CLASS LL SEMIFINALS
NO. 4 SIMSBURY AT NO. 1 NEWTOWN
WHEN/WHERE — 6:30 p.m., Monday/Blue and Gold Stadium, Newtown
TICKETS — Adults $10, Students/Senior Citizen $5
ON THE AIR/WEB — NFHS Network (Subscription required)
RECORD — Simsbury 10-1, Newtown 11-0
PLAYOFF HISTORY/LAST APPEARANCES — Simsbury (1-4): won the 2019 Class LL quarterfinals over Cheshire, 17-14. Newtown (7-14): won the 2019 2019 Class LL quarterfinals over NFA, 35-0.
PLAYERS TO WATCH — Simsbury: Sr. LB/OL Tommy Guilfoyle; Jr. QB/DB Aidan Boeshans; Sr. WR/DB Zach Gilbert. Newtown: Sr. RB Miles Ricks, Sr. QB Brendan Lombardo; Jr. QB Jack Street; Sr. FB/LB Jared Dunn; Sr. WR/DB Riley Ward; Sr. OL/DL James Knox (6-4, 245)
STORYLINES — Though there weren’t many quarterfinal upsets across the state, one that stood out was Simsbury coming back to beat Cheshire after trailing by 14 points. It was the program’s first postseason win, after losing its first four state playoff games. Simsbury has been in the semifinals two times before, in 2008 and 2009. The Trojans have also made the Class L title game twice, in 1994 and 1995. Sophomore John Mairano scored on two runs (5 and 8 yards) in the second quarter for the Trojans in the quarterfinals, while Zach Gilbert intercepted a pass in the last two minutes to seal the Trojans win. Newtown won its quarterfinal with ease and is looking for its first trip to a state championship game since 1992, when the Nighthawks beat Windham 18-0 in the Class MM title game. Newtown has reached the semifinals four times since 2011. On Wednesday, James Knox led the Nighthawks’ defense, which sacked an NFA quarterback 10 times and allowed just two first downs.
FORNO’S PICK — Newtown
SPB’S PICK — Newtown
PETE’S PICK — Newtown
NO. 3 DARIEN AT NO. 2 SOUTHINGTON
WHEN/WHERE — 6:30 p.m., Monday / Fontana Field, Southington
TICKETS — Adults $10, Students/Senior Citizen $5
ON THE AIR/WEB — NFHS Network (Subscription required)
RECORDS — Darien 10-1, Southington 10-1
PLAYOFF HISTORY/LAST APPEARANCES — Darien (23-10): won the 2019 quarterfinals over Greenwich, 26-16. Southington (13-10): won the 2019 quarterfinals over Ridgefield, 13-9.
PLAYERS TO WATCH — Darien: Sr. WR/DB Jackson Peters; Sr. QB Peter Graham; Sr. LB Sam Wilson; Sr. RB Will Kirby. Southington: Jr. QB Brady Lafferty; Sr. RB/DB Dillon Kohl; Sr. WR/DB Carter Uhlman; Sr. LB Billy Carr; Jr. OL/DL Ryan Andrews (6-2, 300).
STORYLINES — Ding, ding, ding, Round 2 is about to begin. The previous meeting between the two teams was a close game despite the final score, a 24-8 Darien win. Connor O’Malley took an interception back for a touchdown with 14 seconds left in the Week 2 matchup. The first meeting was a defensive struggle where both defenses played strong. Michael Minicus caught three touchdown passes in Darien’s win. Southington has allowed just 11 points per game and Darien has allowed just 9.8. Led by Sam Wilson, the Blue Wave have 41 sacks and 15 interceptions, while the Billy Carr-led Blue Knights’ defense has 38 sacks and five interceptions. Overall this is the third time the teams are meeting in the playoffs since 2015 and the third time in the semifinals. Behind 122 rushing yards and a touchdown by Dillon Kohl and a strong defensive effort, the Blue Knights were able to defeat Ridgefield. For Darien, though the Blue Wave led for the entire game against Greenwich, the game felt like at any moment Greenwich was going to break free. Enter Wilson, who decided to not let that happen by taking an interception back for a score and then taking a handoff 71 yards to ice the game for the Blue Wave over a 62-second span in the final minutes. FORNO’S PICK — Southington
SPB’S PICK — Darien
PETE’S PICK — Southington