Some perspective on Middletown vs. Hand

Does any one person believe this 2019 edition of the Middletown High football team can beat twotime defending Class L champion Daniel Hand on Friday night?

Probably not, but it’s the wrong question to be asking, anyway.

For a dose of perspective, the Blue Dragons haven’t been this young in years. The number of seniors on coach Sal Morello’s 53orsoman roster is smaller than what’s available in the junior (19) and sophomore (18) classes.

Fans, of course, have been spoiled by Middletown’s success of the last seven years — ninewin seasons have been the standard and so has a berth in the state playoffs.

The current Blue Dragons are nothing like their predecessors. Senior Chris Danas is a firstyear starting quarterback. The backfield is made up of sophomores who are just getting their feet wet. The offensive line is more inexperienced than experienced and the defense largely consists of firstyear starters.

Meanwhile, Hand is cruising along on a 25game winning streak. The Tigers’ FBScaliber quarterback, Phoenix Billings, also is a star shortstop who gave UConn an oral commitment last year. Their featured running back, senior Colin McCabe, just went for 324 yards in a blowout win over

Notre Dame of West Haven.

Friday’s game at the Surf Club in Madison, then, will be about perspective, and not what the scoreboard will say. Fans and parents need to keep whatever the outcome will be in context.

“We have to really prepare and play a smart, disciplined football game,” Morello said after Friday’s seasonopening 357 win over Bristol Eastern. “The message will be ‘keep competing, just keep competing.’ We’ve been saying that for four weeks. It will be the message this week as well.”

Some takeaways from Middletown’s first win:

** The defense was aggressive from the getgo. The Dragons converged on the ball. Lots of three and fourman tackles from coordinator Josh Rosek’s unit, and few obvious mistakes. Lancers quarterback Bryce Curtin was sacked three times. Eastern had only three plays in the first half that went for at least 10 yards, and it averaged just three yards in 65 offensive plays.

“The defense, we knew (the performance) was coming,” senior lineman and cocaptain Eric Alicea said. “We said, ‘Let’s do it for each other. We’re a brotherhood. We did it for each other. We locked them out.”

Special teams: Kristian Glemaud blocked a punt and returned it for a touch

down. The score set off a wild celebration — Glemaud was so jacked, he spiked the ball in the end zone, but somehow did not get flagged for it — and gave the Dragons a 210 lead just before the half.

** Composure: It’s a trait not usually associated with young team, but as Morello said, his players did not get too high or too low for 48 minutes, regardless of the situation. No foolish penalties, no compounding of mistakes. This hasn’t been the case in recent seasons. Encouraging.

Danas: He played very well, throwing underneath the Lancers’ defense often and finishing 17 of 27 for 163 yards, two TDs and no interceptions. The touch on his longer throws will come.

BLUE DEVILS WIN OPENER

Junior quarterback Aaron Faiella threw for 228 yards and four touchdowns as Coginchaug’s coop team beat Old Saybrook/Westbrook 4120 on Saturday.

Receiver Jackson Moore had three touchdown catches and Tyler Garretson had one as the Blue Devils, who coop with HaleRay and East Hampton, beat the Rams for the first time in four tries.

The Devils fell behind 70 after fumbling a punt, but once the offense settled in, it produced 41 unanswered points. Faiella got great blocking up front and threw with more accuracy as the

game wore on.

“Aaron has all the makings of a great quarterback,” coach Erik Becker said. “He’s smart, he’s poised, he’s growing in his confidence, he knows the game very well. Once he settled down, he made great throws and made great decisions. He keeps the ball safe, which is the most important thing. That’s what I expect of him.

“I have no doubt that he’s going to be an exceptional quarterback, and that’s a testament to his hard work. He will maximize his talent. That’s what great players do.”

CHECK OF THE SCHOOLS

** Xavier led 2716 late in its opener at Norwich Free Academy before the Wildcats rallied with their passing game for a 3727 win. “We contained the fourwide set pretty well, but I didn’t feel safe with the 11point lead,” Falcons coach Andy Guyon said, according to the Norwich Bulletin. “NFA is a quickstrike team. They did it to us with a late comeback at our place two years ago. We have to learn how to finish games.”

Ryan Miner had a picksix for the Falcons and quarterback Drew Kron, in his first varsity start, threw for a touchdown.

** It’s unclear whether Cromwell/Portland junior quarterback Cam Latronica will be able to play Friday

night in the team’s home opener. Latronica suffered a left leg injury on the Panthers’ very first play against HK, a game the Panthers lost 30.

** By the way, WCNXRadio.com will broadcast Friday’s CromwellValley Regional/Old Lyme game from Pierson Park in Cromwell. Kickoff is 6 p.m. It’s a battle of big Pequot rivals and 10 teams — Valley opened with a 236 home win over Morgan.

** Alex Sotomayor scored three goals and Brendan Montano had two in Xavier’s seasonopening 80 soccer win over Norwich Free Academy.

** Mercy scored twice in the second half to win its opener, 31 over Lauralton Hall. Katie Menard, Lindsay Stevenson and Kaila Lujambio scored for the Tigers and Jacqueline Egidio (two) and Christian Beaulieu had the assists.

** I keep hearing good things about the Portland girls soccer team’s outlook in the Shoreline Conference. The Highlanders opened the season with a 30 win over Old Saybrook. Kendall Prince, Kelly Talerico and Allison Scott scored as the team totaled 23 shots on goal.

** In HK’s swim meet against Suffield, Nina Lamb and Erin Marica posted state meetqualifying times in their events — Lamb in the 200 IM (2:36.99) and 100 breaststroke (1:18.80) and Marica in the 200 freestyle (2:15.81).

** Old Saybrook/Westbrook senior Cooper Pavlovich’s versatility was on full display Saturday against Coginchaug’s coop team. A cocaptain, offense lineman and linebacker, he also punted, kicked off and had a PAT. All in an afternoon’s work.

** Week 1 football scores that caught my eye: Newington 30, Windsor 22; Shelton 21, West Haven 13; Cromwell/Portland 3, HK 0; Granby/Canton 27, Stafford/ East Windsor Somers 26.

** Maloney and Wethersfield won their openers, but five future CCC opponents for Middletown lost: East Hartford, E.O. Smith, RHAM, Farmington and Hartford Public.

THIS AND THAT

** Middletown’s Tyshaun James scored the first touchdown, a sevenyard reception, in Central Connecticut’s 4213 rout over host Valparaiso. James had four catches and led the Blue Devils in receiving yards with 75. He has three TDs in Central’s 30 start.

** In Wesleyan’s season opener, Middletown’s Dario Highsmith carried the ball twice for 17 yards as the Cardinals rolled to a 3013 victory over Colby. The 6foot, 215pound senior is listed as a receiver on the roster but did not have a catch in Saturday’s game.

** This column has much respect for Joey Logano — and not just for being a NASCAR Series champion. Last week, Logano talked to The Athletic openly about having Alopecia Areata, an autoimmune skin disease that causes hair loss in otherwise healthy people. Logano is fine, but he wanted to be up front about it and raise awareness about the disease, which affects 6.8 million Americans.

** Patriots 43, Dolphins 0. It would be stunning if Miami wins one game this season. What an embarrassment to the NFL.

** The Giants? The Bills were two touchdowns better than them Sunday. Enough said.

** If the Jets don’t beat the Browns on Monday Night Football, they could be looking at an 07 start. Their next five after MNF: at Patriots, at Eagles, home vs. Cowboys, home vs. Patriots, at Jaguars, before they get the Dolphins on Nov. 3.

** Take this to the bank: Brad Pitt will get an Oscar nomination for his supporting turn as Cliff Booth in “Once Upon a Time … In Hollywood.” He was the essence of Man Cool.

** Finally, Friday the 13th happened to be the 50th anniversary of the debut of ScoobyDoo on CBS. On the same day, actress Felicity Huffman was sentenced to 14 days in custody for her role in the college admissions scandal. To understand the very weird timing of these two events, Google “Felicity Huffman” and “Ruh Ro!”