NEW BRITAIN FALLS TO RIDGEFIELD IN OT

NEW BRITAIN – Disappointment was the foremost emotion that gripped New Britain High boys basketball coach Todd Stigliano as he emerged from the season’s final postgame discussion.

But other thoughts pervaded his mind. He talked about deep respect for Ridgefield, which had just ousted the Hurricanes from the Class LL tournament with a 63-57 overtime victory, and the Tigers’ Division I-bound star Kurt Steidl.

He also spoke of the offseason commitment that he and as many as nine returning juniors would have to make in order for New Britain to make a deeper tournament run.

The respect for Steidl, the 6’6 guard who heads to the University of Vermont next fall, echoed through the atmosphere at Chick Shea Gym. His tangible contributions were 31 points and 20 rebounds, but his greatest asset cannot be defined by numbers.

 “[Monday] night in the fourth quarter, he had 13 or 14 against Greenwich and they quoted him in the paper as saying, ‘I knew it was my senior year and I had to take over the game.’ Tonight, he just willed it,” Stigliano said. “He did whatever had to be done for his team to come out with a win. As sad as it is for me, you have to give him credit.”

The eight-seeded Hurricanes (18-6) were in prime position to advance to the quarterfinals.

A three-pointer by Michael Robinson – New Britain’s only one of the game – and a free-throw by Craven Johnson gave the ’Canes a 51-44 lead with 5:21 left in regulation. But the next four possessions brought three turnovers and Daequone Clark missing the front end of a one-and-one.

They still held a three-point lead as the time remaining slipped under a minute. When Steidl handled near the top of the key, he was double-teamed, but the Tigers deftly beat the overload. Two passes around the perimeter gave Jeff Racy an open look from beyond the arc in the left corner and the game was tied with 31 seconds left.

Stigliano called timeout with 20.2 seconds remaining. Annuel Saint Juste dribbled about 15 seconds away and unleashed a 25-foot jumper that caromed off the rim. It wasn’t what Stigliano dialed up.

“He’s obviously a good shooter and he’s hit a lot of buzzer-beaters,” Stigliano said. “He waits, waits and hopes the [defender] backs up a step and he can hit at NBA range. But no, that’s not what we discussed. I wanted him to get the ball but I wanted him to get it going to the rim.

“You want to be aggressive, try to get something underneath, you can get a rebound or try to get somebody to commit a foul. … It’s not his fault. He’s trying to help his team. It just didn’t work out that way.”

Overtime featured a Ridgefield parade to the foul line. Steidl went 7-for-9 from the stripe and the ’Canes offense went stagnant. They turned the ball over twice and misfired on all five of their field-goal tries. Ridgefield’s trapping 1-3-1 zone – a defense New Britain rarely encountered – effectively collapsed on Johnson and Hyman in the paint and walled off Saint Juste from impacting the outcome from long distance.

“I feel inadequate dealing with that 1-3-1,” Stigliano said. “I feel like I didn’t get them to understand what I wanted to have happen and we got stagnant. We couldn’t figure it out. We couldn’t get the ball where we wanted to get it. We didn’t do a good job moving the basketball.”

But Steidl was the story. He committed his fourth foul with 4:36 left in the third quarter and Ridgefield ahead 32-31. The Tigers initially expanded their lead to six in their star’s absence but the ’Canes ignited their transition game and ended the quarter with an 11-0 run.

Steidl’s fifth foul never came. He scored 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds in the fourth quarter and dominated the extra period.

“I just wanted to win this game so bad, I had to be smarter on defense and smarter on offense by not going into charges,” Steidl said. “I was just being a smarter player so I could be out on the court with my teammates and we could get the win.”

Johnson (22 points, 12 rebounds) and Curtis Hyman were powerful forces inside, but New Britain missed 10 of 11 from three-point range.

“They’re really athletic at every position,” Ridgefield coach Carl Charles said. “We knew they had a strong inside game. You could see evidence of that the way they attacked the basket. I thought they’d have better perimeter shooting.”

Robinson had six assists but was unable to get the open looks he had Monday against Staples. Clark had 10 points in his final game. Kevin Tirado, the only other senior, had two points and played aggressive defense in reserve.

Class LL Boys Basketball

Ridgefield 63, New Britain 57 (OT)

(2nd Round, at Chick Shea Gymnasium)

RIDGEFIELD (18-5): Charles Irwin 0 0-0 0, Jeff Racy 2 2-2 7, Matt Brennan 2 3-3 9, Pat Racy 7 0-1 14, Kurt Steidl 9 12-14 31, Jonathan Hicks 1 0-0 2, Andrew Barton 0 0-0 0, Chip McClelland 0 0-2 0, Dan Greenberg 0 0-0 0, Zach Ward 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 17-22 63.

NEW BRITAIN (18-6): Daequone Clark 4 2-3 10, Curtis Hyman 5 0-2 10, Michael Robinson 1 0-0 3, Annuel Saint Juste 3 4-5 10, Craven Johnson 6 10-14 22, Isaiah Vasquez 0 0-0 0, Kevin Tirado 1 0-0 2, Ronday McCray 0 0-0 0, Curtrell Hyman 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 16-24 57.

Ridgefield         16  14  10  17  6 – 63

New Britain      11  16  18  12  0 – 57

Three-point goals: R – J. Racy, Brennan 2, Steidl; NB – Robinson.

HILLHOUSE LOSS SERVES PURPOSE FOR NB

(As published on the New Britain City Journal website)

Todd Stigliano emerged from his postgame meeting after meeting Hillhouse on December 19 sensing his New Britain High boys basketball team learned valuable lessons.

Stigliano is as competitive as coaches come. Obviously members of his fraternity detest losing, but Stigliano came away from the 61-55 setback against Connecticut’s most storied scholastic program with the kind of facial expressions generally reserved for victory.

“They aren’t the best team in the State of Connecticut by accident,” Stigliano said. “We didn’t just go out and play a nobody. We played by far the toughest team in the State of Connecticut – physically tough, mentally tough. Nobody quit, and that’s what matters for us.”

New Britain has the depth and talent to go deep into the Class LL tournament this season. The Hurricanes have size and strength in frontline starters Craven Johnson and Curtis Hyman. Curtrelle Hyman is a capable reserve. They possess crowd-pleasing athleticism in multitalented swingman Daequone Clark. They have backcourt symmetry and a wealth of riches in Aramis Hernandez, Sheveran Williams-Hardy, Michael Robinson and Annuel Saint Juste.

The ’Canes will have to go through the likes of Hillhouse at some point if they are to fulfill their goal of winning a state title.

“I wanted to see what we were made of early in the season,” he said. “They don’t hand out state championships in game three.

“We’ll get another chance at it. The question is will we be ready. From what I saw, we’ll be ready.”

Hillhouse is a formidable outfit. Andre Anderson, a prolific running back for the Academics’ Class M champion football team, has an explosive first step and shoulders that only preparation for football can chisel. He has that gift great point guards have to find a way to the glass.

His running mates are rangy sniper Bobby Bynum and Shane Christie. The three guards combined for 73 percent of Hillhouse’s points. When their arching three-point shots caromed off the rim, they kept shooting.

The Acs led by just five points early in the third quarter when Bynum (game-high 22 points) flipped in four treys within 2½ minutes. The lead suddenly soared to 39-28. The Hurricanes trailed by 10 heading into the final four minutes but their confidence had grown. They realized that like them, the Acs laced up their Nikes one eyelet at a time.

“I thought our big guys boxed out better than they had but I told the guards they had to help,” Stigliano said. “There were a lot of long rebounds, and even though we did a decent job of boxing out, it wasn’t enough.

“With a team like that, it’s a toughness thing. That’s why they rebound so well. … They killed us on the glass and that’s the difference in the game.”

Statistics bore him out. New Britain shot 33 percent from the field (18-for-54) and Hillhouse shot 32 percent (21-for-66). Both shot a disconcerting 54 percent from the foul line. Although Johnson grabbed 17 rebounds and Curtis Hyman had eight, the Acs had five guys pounding the offensive boards.

“[Craven and Curtis] went hard all night,” Stigliano said. “They had to be physical. They had to outjump people who were bigger. I’m proud of them.”

Based on his team’s approach, Hillhouse coach Renard Sutton isn’t likely to write a profound treatise on strategy.

His immensely gifted stars go into a weave when they get the ball in their attack zone. When Bynum and Christie get looks from beyond the arc, it’s bombs away. The other option is Anderson using that first step to penetrate the lane for a layup or an assist. They go about their business confident that they own the glass.

Their defense is coast-to-coast pressure, with sticky halfcourt traps often leading to breakaway hoops and thundering dunks. Turnovers (26) were devastating, and that’s where Stigliano knows the ’Canes can improve.

“I said if we could keep the turnovers under 20, we’d have a chance to win the game. We need to be tougher and smarter with the ball,” he said.

Foul shooting, he said, will also have to get better. The combination of missed free throws, giveaways and losing the battle of the boards combined to shatter any dreams of upset.

Yet as the Acs made their way back to New Haven, Stigliano was smiling. New Britain’s growth over four challenging quarters served as superb preparation for the league schedule that lies ahead.

“If you get into a position come tournament time where you haven’t felt the tournament atmosphere, then you don’t know how your kids are going to react,” he said. “At least now, our kids are used to what happens when the other team makes a big play and the crowd erupts.”

The ’Canes encountered such surroundings when they fell in the Class LL quarterfinals last March at Fairfield Prep.

“You need to be ready for that and this game helps you prepare,” he said. “What do you do, down 10, everything going wrong and the crowd is against you? Do you have what it takes inside to step up? And we responded.”

Are lessons learned from game three that result in a defeat be absorbed well enough for New Britain to make a deep tournament run? If the fabled March winds prove to be of Hurricane proportion, Stigliano and his boys will remember the night of December 19.

PLAINVILLE'S PASSION FOR THE PAST

The down-to-earth nature of Plainville’s sports heritage is shaped to some extent by the town’s geographical distinction – a village bookended by much larger municipalities.

When Byron J. Treado III and his group of selected sportsmen crafted a means of preserving the legacy through the Plainville Sports Hall of Fame, he touched a chord that for 14 years has emotionally moved men and women whose colorful athletic exploits once buzzed through the community.

The 13^th induction dinner held Saturday night that filled Nuchie’s Restaurant in Forestville served as stirring testament to how Plainville’s sports heroes scattered across the nation can revel in reuniting in celebration of bygone triumphs.

Perhaps the greatest of those triumphs came on November 27, 1971, when a Plainville High football team that hadn’t beaten Southington in 23 years broke through with a giant-killing moment, an 18-14 victory in the Blue Knights’ lair.

The conquering hero was quarterback Jeff Palmer, son of the late, long-time Plainville coach/educator/administrator Charlie Palmer and a member of the Hall of Fame’s Class of 2006. Emotions overtook Jeff as he revisited the camaraderie of a great moment frozen in time with former teammates and townsfolk who reveled in his accomplishment.

Joining Palmer in this year’s class were former major league baseball player Earl Snyder, his PHS teammate Brian Biskupiak, two-sport star Jeff Sengle, swimming and track star Mary Boiczyk Westkott and lifetime athletic contributor Rich Buchanan. The state championship baseball squads of 1983 and 1984 piloted by 2003 Hall-of-Famer Ron Jones were inducted as teams.

Palmer and Snyder tugged on the crowd’s heart strings when their speeches came to a stop in mid-sentence because they were overcome by sentiment. Biskupiak entertained with the kind of deadpan humor that would have made George Burns snicker.

Buchanan shared a poignant personal moment from nine years ago when he strived to prepare himself mentally for undergoing colon cancer surgery, dipping into the lessons he absorbed from Charlie Palmer and legendary basketball coach Pat Riera. Their lessons, Buchanan noted, were reinforced by the famous speech by Jim Valvano, stricken with terminal cancer yet pleading, “Don’t give up. Don’t ever give up.”

Boiczyk Westkott took a similar approach, extolling the virtues of her late swim coach George Choiniere and the role he played in shaping her life.

“He was not a technician of the sport. He was not a conditioner of athletes. He made us want to be fast, he made us want to be successful, he made us want to be a team.”

Sengle, who went on to a career with the United States Secret Service that included protecting former President Bill Clinton, mixed a little humor with his memories when he said, “I can promise you that my speech will have nothing to do with the economy.”

Jones, as spokesman for his two teams, dwelled on the “us against the world” mentality that served as the centerpiece of his dynamic motivational skills.

Treado, who stepped down as chairman of the dinner two years ago in favor of Keith J. D’Amato, stitched it all together as toastmaster, keeping the honorees and dinner guests alike on the edge of their seats with colorful perspective and scintillating surprises.

For those who missed it, or wish to revisit a memorable evening, Nutmeg TV (Comcast channel 95, AT&T channel 99) filmed the proceedings for 7 p.m. airings on October 17, 21 and 27.

PHS athletic director John Zadnik kicked off the evening with the presentation of the Byron Treado Founders Award to recent graduates Tom Dinda and Chris Kuzia, both of whom were unable to attend because they were away at school.

Zadnik capably cut through the din of a crowd still settling in when he said, “I’d like to ask you for a moment of silence, please … for the Boston Red Sox.” The Yankee fans chuckled and the Sox fans hissed, but there was no doubt that Zadnik got their attention.

Jones, a lightning rod for criticism during his coaching tenure due to his fiery nature, explained how his antics were all part of the plan as he led up to the induction of the 1984 team. The season came to a head with the Devils playing Berlin for the championship before a huge crowd at Beehive Field.

“[The Berlin people] were all over me from the first pitch and I was loving it,” said Jones, his blistering rhetoric still very much a part of him nearly 30 years later.

“I wasn’t playing. That crowd could yell anything they wanted at me. They weren’t going to rattle me and my players that night would be able to do what they did best – above the pressure of any crowd and that was to play the Plainville way – hard, clean and aggressive, blue collar. …

“What a night! I won an Oscar and our program had secured back-to-back championships.”

Snyder played briefly for the Cleveland Indians and Red Sox after a brilliant career at the University of Hartford and an excellent minor league stint in the Mets system. But it was his time winning championships at PHS, with close friends and fellow Hall of Famers Biskupiak and Brian Edge by his side, that he said he cherishes the most.

Treado built up toward Sengle’s induction with a personal letter of congratulations that he secretly procured from Clinton himself.

Biskupiak kept the gathering in stitches with his Letterman-like list of secrets of success. His third rule to live by was, “Don’t wait until your junior year in high school to get braces. ... Do yourself a favor. You don’t want a metal-filled prom picture to surface on Facebook.”

PRAYING FOR PAT

Life's peaks and gulleys were never so vivid to me than over the last 48 hours.

Pat Neshek is a sidearming right-handed relief pitcher for the Oakland A’s who spent parts of three seasons with the New Britain Rock Cats.  He ranks among the most genuine people I’ve ever encountered in the 30 years I was around professional baseball.

Neshek was riding the crest of elation. 

After five big league seasons with the Minnesota Twins and San Diego Padres, he overcame the trauma of Tommy John (ligament replacement) surgery on his pitching arm and the ensuing rehabilitation.  He retraced his minor league steps and played an active role in his team’s improbable surge to the American League West title as an exceptional right-handed specialist, as his 1.37 ERA over a 24-game period would heartily attest.

On the personal side, he and his wife Stephanee were about to experience the birth of their first child.  Neshek’s love of baseball, not only as a player but as a fan, surfaced brightly in his naming the baby boy Gehrig.  Gehrig John Neshek was born Tuesday, the same day the A’s were beating the Texas Rangers to set up Wednesday’s one-game battle for the division championship.

“Thinking of the long nights in AAA, my TJ surgery & the days when I thought it was over makes this the sweetest playoff ‘birth’ of my career!” he tweeted.

Neshek, who was writing blogs and using computers to spread baseball’s gospel before it was fashionable, posted a photo of him holding Gehrig for his many Facebook friends to see.  I could feel the warmth pulsing throughout my torso, feeling the joie de vivre that radiated from his smile.

Before Pat and Steph could enjoy their view from the top of the world, the unthinkable happened.  Gehrig died on Wednesday without having experienced life for a full day.

I woke up Thursday morning to the following Facebook entry: “Please pray for my family. Tonight my wife & I lost our first & only son 23 hours after he was born with no explanation.”

Life is a perplexing phenomenon.  Everybody experiences problems, and when those problems are worked out, we’re worrying about new ones.

I thought about some of the ones I encountered in recent years, one is of a personal nature that only my family and dearest friends are aware.  In addition, there have been substantial professional setbacks that have tested my mettle and my faith.

I bitch about the economy and the corrupt and/or inept politicians who can’t turn it around.  My voice reaches a higher crescendo when I talk about the eroding effects of greed on the human race, and on my industry in particular.  I scream in the solitude of my Avalanche when some brain-dead idiot passes me on the right at 90 miles per hour.

Such petty injustices invade our minds on a daily basis.  Often we are stunned by a death in the family or stung by a severe injury to a loved one, but please take a moment to contemplate the torturous slide from the height of pure human joy to the depths of utter despair that Pat and his family have had to endure.

Am I a spiritual enough man that I can ask you all to pray for the Nesheks?  I hope so.  Prayer never hurts.

But as I do from time to time when tragedy intercedes, I feel so helpless to reach out and provide something to help them feel better in the hour that’s hurled them beyond their greatest nightmare.

I cried for joy when the Oakland A’s, a team I’ve rooted for since its days in Kansas City.  This morning, I cried out of desolation for a friend who touched my life with his kindness.  I wish there was something more I could do.

POLITICALLY CORRECT IDIOCY REACHES NEW LOW

Is there any foreseeable end to the politically correct rubbish that has permeated our society?

The latest is a local report that stopping or advancing a soccer ball can be deleterious to the health of our children. Wow, no wonder so many of these soccer kids are such a mess when they reach their teenage years. Perhaps we can trace road rage to this phenomenon.

Get this, politically correct idealists! If you look at anything close enough, you’ll find something ugly about it. Even the supple skin of a beautiful woman looks rough and scaly if you scan it under a microscope.

Before addressing the possibility of spawning a society of teenagers and young adults with fatal forehead contusions, let us understand how sports became such a vibrant part of American culture.

In the decades following the American Revolution, our nation was an agrarian-based society. As soon as youngsters could walk and think, they were engaged to help their families plant and harvest the crops and tend the farm animals.

The kids got plenty of exercise, although breathing in the fumes from horse manure may well have caused traumatic brain disorders.  Reading and witnessing politically correct horse manure surely does, but back to our history lesson.

With the advent of the Industrial Revolution in the 1800s, more and more Americans left the farm for 9-to-5 positions as bankers, manufacturing managers, lawyers, etc. They found that after a day’s work, they had leisure time.

Baseball, or some version of it, was being documented as part of life in New Britain midway through the 19^th century. As Americans recognized the merits of enjoying the great outdoors and the health benefits of physical activity, other popular sports evolved in the century’s latter stages.

What are sports but a microcosm of war. Man’s violent nature and unquenchable thirst for excitement ignited many a bloody conflict since his very arrival on the planet. Sports provided an outlet so men could exercise their masculinity without killing each other.

Think for a minute how sports have evolved? Baseball rapidly became our national pastime. Pastime translates as an amusement or hobby. If you still think it’s a pastime, you haven’t been following the coverage it gets on all the incessant talk shows that have turned it into a soap opera.

The other part of that evolution is the games themselves.

In the NFL, they have all but done away with the kickoff return. Quarterbacks are placed in glass cubicles so when 300-pound men are hurtling toward them at maximum speed, they are expected to stop or be penalized.

Friends, football is a violent sport. If you venture to strap on the helmet and affix the pads, you are acknowledging the concept that you may get hurt. If you don’t want to get hurt, nobody is forcing you to play. If $3 million a year isn’t enough to convince you to play, become a data analyst and play golf on your day off.

What if bullfighting had been an American tradition? What about buzkashi, the national sport of Afghanistan where participants attempt to advance a headless goat carcass.

Yes, football is violent, and soccer can be, too. I’ve covered hundreds of games and witnessed myriad injuries.

Hundreds of incidents leading to injury could arise during games. How many soccer players have sustained a knee to the lower midsection where the family jewels are stored? A player could step in a hole and break a leg. Heading a soccer ball could cause a brain injury. So could a meteorite falling from the sky.

And is this so vital that it needs to become front-page news? Between that, and media outlets eviscerating the political candidates of their choice for making the simple mistakes inherent to being human instead of highlighting their differences so voters can make educated choices, I’m beginning to recognize the value of cultural isolation.

For so many years, I referenced the quote by former Chief Justice Earl Warren in support of my calling as a sports reporter.

“I always turn to the sports pages first, which records people's accomplishments,” he said. “The front page has nothing but man’s failures.”

After reading some of the trash in today’s papers and the sensational revelations about athletes in the new media that have nothing to do with the games, I use another famous sports quote uttered by a mere child on the steps of a Chicago court house nearly 100 years ago.

“Say it ain’t so.”

SAFETIES, TURNOVERS CRAMP NB'S STYLE

Southington 32, New Britain 7

Southington (2-0)      7  0  25  0 – 32

New Britain (0-2)      0  7    0  0 –   7

SCORING SUMMARY

First Quarter

S – Stephen Barmore 19 run (Kyle Smick kick), 6:43

Second Quarter

NB – Malique Jones 1 run (Juan Usuga kick), 9:49

Third Quarter

S – Safety, Jones tackled in end zone, 8:55

S – Safety, Lamar Bowsky tackled in end zone, 7:39

S – Alex Jamele 42 pass from Barmore (Smick kick), 6:59

S – Zach Jamele 3 run (Smick kick), 3:45

S – Barmore 10 run (Smick kick), :46.5

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING – Southington: Jarrid Grimmett 15-34, Barmore 9-53, Z. Jamele 1-3, Preston Testa 2-(-6), Steven Hamel 1-7. NB: Bowsky 14-63, Jones 16-79, Dylan Krivickas 3-10, Bryan Gray 1-0, Marc Aponte 2-6.

PASSING – Southington: Barmore15-33-1, 211 yds.; NB: Jones 8-27-3, 83 yds.

RECEIVING – Southington: Anthony Bonefant 7-88, A. Jamele 3-89, Corbin Garry 3-21, Grimmett 2-13; NB: Gray 3-43, Kyle Anderson 2-23, Daequone Clark 2-13, Fitz Ingram 1-4.

NEW BRITAIN – The first half against arch-rival Southington left the New Britain High football team in an optimal position to win.

The defense kept the high-powered Blue Knights passing game in check. While the Hurricanes were rarely able to control the line of scrimmage, they left the field at halftime with the game tied.

An abomination of a third quarter separated the arch-rivals quickly.

Southington rode the momentum from two safeties in just over a minute to a 32-7 conquest in a CCC Division I West game that left some serious questions about where the season is headed.

In addition to the two safeties, the third quarter featured a steady parade of New Britain players, including top running back Lamar Bowsky, leaving the field with cramps. When a Southington touchdown followed the second safety to put the ’Canes in a 25-7 hole, the will to compete visibly ebbed from their play.

Head coach Tebucky Jones is not the excitable type, but the word “quit” bandied about his sideline is something he won’t endure.

“This stuff has got to be corrected,” he said. “If they can’t get it right, somebody else has got to come in and do it. It’s that simple. It’s all discipline – doing the job and trusting the guys next to you are going to do their job. Right now it doesn’t look like that.”

The Southington defense stuffed New Britain’s first possession of the second half and on fourth down, the center snap sailed over the head of punter/quarterback Malique Jones. Southington had the ball at the 13 but a holding penalty led to an interception in the end zone by Mikel Robinson.

An illegal block on the return put the ball at the New Britain 3. Two plays later, Malique Jones was ambushed in the end zone and Southington gained a 9-7 lead.

The New Britain defense, sparked by a second-down play by defensive end Jonathan Semidey, forced the Knights to punt. The referees ruled that Southington’s Corbin Garry downed the ball at the 1. Tebucky Jones said he saw Garry brush against the pylon, which would have been a touchback, but New Britain was once again in the shadow of its own goal post.

The defense swarmed over Bowsky as soon as he got the handoff just 1 minute, 16 seconds after the previous safety. It was all downhill from there.

“The punt unit is doing a good job getting down there,” Southington coach Mike Drury said. “Nate Bonefant did a great job punting. The defense hunkered down and really wanted it.”

Two plays after New Britain’s free kick, Southington’s stellar junior quarterback Stephen Barmore connected with Alex Jemele for a 42-yard touchdown.

Three plays after the ensuing kickoff, Garry picked off a tipped pass to put Barmore back in command at his 43. On third-and-12 from the 40, he hit Anthony Bonefant for 37 yards. Jarrid Grimmett ran for 20 to the 3 and Zach Jemele scored two plays later. Heads were down all along the home sideline.

“Once they get down, they don’t have that fight. That’s basically what it is,” Tebucky said. “To win games, you’ve got to learn that. Until they learn that, it will be like that the rest of the season. It’s in a person. If they don’t get it the JVs will get it. I’ll put them in the rest of the year.”

Southington took a 7-0 lead when Barmore raced 19 yards on a perfectly executed quarterback draw with 6:43 left in the first quarter.

New Britain began its lone scoring march when fullback Dylan Krivickas bulled for eight yards and Bowsky broke off a 28-yard gallop to the Knights’ 7. Malique Jones crossed the goal on a third-down quarterback sneak. Juan Usuga booted the extra point to tie the game two minutes into the second quarter.

When Southington went three and out, New Britain had the chance to take command of the game. Bursts by Bowsky and Malique went for first downs. A flare from Malique to Bryan Gray picked up another at the Southington 30. But a holding penalty bogged the drive down and Malique was intercepted by Tyler Hyde on third-and-14.

The game was marred by penalties. Southington was assessed 137 yards on 14 infractions. New Britain was found guilty on 12 for 113 yards. New Britain turned the ball over five times.

Cramping was as costly as it was painful for the host of players grasping their calves and hamstrings and writhing on the turf.

“We tell them every day to drink,” Tebucky said. “If you’re not [urinating] clear, you’re not hydrated. We give it to them here. This is two weeks in a row.”

New Britain seeks its first victory at home Friday against East Hartford.

NEW BRITAIN HIGH FOOTBALL PREVIEW

The New Britain High football program has never been at a loss for talent at the skill positions.

The list of former Hurricanes with flashing feet, soft hands and gridiron intuition is lengthy and impressive. The challenge for coaches over the years has been aligning enough tough kids with big bodies dedicated to winning the line of scrimmage.

Standing atop the list of skilled players whose hearts are enveloped in a sheath of maroon and gold is Tebucky Jones. Jones ran roughshod over the competition during his scholastic years, earned a scholarship to play at Syracuse and made a transition from offense to defense brilliant enough to play for pay on Sundays for seven seasons.

Now in his second year of giving back, resurrecting the program from a gradual deterioration that resulted in the Disaster of 2010, Jones has an ample mix of veterans and youngsters preparing for the next step forward.

“We have more older kids and more younger kids than we had last year,” he said. “The biggest thing is we’re farther ahead than last year.”

Jones said a bountiful sophomore class will be getting a lot of playing time and the junior class is thin, but he does have a senior core that helped the Hurricanes recover from the 1-9 mess in 2010 to post a 6-4 mark last fall.

Jones’ son Malique will again lead the offense from his quarterback slot. Tailback Lamar Bowsky has been logging varsity time since he was a freshman. Young Jones has a talented receiving corps in Fitz Ingram, Daequone Clark, Juan Usuga, Waterbury transfer Brian Gray, former backup quarterback Marc Colon and tight end Cam Lytton.

Tebucky said Malique prepared diligently for his senior campaign, but Tebucky leaves the offensive decisions to assistant and former Hurricane teammate Arnie Delio. One of the strengths of Tebucky’s regime has been to stow egos at the door and relegate specific duty to those most equipped to handle it.
“[Malique] worked out, trained and threw more,” Tebucky said, “but I don’t coach him. I don’t deal with offense. Arnold and the others put together the game plan.”

Bowsky generally was the second choice to run the football behind DeVante Gardner last year.“Hit him high and he’ll run over you,” Tebucky said. “He’s a strong kid.”

Dylan Krivickas will fill the fullback role when the offensive set dictates.

When it comes to the trenches, New Britain has long relied on the gritty and the rugged rather than the biggest and strongest. Linebacker Geovanni Medina is the perfect example. Medina, perhaps the best wrestler to ever come out of New Britain with a season remaining, makes up for his 5’9, 150-pound stature with intelligence, maturity, leadership and toughness. He’s the heart and soul of the defense and a leading candidate for postseason recognition.

“He’s a rah-rah guy,” Tebucky said. “No nonsense. He’s not that big but he’ll come up and hit you in the mouth. Everybody gets amped up when they see that. Pound-for-pound, he’s the toughest.”
Krivickas and Ben Fischbein line up alongside Medina.

Defensive end Jonathan Semidey is somewhat bigger than Medina at 6’2, 190 pounds, but his ability to impact a game doesn’t come from overwhelming size.

“He’s my motor man,” said Tebucky, who primarily remembers his players through the nicknames they earn. “He’s non-stop. He just goes and goes and goes.”

Lytton and sophomore Alex Swaby join Semidey up front. Twins Josh and Luis Rivera will also see time.
Tebucky’s method for arranging his defense takes the pressure off the individual players and applies it to their technical ability to interpret and execute it as a team.

“It’s all in the scheme,” he said. “We were the smallest team against everyone, but they really couldn’t run with us. It took time for us to start believing. [In 2010] we lost by an average of almost 30 points. Even last year, we could have been 9-1 if it wasn’t for some little things here and there.

“When I was playing (1990-92), we didn’t have size. The linemen had that quickness. It’s all in the heart. A lot of big kids are what I call ‘pudding pops.’ I don’t want soft, I want tough.”

The Hurricane linemen leave the custard in the cupboard. Senior center Michal Filipkowski brings toughness and experience to a key position.

“He’s been starting for three years. He’s the brains of the offensive line,” Tebucky said.

The Rivera brothers will flank him. So will senior Tyler Ounthongdy.

“The main advantage the other teams have is height, but we can get underneath them,” Tebucky said. “You have to have leverage playing the line.”

The ’Canes have no shortage of athleticism in the secondary.

Marcus Torres, the quarterback for the undefeated freshman team last year, will be a cornerback and deep man on kick returns. Mike Robinson possesses all the skills that defensive backs require, including a great vertical leap. Gray and Ashon Anderson is also in the mix.

The quarterbacks of the future currently stack up as junior Toby Taradeina and freshman C.J. Gaskin.

The ’Canes open on the road against Glastonbury (Friday, 6:30 p.m.) before hosting Southington (Sept. 21, 7 p.m.) in the home opener at Veterans Stadium.

NEW BRITAIN
Coach: Tebucky Jones (2nd year, 6-4)
Last Year: 6-4, 2-2 CCC Div. I West (tied for 3rd); ranked 16th in Class LL
Key Losses: DeVante Gardner, Larry Garcia, Kyree Largent, Garrett Shaw, Giovanni Viven, Lamont Priest, Jared Boddie, Mason Whistnant, Jose Gonzalez, Brandon Baskerville, Jose Palma, Axel Rosado
Key Returnees: Malique Jones (sr. QB), Daequone Clark (sr. WR/DB), Lamar Bowsky (sr. RB), Fitz Ingram (sr. WR/DB), Geovanni Medina (sr. LB), Michal Filipkowski (sr. OL/DL), Brian Gray (sr. WR/DB), Ben Fischbein (sr. LB), Juan Usuga (sr. WR/DB), Jonathan Semidey (sr. DE), Tyler Ounthongdy (sr. OL), Josh Rivera (jr. OL/DL), Luis Rivera (jr. C/DL), Cameron Lytton (jr. DE/TE), Mike Robinson (jr. CB), Dylan Krivickas (jr. FB/ILB), Toby Taradeina (jr. QB), Marcus Torres (so. CB/KR), Ashon Anderson (so. S), Alex Swaby (so. DE), C.J. Gaskin (fr. QB)
Of Note: NBHS football began in 1892, making this season No. 121. … Since the implementation of the CIAC playoffs in 1976, NB has won four titles – 1992, 2001, 2003, 2004. Coach Jones played for the 1992 team that clubbed Greenwich in the ‘LL’ final before moving on to Syracuse University and the NFL. … NB played in the Tri-Angular League with Hartford Public and Hillhouse from 1915-54 and then the Capital District Conference through 1983 before the formation of the Central Connecticut Conference the following year.