remaining on a 17-yard from Thomas and a two-point conversion run from Michael Bronson. Thomas led the Bears with a season-high 98 yards and 3 TDs on 14 carries. Previously, he had run for 85 yards and two touchdowns.
“He played like it was the last game of high school career,” Shortell said. “He was fantastic.”
Torrington (8-3) loves to run the ball out of their single-wing formation but are known to throw the ball when they have to. The Raiders’ Mason Stannard got behind a Granby/Canton defender and Semonich lofted a soft pass over the defender’s head and Stannard galloped 55 yards for the touchdown with 58 seconds left in the game.
A two-point conversion run from Clinksdale gave the Raiders a 37-29 lead.
Granby/Canton marched right down the field, aided by a 15-yard pass interference call against the Raiders that kept the drive alive. But on fourth down from the Raider 23-yard line, Will Migiaccio’s pass into the end zone was battled down by Stannard with five seconds left to secure the win.
Migliaccio completed 10-of-18 passes for 71 yards for Granby/Canton (7-4) with Sessions catching six passes for 55 yards.
NOTES: Torrington has won seven of their last eight games. … The Raiders won the NVL Iron Division with a 4-0 record … Granby/Canton, in the third year of their co-op program, was back in the playoffs for the second straight year. The Bears made the playoffs in 2019 and the 2020 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. … It was the first-ever meeting between the two programs in football.
Torrington 37, Granby/Canton 29
At Granby
Torrington (8-3) 7 7 7 16 — 37
Granby/Canton (7-4) 0 7 14 8 — 29
First Quarter
T: Sean Clinkscales 8 run (Clinkscales kick)
Second Quarter
GC: Marquis Thomas 2 run (George Horst kick)
T: Tyler Semonich 5 run (Clinkscales kick)
Third Quarter
GC: Beach Sessions 79 kickoff return (Horst kick)
T: Semonich 27 run (Clinkscales kick)
GC: M. Thomas 1 run (Horst kick)
Fourth Quarter
T: Semonich 3 run (Clinkscales run)
GC: M. Thomas 17 run (Michael Brosnan run), 3:30
T: Mason Stannard 55 pass from Semonich (Clinkscales run), 0:58
Individual statistics
RUSHING: Granby/Canton — Marquis Thomas 14-98, Will Attianese 7-31, Michael Bronson 9-44; Torrington — Tyler Semonich 20-161, Sean Clinkscales 19-111, Brett Fairfield 4-46
PASSING: Granby/Canton — Will Migliaccio 10-18-0, 71; Torrington — Tyler Semonich 3-6-0, 85
RECEIVING: Granby/Canton — Beach Sessions 6-55, George Horst 2-7, Marquis Thomas 2-9; Torrington — Mason Stannard 2-65, Devin Morales 1-20
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 40 years. He was inducted into the New England High School Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2018.


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