Players from Notre Dame-West Haven celebrate after winning the state championship Saturday at Rentschler Field. (Photo courtesy CIAC)
NEW BRITAIN, Dec. 10, 2022 – Seems like no one could stop the triple option of Joel Barlow.
The No. 5 seed Falcons rolled to their first-ever state championship Saturday night at Arute Field with a dominating 61-6 win over Valley Regional/Old Lyme in the Class SS championship game.
Joel Barlow was dominant from start to finish in the championship game with a 28-0 lead at halftime, including a blocked punt that resulted in recovering a fumble in the end zone for six points. Danny Shaban ran for five touchdowns and 206 yards on 17 carries for Barlow.
The 61 points is the fourth highest number of points scored in a CIAC football title game.
Joel Barlow eliminated Granby/Canton in the quarterfinals, 28-14 up in Granby on Nov. 29.
Joel Barlow 61, Valley Regional/Old Lyme 6
At New Britain
Valley Regional/OL (11-2) 0 0 0 6 — 6
Joel Barlow (11-2) 7 21 20 13 — 61
First quarter
JB: Danny Shaban 5 run (Cooper Zuccerella kick), 0:12
Second quarter
JB: Liam Kiernan fumble recovery in end zone (Zuccerella kick), 11:00
JB: Shaban 12 run (Zuccerella kick), 3:53
JB: Shaban 5 run (Zuccerella kick), 0:48
Third quarter
JB: Shaban 20 run (Zuccerella kick), 10:36
JB: Shaban 2 run (Zuccerella kick), 5:50
JB: Scott Romano 22 run (kick blocked), 3:58
Fourth quarter
JB: Charlie Basta 68 interception return (kick failed), 10:30
JB: Dylan Taylor 29 run (Zuccerella kick), 7:12
VR: Nicholas Cox 20 pass from Grady Lacourciere (kick blocked), 1:52
Individual statistics
RUSHING — JB, Danny Shaban 17-206, Scott Romano 8-87, Dylan Taylor 7-55, Cole Peterson 4-45, Mason Leavitt 1-20, Zander Knapp 1-2. VR/OL, Grady Lacourciere 4-32, Jacob Rand 11-33, DiAngelo Jean-Pierre 2-minus 8
PASSING — JB, Danny Shaban 2-2-66. VR/OL, Grady Lacourciere 12-25-128, DiAngelo Jean-Pierre 1-5-6.
RECEIVING — JB, Mason Leavitt 1-34, Evan Corazzelli 1-32. VR/OL, Nick Cox 5-95, DiAngelo Jean-Pierre 2-5, Andrew Yemenson 2-13.
Class M championship
Notre Dame-West Haven 35, Berlin 8
EAST HARTFORD, Dec. 10, 2022 — Notre Dame of West Haven allowed undefeated Berlin just 108 yards of offense and rolled to their fourth state championship with a 35-8 victory at Rentschler Field in the Class M final Saturday.
Matthew Piechota completed 17 of 25 passes for 221 yards and three touchdowns and ran 10 times for 59 yards for Notre Dame (9-3). Staton added 23 carries for 94 yards and two touchdowns. Mattaeo Petruzziello caught four passes for 65 yards and two touchdowns for the Green Knights and Ralph Sarno caught an 18-yard touchdown pass.
Notre Dame-WH 35, Berlin 8
At East Hartford
Notre Dame-WH (10-3) 6 8 7 14 — 35
Berlin (12-1) 0 0 0 8 — 8
First quarter
ND: Ralph Sarno 18 pass from Matthew Piechota (kick failed)
Second quarter
ND: Jacob Staton 10 run (Robert Torres pass from Piechota)
Third quarter
ND: Mattaeo Petruzziello 13 pass from Piechota (Davin Garamella kick)
Fourth quarter
ND: Staton 8 run (Garamella kick)
ND: Petruzziello 18 pass from Piechota (Garamella kick)
B: Josh Grimm 34 pass from Lorenzo Miele (Kyle Melville pass from Miele)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Notre Dame-W.H., Jacob Staton 23-94; Matthew Piechota 10-59; Jonathan Evans 4-28, Robert Torres 1-3; William Panza 1-0. Berlin, Josh Clement 9-34, Lorenzo Miele 5-8, Toby Lavender 4-14, Luke Maguder 3-4, Kyle Melville 1-1.
PASSING — Notre Dame-W.H., Piechota 17-25-0-221. Berlin, Miele 6-15-2-40, Lavender 1-1-0-9.
RECEIVING — Notre Dame-W.H., Robert Torres 6-52, Petruzziello 4-65, Staton 4-42, William Panza 3-44, Ralph Sarno 1-18. Berlin, Maguder 2-0, Josh Grimm 1-34, Miele 1-9, Ryan Lavender 1-6, Elijah Santos 1-1, Mason Memery 1-minus 1.
Class MM championship
North Haven 51, Killingly 34
EAST HARTFORD, Dec. 10, 2022 — Jeff Karavas, Brian Lastomirsky and Adam Pandolfi each ran for two touchdowns as No. 5 North Haven won their first state championship in football with a dominating 51-34 win over Killingly Saturday in the Class MM title game at Rentschler Field.
The Nighthawks (11-2) used their trademark single wing offense to run 49 times for 477 yards and seven touchdowns. They only threw once for an incompletion. Jeff Karavas ran 17 times for 156 yards and two touchdowns for North Haven and Adam Pandolfi added 13 carries for 107 yards and two scores.
Thomas Dreibholz completed 20 of 33 passes for 293 yards and four touchdowns for Killingly (11-2), last year’s Class M champions.
North Haven 51, Killingly 34
At East Hartford
North Haven (11-2) 14 7 7 23 — 51
Killingly (11-2) 0 21 0 14 — 34
First Quarter
NH: Brian Lastomirsky 14 run (Delcan Finkle kick)
NH: Jeff Karavas 5 run (Finkle kick)
Second quarter
K: Noah Colangelo 31 pass from Thomas Dreibholz (Dreibholz kick)
K: Keith Perry 5 run (Perry pass from Dreibholz)
NH: Brian Lastomirsky 29 run (Finkle kick)
K: Perry 6 pass from Dreibholz (Dreibholz kick)
Third quarter
NH: Adam Pandolfi 5 run (Finkle kick)
Fourth quarter
NH: Pandolfi 19 run (Finkle kick)
NH: Safety, Killingly penalized for intentional grounding in end zone
NH: Karavas 8 run (Finkle kick)
K: Braden Pedersen 45 pass from Dreibholz (Dreibholz kick)
NH: Trysten Dos 1 run (Finkle kick)
K: Colangelo 42 pass from Dreibholz (Dreibholz kick)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — North Haven, Jeff Karavas 17-156, Adam Pandolfi 13-107, Brian Lastomirsky 6-84, Trysten Dos 6-22, Camren Thompson 5-43, Daniel-Mark Thomas 3-65. Killingly, Soren Rief 14-56, Keith Perry 8-14, Thomas Dreibholz 5-12, Ben Jax 3-6, Noah Colangelo 1-9, Team 1-(-14).
PASSING — North Haven, Karavas 0-1-0-0. Killingly, Dreibholz 20-33-0-293
RECEIVING — North Haven, None. Killingly, Colangelo 9-148, Braden Pedersen 5-83, Jax 2-53, Perry 4-6, Rief 1-3.
Class LL championship
Greenwich 37, Fairfield Prep 17
EAST HARTFORD, Dec. 10, 2022 — Charlie Dixon had three interceptions, the first of which he returned for a 34-yard touchdown, as No. 2 seed Greenwich scored the game’s first 27 points and cruised to a 37-17 win over No. 5 Fairfield Prep to win the CIAC Class LL championship on Saturday night at Rentscheler Field.
It was the ninth CIAC state championship for the Cardinals (11-2). George Vomvolakis ran 21 times for 152 yards and two touchdowns for Greenwich while Jack Wilson completed 11 of 19 passes for 119 yards and scored on two 1-yard runs. Sergot Boone added a 31-yard field goal and four extra points.
The Jesuits (9-4) turned it over on their first three possessions to fall behind, 20-0, with over three minutes left in the third quarter. They turned it over five times overall.
Greenwich 37, Fairfield Prep 17
At East Hartford
Fairfield Prep (9-4) 0 7 0 10—17
Greenwich (11-2) 20 7 3 7— 37
First quarter
G: Charlie Dixon 34 interception return (run failed)
G: George Vomvolakis 6 run (Sergot Boone kick)
G: Jack Wilson 1 run (Boone kick)
Second quarter
G: Wilson 1 run (Boone kick)
FP: Ryan Preisano 24 pass from Tyler Smith (Robert Murphy kick)
Third quarter
G: Boone 31 FG
Fourth quarter
G: Vomvolakis 63 run (Boone kick)
FP: Malachi Mercer-Robinson 13 run (Mercer-Robinson run)
FP: Safety, Dixon took knee in end zone
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Fairfield Prep, Mercer-Robinson 19-74, Wally Wuchiski 5-11, Tyler Smith 1-5, team 1-minus 9; Greenwich, George Vomvolakis 21-152, Jack Konigsberg 13-58, Jack Wilson 2-0, Charlie Dixon 1-minus 6.
PASSING — Fairfield Prep, Smith 17-39-5-211. Greenwich, 11-19-0-116.
RECEIVING — Fairfield Prep, Ryan Preisano 7-81, William McCormack 3-69, Timothy Hartnett 3-47, Finbar Malloy 2-20, Wally Wuchiski 1-0. Greenwich, Dixon 5-61, James Wailgum 2-23, Vomvolakis 2-22, Gavyn Gennarelli 1-8, Vincent Insinga 1-2.
Ned Griffen contributed to this report. Stats courtesy of the CIAC
