Behind 4 TD passes from Lewie, Granby/Canton blanks Capital Prep co-op

HARTFORD, Nov. 7, 2025 – With three games left in the season, the math is pretty simple for the Granby/Canton football team.

If the Bears (5-3) want to secure a spot in the CIAC tournament for the sixth consecutive season, they will need to win their final three games of the season and get some help from other teams.

Granby/Canton dropped a heartbreaking 37-35 decision to Ellington in triple overtime last week. Ellington erased a 21-point deficit and stopped the Bears inside the 10-yard line in the final minutes of regulation to force overtime.

The Bears began their push toward a possible playoff berth with a resounding 48-0 win over Capital Prep/First Achievement on the Harry Bellucci Field at Hartford Public on Friday night.

Granby/Canton has games remaining with the Morgan/Westbrook/Old Saybrook co-op (0-6) on at home next Friday and closes out the regular season with a trip to North Branford (6-1) on Friday, Nov. 21.

“We’ve been telling the boys all week after a tough three overtime battle that we control the next three weeks,” Granby/Canton head coach Erik Shortell said. “Let’s dominate the next three weeks. We take it week-by-week.

Quarterback Joseph Lewie threw a career-high four touchdown passes, including two to Oliver Douglas to lead the Bears. Lewis also ran for 113 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries.

“All the credit goes to the o (offensive) line for giving me time back there,” Lewie said. “There were a lot of quarterback runs and they were giving more holes that I was taking advantage of.”

Granby/Canton forced four turnovers – an interception and three fumble recoveries.

Two penalties hurt the Trailblazers (0-6) on Granby/Canton’s first drive of the game.

Capital Prep stopped the Bears but a facemask penalty was enough for the first down. Later in the drive, Capital Prep’s Kymani Douglas sacked Lewie for a 13-yard loss but there was an unnecessary roughness call on the play, moving the Bears to the Capital Prep 11-yard line.

Lewie found Douglas for an 11-yard touchdown reception and a 6-0 lead with 8:27 left in the first quarter. The two-point conversion pass failed.

On Granby/Canton’s second possession, Lewie had a nice 20-yard run up the middle to bring the ball to the Capital Prep 27 yard line. A 15-yard facemask penalty on the next play moved the ball to the Trailblazer 14-yard line.

Two plays later, Lewie scored from the six to give the Bears a 12-0 lead with 11:03 left in the second quarter. The two-point conversion run failed.

With some hard running from Javaris Spencer, Capital Prep drove to the Bears’ 11-yard line where they coughed up the ball with Granby/Canton recovering with 6:05 left in the first half.

On their next drive, Lewie gained 23 yards on a fourth-down run to the Capital Prep 30-yard line to keep Granby/Canton’s next scoring drive moving forward. A 14-yard run from Gabriel Mensah moved the ball to the 12-yard line.

On fourth down and 16 yards from the 18-yard line, Lewie found Michael Lapenta in the end zone for a touchdown with no time left on the clock. Lewie’s two-point conversion run extended the lead to 20-0 at the half.

Granby/Canton extended their lead to 26-0 on a 56-yard touchdown reception from Lewie to Douglas, who took a short pass and beat plenty of defenders. The two-point run failed again.

Granby/Canton’s James Gentile recovered a fumble and the Bears over on the Canton 26-yard line. A run by Mensah took the ball to the Canton 10-yard line. Two more runs by Mensah resulted in a touchdown and a 34-0 lead. Lewie ran for two points.

The Bears made it 40-0 on eight-yard pass from Lewie to Mensah. Keandre Hunter scored a 15-yard touchdown and a two-point conversion run late in game for a 48-0 score.

FOOTBALL
Granby/Canton 48, Capital Prep/FA 0
At Hartford
Granby/Canton (5-3)         6  14  14  14  — 48
Capital Prep/FA (0-6)        0  0  0  0  — 0
First quarter
G: Oliver Douglas 11 pass from Joseph Lewie (pass fails), 8:27
Second quarter
G: Lewis 6 run (run fails), 11:03
G: Michael Lapenta 18 pass from Lewie (Lewie run), 0:00
Third quarter
G: Douglas 44 pass from Lewie (run fails), 7:32
G: Gabriel Mensah 6 run (Lewie run), 4:26
Fourth quarter
G: Mensah 8 pass from Lewie (pass fails), 11:48
G: Keandre Hunter 20 run (Hunter run), 3:37
Of note: Joseph Lewie (G) 10-13-0, 127, 4 TDs; 11-113, 1 TD rushing; Mensah 8-60, 1 TD rushing; 2-10, 1 TD receiving; Douglas 2-57, 2 TDs receiving