Sports
Rocky Hill Football Used Loss To Regroup And Earn Playoff Spot
Terriers host Hyde Leadership Howling Wolves at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday night.
In just its second game of the season Rocky Hill's football team traveled to Berlin and gave the host Redcoats all they could handle. After Berlin took control early in the game, Rocky Hill, led by sensational running back Chris Young, stormed back and was on the brink of taking the lead late in the game. A fumble, however, ended the Terriers chances and they fell to Berlin 25-14.
After the game, Rocky Hill head coach Dave Coyne, urged his players to condition harder and put more effort into practice. During the key moments of the Berlin game, some key Rocky Hill players were on the sidelines with cramps.
Find out what's happening in Rocky Hillwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
"We need to get in better condition," Coyne said to his team in their huddle after the game.
"You guys have to stop fooling around and believe in us and if you do that we'll be in really good shape. If you don't, we're going to have a tough season," one of the assistant coaches said to the players.
Find out what's happening in Rocky Hillwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Coyne saw the good in his team despite the defeat.
"We ran our offense a little differently in the second half and we were able to get Chris Young into the open a few times," Coyne said. "The line did a great job and we know what he can do if he gets in the open. I think we would have gone ahead too if we didn't fumble the ball. It was a good comeback.
"The kids played well. They (Berlin) are a very good team. We had four starters over on the sidelines in the fourth quarter with cramps and injuries. You're not going to beat a team like Berlin missing four starters."
It's safe to say the team bought in.
With its 21-14 victory over Northwest Catholic Thursday morning, Rocky Hill's football team captured a home state playoff game, likely on Tuesday night at 6 p.m.
Rocky Hill finished the season 9-1 and has won eight straight games. In seven of those games, the Terriers have scored at least 40 points.
Ansonia, 10-0, is the number one seed, followed by Capital Prep/Classical/Achievement 10-0, North Branford 10-0 with Rocky Hill fourth at 9-1.
Hyde Leadership is seeded fifth at 9-1 followed by Trinity Catholic 8-2, Woodland 7-2 and Prince Tech 8-2.
Rocky Hill owns wins over Rockville, East Catholic, Platt, Plainville, Bloomfield, Weaver, Bristol Central, Tolland and Northwest Catholic. The only loss came at the hands of Berlin in week two.
Hyde Leadership plays in the Pequot Conference. Hyde has wins over Haddam-Killingworth, Morgan, Coginchaug, Cromwell, Valley Regional/Old Lyme, Lewis Mills, Old Saybrook/Westbrook, East Hampton/Vinal Tech and Nonnewaug. The lone loss was to unbeaten North Branford.
The Rocky Hill Football Roster
1 Andrew Jenkelunas QB/S 11 5-11 165
2 Dylan Mitney TE/DE 9 5-8 130
5 Ryan Lafrancis RB/S 10 6-0 170
6 Glenn Colby WR 9 5-6 120
7 Ryan Lombardo QB/S 9 5-7 135
9 Harris Afzal WR 9 5-6 130
10 Josh Gardner WR/DB 12 5-11 165
11 Austin Porter QB/S 11 5-8 140
12 Troy Syme QB/S 12 6-1 185
14 Tyler Dunn TE/DE 9 6-2 150
21 Shane Steinman RB/CB 12 5-8 160
22 Chris Stoneburner WR/S 12 6-0 190
23 Jason Carducci RB 9 5-6 135
24 Joey Matero RB/CB 9 5-6 130
25 Tyler Costa RB/CB 9 5-6 150
26 Matthew Molloy WR/CB 9 5-5 120
28 Kevin Casasanta RB/CB 12 5-8 160
29 Chris Young RB/LB 11 5-9 185
30 Nick Carducci G/LB 11 5-11 160
31 Patrick Sullivan RB/LB 9 5-10 170
32 Greg Marzilli RB/LB 11 5-8 160
33 Alex DeNardo RB/LB 12 5-10 180
36 Dave Sevigny RB/CB 10 5-10 160
41 Ryan Schulenburg WR/CB 11 5-9 135
44 Ryan Joyce FB/LB 12 6-0 210
50 Jacob Latorra G/LB 10 6-0 180
52 Kenshaun Gamble G/NG 11 5-7 215
54 John LaTorra FB/LB 12 5-8 165
55 Brandon Grover G/LB 11 6-0 180
58 Alek Kocaqi C/LB 10 5-10 185
61 Josh Zawisa OG/DT 11 6-1 255
63 Matthew Callahan G 9 5-8 175
65 Mitchell Aurelli C 9 5-7 170
66 Tyler Landry T/DE 11 6-3 230
67 Chris Rogowski G/DE 11 5-9 210
68 Mikail Naska G/NG 12 5-8 150
71 Santiago Santana T/DE 9 5-8 190
72 Sam Sutera G/LB 9 5-9 165
73 Matt Gioia G/DE 10 5-10 200
74 Robert DeNovellis G/T 12 5-11 200
75 Jameson O'Connell G/DE 11 6-0 190
79 Joseph Colon T 9 5-9 200
80 Alex Fiducia TE/T 12 6-2 200
82 Brian Tassavor RB/LB 9 5-8 135
88 Thomas Seaver TE/DE 11 6-1 185
90 Najee Moon T/NG 12 5-10 215
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.