Simsbury coach Nick Malcuit goes over a play with Dayanch Kulyyev (far left, 66), James Love (53), Lucas Sanborn-Burch (55) and Evan Wallace (5) during Friday night’s win over Conard. (Photo courtesy Scott Kerr)
Simsbury High quarterback Evan Wallace rushed for a team-high 176 yards and three touchdowns on 20 carries to lead the Trojans to a 28-14 CCC Tier 1 victory over Conard in West Hartford on Friday night.
After the host Chieftains (3-4, 2-2 CCC Tier 1) cut the lead to seven points, Wallace’s 51-yard touchdown run and two-point conversion pass to Issac Rivera gave the Trojans (4-3, 3-2 CCC Tier 1) a two-touchdown lead.
Chad Mairano ran for 90 yards on 12 carries while Noble Gongon ran for 28 yards and a touchdown on three carries.
“We got a lot of pressure on the (Conard) quarterback and forced them to be on the run and it helped out our secondary,” Simsbury coach Dave Masters said. “Evan (Wallace) was able to run everywhere and our special teams were pretty solid.”
Masters praised the offensive line for playing well as a unit and creating running lanes for Wallace and his teammates.
Defensively, the Trojans had five sacks and eight tackles for a loss. Zach Truting had a team-high 13 tackles while C.J. Taddio had 10 tackles, two sacks and three tackles for a loss. Rivera had 10 tackles, a sack and a tackle for a loss. Drew Hunter also made some big stops on defense.
The Trojans have won four of their last five games with Conard but the Chieftains still hold a 26-18-2 edge in the overall series that began in 1974.
Simsbury returns to action next week when they host Southington at Holden Field beginning at 6:30 p.m.
“We’re pretty familiar with them and they are familiar with what we do,” Masters said. “Our challenge is to stay in our head space and not let them in. We just need to play our game.”
Simsbury 28, Conard 14
At West Hartford
Simsbury (4-3) 0 14 6 8 — 28
Conard (3-4) 0 7 0 7 — 14
Second quarter
S: Evan Wallace 18 run (Daniel Sullivan kick)
C: Jack Kennedy 1 run (Evan Belabe kick)
S: Wallace 10 run (Sullivan kick)
Third quarter
S: Noble Gongon 1 run (kick failed)
Fourth quarter
C: Israel Lopez 7 run (Belabe kick)
S: Wallace 51 run (Issac Rivera pass from Wallace)
Individual statistics
RUSHING: Simsbury – Evan Wallace 20-176, Chad Mairano 12-90, Noble Gongon 3-28
PASSING: Simsbury – Evan Wallace 3-10-0, 29
RECEIVING: Simsbury – Noble Gongon 1-15, Ted Murphy 1-11, Cole Musser 1-3
CCC Tier 1 standings
| Team | Div. | Overall |
| Hall | 4-0 | 7-0 |
| Maloney | 5-1 | 6-1 |
| Southington | 4-1 | 6-1 |
| Simsbury | 3-2 | 4-3 |
| East Hartford | 3-3 | 3-4 |
| Conard | 2-2 | 3-4 |
| Glastonbury | 0-5 | 1-6 |
| New Britain | 0-5 | 1-6 |
Highlights of the game courtesy of John Helmcamp.
