NEW BRITAIN – It took the Greenwich football team 2½ hours Friday to get to Veterans Stadium for its Connecticut High School Football Alliance showdown with New Britain.
At least it was 2½ hours on a coach bus.
And the ride home had to seem miles shorter. Traffic was lighter and the Cardinals could revel in the knowledge that the road to the CIAC Class LL championship still leads through their town.
In one of the top matchups of Alliance Week, a game that pitted two of the top six teams in the GametimeCT state poll, No. 2 Greenwich defeated No. 6 New Britain, 35-7, scoring 28 straight points to pull away.
Senior Justin Carroll rushed for two short touchdowns to get Greenwich on the board, junior quarterback Philip Tarantino overcame three interceptions with a 1-yard TD run and a 32-yard scoring pass to Theo Ho, and sophomore Evan Bellenson, who did most of the ball carrying, capped the night with a 12-yard burst.
New Britain got a 40-yard scoring strike from Billy Seymour to KJ Willis to answer Greenwich’s ice-breaking score in the first quarter, but could not crack the end zone again despite controlling the ball for virtually the entire third quarter. Along with confronting a stingy Greenwich defense anchored by Carroll at linebacker, the Hurricanes too often hurt themselves with post-play penalties.
They also gave up a blocked punt that led to Carroll’s second score, a 5-yarder on the first play of the second quarter that put Greenwich up to stay.
With three defending state champions on its schedule, New Britain’s mantra is “Slay the Kings.” Last week, the Golden Hurricanes did just that in defeating reigning Class MM champ Windsor, 28-12. This week, two-time defending Class LL champion Greenwich served notice its line of succession won’t crack to easily.
Friday’s game could prove to be a playoff preview. These two teams have a checkered postseason past. They’ve met seven times, with New Britain holding a 4-3 edge. The Golden Hurricanes won all three state championship meetings (1992, 2001 and 2004), plus a semifinal clash in 2003. Greenwich squeezed in a semifinal win in 2002 and then quarterfinal triumphs in 2018 and 2024.
Until Friday night, they had never played in the regular season.
Things started well for New Britain, with Damitrie Bishop picking off Tarantino on the first play from scrimmage. Willis and Izais Lopes also had interceptions for the Canes.
Bobby Stanley had the punt block for Greenwich. The Cardinals also blocked a 35-yard field goal attempt on the final play of the first half, with New Britain looking to close a 21-7 deficit.
The Hurricanes twice advanced inside the Greenwich 25 in the third quarter only to turn the ball over on downs each time. Tarantino’s 32-yard timing route down the right sideline to Ho early in the fourth quarter swung momentum back to the champs for good.
This story will be updated.
Player of the Game
Justin Carroll: Greenwich’s senior captain scored on two short touchdown runs and led the defensive charge at linebacker.
Quotable
“If we come out like this every game, I don’t see a team that’s stopping us.” – Greenwich senior lineman Nick Vomvolakis.
Greenwich 35, New Britain 7
GREENWICH 7 14 0 14 – 35
NEW BRITAIN 7 0 0 0 – 7
G-Justin Carroll 1 run (Michael Galano kick)
NB-KJ Willis 40 pass from Billy Seymour (Jonthan Nunez kick)
G-Carroll 5 run (Galano kick)
G-Philip Tarantino 1 run (Galano kick)
G-Theo Ho 32 pass from Tarantino (Galano kick)
G-Evan Bellenson 12 run (Galano kick)
Records: Greenwich 2-0; New Britain 1-1.
This article originally published at No. 2 Greenwich football pulls away from No. 6 New Britain in Top 10 showdown.
