By Michael Letendre
BRISTOL – It’s been about fifteen years but this coming Thursday, the Bristol Central and New Britain High School football programs will once again clash on the gridiron in a big CCC bout.
And don’t expect to see any 79-6 scores (when Central and New Britain were normal CCC South rivals before the CCC schedule was revamped).
The Hurricanes have been playing a better brand of football as of late – winning three of its past four contests (the loss was a 26-25 setback at East Hartford on October 21) – while the Rams are looking to break a bit of a losing streak.
New Britain is currently 11th in the Class LL standings and hanging around the bottom of the playoff rankings. The top eight programs in all divisions qualify for the states.
It’s going to be tough for New Britain to sneak into the postseason, but a Central win would knock the Hurricanes out of the playoff picture entirely.
That situation should give the locals some added motivation to knock off hard hittin’ New Britain.
Here’s the deal between the programs:
Bristol Central (1-7) vs. New Britain (4-4) – CCC Tier II Showdown
Time: Thursday,5:00 p.m. (from the Bristol Central High School Turf Field)
The Series: It’s the 25th all-time showdown between the two programs. The Hurricanes lead the series 13-10-1.
Last Week: New Britain defeated Manchester 53-36, scoring a season high in points, while Central dropped a tough 28-7 decision at Wethersfield.
Last New Britain/Central showdown: Has it been that long since the two programs locked horns? A certain infamous New Britain coach helped break up the traditional CCC South football line-up as yearly battles were dropped between the Bristol schools and New Britain. The last clash between the two programs came back on September 14, 2007 – a contest won by the Hurricanes over a 41-30 tilt from Veterans Stadium in New Britain. Central went 2-8 overall that season.
Fast Facts: Central is looking to win its final two contests of the season and why not knock off a couple of former/current CCC South opponents along the way…While New Britain has won two in a row, the Rams are currently on a six-game losing streak…Central’s lone win this season remains the 31-30 victory at South Windsor during Week 2 back on September 16…The Rams started off well against Wethersfield last Friday as Tre Blair smoked the defense for a 43 yard touchdown rush as the locals snared an early 7-0 edge in the contest. 28 points later, the Eagles took complete control of the game…Blair rumbled up 138 yards on 21 carries, but the rest of the squad was only able to cobble together 26 total yards. Getting contributions for another player or two would take some pressure off the speedy Blair…The Rams were outgained offensively 308-164 against the Eagles – limited to just 47 second-half yards…Johnny Rio (11 carries, 24 yards), Amari Gaskin and Tyler Chasse all made rushes with the ball for Central…Blair, once again stationed at quarterback, missed all three passes he took…But Blair continues to get the job done in Central’s ground schemes, amassing 627 yards on 104 carries (6.0 yards-per-carry) to go along with four touchdowns this year. Blair is fast, explosive, gritty and simply won’t give up. New Britain’s going to have more than a couple fits attempting to contain Blair…Blair also continues to lead Central in receiving yards (168) and touchdowns (two) while co-leading the program in receptions (eight) along with Aiden Lamarre (eight receptions, 80 yards, 10.0 yards-per-catch)…Kicker Oscar Kuzniar booted in the extra point against Wethersfield and has five overall this season. Those extra points could be critical down the stretch over a close game situation…Wethersfield rumbled up 288 yards on the ground and if Central wants any chance in slowing down the Hurricanes, the Rams’ must make stops on ‘D’…This is another team that likes to get to the outside and make opposing defenses chase…And all of a sudden, the Hurricanes have found ways to score points after a tough 35-8 setback at Wethersfield on September 30…Since that loss, New Britain has averaged 41.0 points-per-game which includes a huge 48-47 home overtime victory against pesky Enfield (48-47) just two short weeks ago…This is the Game of the Week for the Rams and if the squad can pickoff a surging New Britain program, it could help fuel the Rams as Thanksgiving is right around the corner (and it was just 75 degrees outside a couple days ago…).
