Cromwell/Portland keeps its undefeated season alive
Wins matchup of unbeaten teams against Valley Regional/Old Lyme
CROMWELL — In Cole Brisson’s first varsity start his freshman year, he played against Valley Regional/Old Lyme.
The game was memorable for him, but not in a good way.
“I threw five picks and got shut out,” said Brisson, Cromwell/Portland’s senior quarterback. “I was bawling after the game.”
Friday night, it was Senior Night for Cromwell/ Portland, which has come a long way from that 2019 season when the Panthers went 2-8.
The opponent was once again Valley Regional/Old Lyme, which came into the game undefeated. Cromwell, last year’s Class S champion, had a 20-game win streak on the line. Brisson did not want to lose on Senior Night.
“Last year, I didn’t play that good against them,” Brisson said. “I had to get my redemption.”
That redemption came in the form of a teammate’s deflection in the end zone to prevent a two-point conversion by Valley Regional in the last 1:08 of the game, a couple of onside kicks that Cromwell recovered that kept its offense on the field for much of the second half and two Brisson secondhalf touchdown passes.
And Cromwell (7-0) kept its win streak alive with a 28-27 win over Valley (5-1) in a Pequot Sassacus football game in front of a big Senior Night crowd at Pierson Park Friday night.
“It was definitely the best game I’ve ever been a part of,” Brisson said. “It was a great win for my senior night.”
Brisson completed 11 of 18 passes for 105 yards and two touchdowns, both in the third quarter. Cromwell trailed 21-7 in the second quarter and 21-14 at halftime but Brisson’s 4-yard pass to Alex McKiernan in the end zone and a subsequent Allen Cohen extra point tied the score and another Brisson touchdown pass, this time a 20-yarder to Machi Campbell (and the extra point) gave the Panthers a 28-21 lead with 1:10 left in the third.
Cromwell kept its offense on the field for most of the third quarter after recovering the two onside kicks, and managed to eat up the clock in the fourth.
“You got to give it up to the [offensive] line, they were just amazing,” Brisson said. “Running backs Emeka [Yearwood] and Alex McKiernan, they were getting busy out there. I got to thank them.”
Cromwell held onto the ball until Valley recovered a Panthers fumble with 2:53 left. DiAngelo Jean-Pierre marched Valley down the field and completed a 33-yard touchdown pass with 1:08 left.
But another Cromwell senior, Johnny Beltre, broke up Jean-Pierre’s conversion pass in the end zone and Cromwell ran out the clock for the win.
“We have a lot of trust in [Beltre] and for him to make that play, it was amazing,” Brisson said.
“I’m happy for those guys,” Cromwell coach Randell Bennett said. “I’m happy for [seniors] Ryan Rozich, Ben Fagan, Cole Brisson — those guys were here as freshmen and they had to take their lumps. To now be here on the top is awesome.”
Bennett remembered the 2019 season, too, and how Brisson struggled at first.
“I remember it very clear,” he said, laughing. “I used to tell him, you can’t just throw it up, you can’t do stuff like that. And now he doesn’t take advantage of the new rule of throwing the ball away, which kind of makes me crazy when he’s running out there.
“But he’s just a general out there, he leads them. I’ll call a play and he’ll be like, ‘I’m going to run this’ and I’m like, ‘All right,’ and then it works and I’m like, ‘Yeah, man, that’s Cole Brisson right there.’ We’re going to miss him next year.”