By Michael Letendre
BRISTOL – Usually after the annual Battle for the Bell game, Bristol Central head coach Jeff Papazian talks about how well his team performed on Thanksgiving, heaps praise on his senior class, and reflects about the season that was.
Well, all that chatter was postponed this year because the Rams went home to eat turkey…and then prepare for some more football after the completion of the holiday.
That’s what happens when your football squad goes 9-1 in regular season play and has the best athlete in the state on the team.
The Rams are in the Class L state tournament mix and on Tuesday evening, the sixth ranked Rams take their shot at No. 3 Maloney (6:30 p.m. from Falcon Field in Meriden) in quarterfinal round action.
And for Papazian, he’s extremely proud to bring the team into the playoffs as the head coach of the Bristol Central football program.
“We try to enjoy this right now but you think years back, you’ve had people [saying] ‘don’t take the job [at Bristol Central]. It’s career-killer. Go be an assistant somewhere else,’” said Papazian. “I’ve been fortunate [because] we’ve had good kids all along. We’ve had really good kids that want to become good players and buy in.”
“And this is where we’re finally able to play after Thanksgiving.”
Maloney is Legit
The Bristol Central football team has won nine straight games and all the momentum in the world going into the contest against a Spartans squad that’s playing with more than a little inspiration due to the death of former player Jaylon Nixon.
Nixon, who played for the squad in 2019 and was attending Southern Connecticut, died in a traffic accident last June.
Maloney is also at 9-1, carrying a nine-game winning streak off its 41-7 blitzing of Platt at the Stoddard Bowl on Thanksgiving.
After Maloney’s 13-7 loss to Southington to open the season, it’s been all Spartans since.
Maloney quarterback Angel Arce threw for 102 yards in Maloney’s 21-14 win over Simsbury to start the streak while tossing the game-winning TD to Josiah Gonzalez in the Spartans’ 21-14 victory over Simsbury the following week.
On October 1, Maloney spun East Hartford by a 28-21 final, defeated Berlin, 28-13 on October 8 behind 230 yards and three touchdowns by running back Josh Boganski, and then in a bit of a statement game, Arce chucked the ball for 230 yards on 15-of-18 passes to sink Xavier, 42-13.
To end October, Maloney blitzed hapless New Britain (42-6), opened November with a 49-18 triumph over undefeated Hall and then watched Boganski run for 210 yards in a 48-28 thrashing of Glastonbury.
And then against Platt, Maloney took the victory – earning the third seed in the Class L field.
Arce is legit, tossing 104-of-179 passes this season for 1,534 yards and 18 touchdowns to only five interceptions.
The signal caller has compiled over 300-plus yards with four different receivers that included seniors Ian Graham (33 catches, 462 yards, 4 TD’s) and Austin Studley (19-419-6) along with junior Tylee Flowers Jr. (17-323-5).
But the QB isn’t much of a rushing threat.
However, don’t forget about Boganski – a talented junior who has amassed 1,305 yards on 200 carries, good for 12 touchdowns.
Running mate Kevin McMillian (55 carries, 267 yards, 10 TDs) isn’t a bad option either in Maloney’s rushing schemes.
Don’t count Central out
Central has been playing an excellent brand of football and once the defense figured things out, this team proved it was ready for a deep postseason run.
The Rams have weapons in the backfield that can deal with Arce’s outstanding arm.
That tremendous defensive unit from Central, allowing just 36 total points over the past four games, includes Ashton Zabka, Damion Glasper, Justin Despins, Zach Vanasse, Anthony Paulino, and that Victor Rosa guy.
And the defensive line, headlined by Dan Lauretti and Malachi Jones, will be looking to stop any ground attack.
Speaking of Rosa, the senior goes into the contest with nearly 2,600 rushing yards to his name in 2021 which includes 39 touchdowns.
He makes over 50-percent of his passes (45-of-88, 749 yards, 8 TDs) and – once again – is a north, south, east, and west rusher.
That unpredictable offensive could easily overwhelm Maloney’s staunch defense.
Central’s only kicked two extra points all season so expect to see the Rams score in bunches of eight on Tuesday evening.
Tre Blair (38 carries, 342 yards, TD), Despins (43 carries, 202 yards, 2 TDs), and Glasper (19-143) make up Central’s other rushing options.
It’s a very good offensive group with excellent blocking up front.
Throwing a couple balls to Zabka (4 catches, 57 yards, TD), Blair (15-297-3), and Glasper (24-361-3) makes Central an extremely powerful unit.
If Maloney wants to chuck up points on the scoreboard, Central has the ability to match that offense.
These teams aren’t strangers in the least
It’s a weird match-up of teams that used to compete against each other on a yearly basis.
The teams actually scrimmaged one another in the preseason this year and last played against one another back on September 20, 2019.
In that bout, Central fell to Maloney, 41-14, as the Spartans leads the all-time series, 31-26-3.
But that’s all in the past with the 2021 postseason on tap.
Central had its ducks in a row from early on and even after the disappointment of the season that wasn’t due to the pandemic in 2020, the Rams had a plan.
And now, that plan is in motion with no ending in sight…at least for a couple more games.
“I talked about it with these guys in January when last season was officially cancelled,” said Papazian about the postseason. “I said our goal, and people are going to think we’re crazy, [but] we’re playing after Thanksgiving this year. From that day, they bought in. They got everyone else to buy in and here we are.”
And here we are indeed, on the cusp of Central’s first state tournament game in football since 1987.
The winner of this contest battles the victor of No. 2 Naugatuck (9-1) and No. 7 Masuk (8-2) on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. from the site of the higher seed.