Week 4: Berlin-Bloomfield, Ellington-SMSA football matchups on tap
After a number of dramatic Alliance games last week, things settle back into conference mode in Week 4 of Connecticut high school football.
Locally, two unbeaten teams, Ellington and SMSA, will face off in a Pequot Uncas game Friday night, while emotionally-charged Bloomfield, reeling from the death of a beloved assistant coach, will take on Berlin.
Here are some of this weekend’s top games:
Berlin (3-0) at Bloomfield (2-1), Friday, 7 p.m.
This was already a big game on the calendar for both teams but now it takes on extra emotional meaning for Bloomfield after the Warhawks’ assistant coach Kevin Moses passed away Monday of colon cancer. Bloomfield also suffered a painful loss last Friday to Killingly and will be fired up for the Redcoats in this CCC Tier III game. Senior RB Josh Clement is averaging 78 yards per game for Berlin and leading the team in rushing TDs (four) while quarterback Lorenzo Miele has four touchdown passes. Berlin beat Fitch 29-23 last week.
Hall (0-3) at Maloney (3-0), Friday, 6:30 p.m. at Falcon Field, Meriden
OK, Hall is 0-3 but the losses came to Fairfield Ludlowe, Southington and Ridgefield by two points last week. Maloney, fresh off its milestone 21-9 Alliance win over Darien, is not looking past Hall. “They could be 3-0 easily,” Maloney coach Kevin Frederick said. “They put up points against Southington, they were in the game against Ridgefield. Same thing with Fairfield Ludlowe. A couple things go here and there, they could be 2-1, 3-0, who knows.”
SMSA (3-0) at Ellington (3-0) Friday, 6:30 p.m.
A battle of unbeatens in the Pequot Uncas conference. SMSA started off strong with a 21-14 win over Granby and then followed that up with a 7-6 victory over Rockville the following week. Quarterback Daniel Hernandez is averaging 155 yards a game rushing for SMSA. For Ellington, quarterback Dante Mangiafico has thrown four touchdown passes and his favorite receiver is Elijah Miller, who is averaging 100 receiving yards per game.
Northwest United (2-0) at Cheney Tech (3-0), 6 p.m.
Cheney Tech’s defense has only allowed 14 points in three games, over Platt Tech, VG Tech and Prince Tech and will take on unbeaten Northwest United. Kevin Briley leads Cheney Tech in rushing (136 yards per game) and had four touchdowns. Quarterback Ben Roden has four touchdowns for Northwest United, a co-op between Wolcott Tech, Litchfield, Nonnewaug, Shepaug Valley and Wamogo.
Lori Riley can be reached at lriley@courant.com.
