CROMWELL — Cromwell/Portland’s Cole Brisson waited four years for this moment, to come full-circle as a high school football quarterback amid the delirium and jubilation of the year’s best game, a 28-27 victory over Pequot rival Valley Regional/Old Lyme on ‘Senior Night’ at Pierson Park.
Four years and a pre-COVID age ago, Brisson was a short (5-foot-8, 140-pound) and wide-eyed, yet confident freshman quarterback ready to unleash everything he’d learned as a young player on the varsity stage against — who else? — but Valley Regional/Old Lyme.
It was the second game of the season, Cromwell was 1-0 to start the 2019 season that followed a 9-2 Pequot Sassacus championship year. But this group, like Brisson, was comprised of all sophomores and freshmen.
And, by Brisson’s admission, he was an abject failure.
Cromwell/Portland is religious about posting its statistics, but they’re conspicuously absent from this 2-7 season.
Perhaps now we know why.
“I threw five picks,” Brisson declared, staring straight into the eye of a camera Friday night. “We got shut out. I was bawling after the game. …I couldn’t see, and it was just pick after pick after pick. It was honestly miserable.”
Brisson didn’t get a sophomore year. Nobody did. But coach Randell Bennett has said Brisson and the rest of the small, but tight-knit players from Cromwell and Portland spent much of the COVID year practicing among themselves.
They emerged as a powerhouse in the summer of 2021. They won 13 consecutive games and the co-op program’s first state championship — 22-7 over Bloomfield in Class S.
Though C/P graduated a stellar senior class, including all-staters Teddy Williams and Owen Brunk, Bennett believed he had as good a team as last year’s. But 2022 has been anything but a victory lap, especially with a handful of potential usurpers — North Branford, Granby/Canton, Valley Regional/Old Lyme — declaring their intentions to reclaim Pequot supremacy.
Alex Hair, C/P’s senior tailback who ran for 869 yards and 12 scores last year, broke his leg to start the season and Bennett has tried just about everybody with two working legs in the back field. (Now walking without a boot, Hair could return by season’s end).
As a junior during the championship season, Brisson was required to just get the ball to his talented weapons and let them do the rest. He threw for 2,643 yards and 30 touchdowns against just five picks.
Now 6-foot-2, 180 pounds, Brisson — who posted last summer about a number of recruiting visits to Bryant, Central Connecticut State and UConn — has been called on to shoulder the offensive load with opponents fixing their attention on smothering the overcompensating pass game.
As Friday night showed, it’s been a rocky proposition at times. Brisson has often needed to buy more time than even his strong offensive line can provide with scrambles as he searches for blanketed receivers.
“I wish he would take advantage of the new rule of throwing the ball away, which makes me cringe sometimes when he’s running around out there,” said Bennett, the imposing but jovial coach who has modeled this team in his own image and was the 2021 New Haven Register / GameTimeCT Coach of the Year.
“But he’s just a general out here. He just leads them out here. I’ll call the play and he’ll say, ‘Nah, I’mma gon’ run this.’ And I’m like, ‘Alright, you got it,’ and it works. He’s amazing.”
It was on those scrambles that Brisson improbably converted a handful of third downs and even a fourth down as Cromwell/Portland sucked up yardage and clock in an attempt to keep Valley Regional/Old Lyme and electric senior Di’Angelo Jean-Pierre from doing any more damage than they already had.
Of course, it wasn’t all his doing: “You got to give it up to the line,” Brisson said. “We knew we were wearing them down with the run game. They were opening up amazing holes. Emeka (Yearwood) and Alex McKiernan were getting busy out there.
“This felt so good to get redemption against them. They’re a great football team and for me to go out like this on senior night is just amazing. …It was the best high school football game I’ve ever been apart of.”
Even when a fumble and a quick Valley touchdown drive threatened steal this game away, Brisson said he kept the faith in his defense — faith rewarded when senior defensive Johnny Beltre single-handedly batted Jean-Pierre’s 2-point conversion pass away in the end zone.
If Jean-Pierre completes that pass, we’re talking about him in this space. That’s how great and close this game was.
Both teams are virtually guaranteed to get into the Class SS playoffs, of course. And you know what that means.
“Like I told Randell when I went over to congratulate him and his boys, this is not goodbye,” Valley coach Hill Gbunblee said. “It’s, ‘I’ll see you later.'”
FRIDAY-NIGHT NOTABLES
A look back at Friday night in Week 8 of CIAC football around Connecticut:
Hunter Agosti, Trumbull: Threw for three first-half touchdowns in a 39-14 victory over Fairfield Ludlowe.
Zy’kie Askew, Middletown: Ran 16 times for 162 yards and three touchdowns in a 34-20 win over Bristol Central.
Josh Boganski, Maloney: Ran for three touchdowns in a 32-0 win over Conard.
Tyler Casey, Lyman Hall: Threw for four touchdowns in a 39-22 victory at Harding.
Josh Clement, Berlin: Ran for the game’s first three touchdowns and added a fourth in the fourth quarter of a 35-8 win over Avon. He finished with 100 yards on 15 carries.
C.J. DiBenedetto, Southington: Threw touchdown passes for the first and last scores of the game in a 27-6 victory over Glastonbury.
Orion Inkel, Haddam-Killingworth: All-name team candidate ran for four touchdowns and 212 yards on 18 carries in a 56-6 victory over the Coginchaug co-op.
Dylan Jackson, Masuk: Was 14-for-20 for 267 yards and three touchdowns in the Panthers’ 45-13 win over Weston.
Riley Jordan, St. Joseph: Ran for 168 yards and three second-half touchdowns on 30 carries in a 27-14 win at New Canaan.
Justin Keller, Ridgefield: Threw for the first three touchdowns of a 31-7 victory over Wilton, then committed to Tufts.
Malachi Mapp, Rockville: Ran for three touchdowns in a 44-6 win over the Coventry co-op.
Will Migliaccio, Granby/Canton: Was 13-for-23 for 132 yards and two third-quarter touchdowns that gave his team the lead in a 21-7 victory over Ellington.
Shawn Mills, Hamden: Ran for touchdowns of 45 and 81 yards, and five other carries went for 27 yards in a 27-0 win over Branford.
Soren Rief, Killingly: Ran for 295 yards and five touchdowns on 27 carries in a 52-19 win over Fitch.
Cam Righi, Wethersfield: Threw for 120 yards and two touchdowns and added another score on the ground in a 41-7 win over South Windsor.
Avery Robinson, Platt: Was 12-for-19 for 187 yards and three touchdowns in a 42-7 win over Farmington.
Bode Smith, Hall: Was 16-for-23 for 219 yards and three touchdowns in a 31-3 win over Simsbury.
Blake Stone, Naugatuck: Ran in for the first score of the game and threw for two second-half touchdowns in a 42-13 win over Waterbury Career Academy.
Camren Thompson, North Haven: Scored the only touchdown in a 10-0 win over Cheshire.
Greyson Ursone, Gilbert/Northwestern/Housatonic: Two carries for 94 yards … but one of them was a 93-yard touchdown run in a 42-22 win at Torrington.
TWO WAYS TO SEE IT
Justyn DeFonce, ATI: Caught six passes for 100 yards and two touchdowns and had two interceptions in a 47-0 win over VGW Techs.
Brady Gambee, Watertown: Ran for two touchdowns, threw a 50-yard touchdown pass and returned an interception for a touchdown in a 42-8 win over Wilby.
Travis Mangual, Windham: Caught a touchdown pass and had a long interception return in a 63-18 win over Waterford.
GETTING DEFENSIVE
Johnny Beltre, Cromwell/Portland: Knocked away a potential game-winning two-point conversion pass to preserve a 28-27 win over Valley Regional/Old Lyme.
Avian Evans, West Haven: Ran back an interception 35 yards for a touchdown, his third pick-six of the year, in a 52-0 win over Sheehan.
Tamir Gamble, SMSA: Two interceptions, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery in a 43-22 win over the Stafford co-op.
John Hayden, Hand: Returned an interception for a touchdown in the Tigers’ 21-7 win over Xavier.
David Klang, Thames River: Six tackles for loss in a 55-7 win over Wilcox/Kaynor.
Zaveyn Tate: Had an interception and a fumble recovery in a 35-6 win over Plainville.
EXTRA SPECIAL
Josh Dunne, Wolcott: Ran back the opening kickoff 75 yards for a touchdown to start up a 35-13 win over Kennedy.
Robert Murphy, Fairfield Prep: Kicked a 25-yard field goal and a point-after in the fourth quarter, both to put the Jesuits ahead, in a 16-15 win at Shelton.
Andrew Swierbut, Newtown: Scored on a 67-yard punt return and kicked a field goal and three extra points in a 30-20 win over Barlow.
OTHERWISE, QUIET
Caden Drezek, Seymour: Your routine five first-half touchdown passes in a 49-13 victory over Derby.
David Cassetti, Ansonia: Ran for 149 yards and a touchdown on seven carries, and he also caught a 58-yard touchdown pass in a 56-20 win over Oxford.
Frankie Guerrera, Rocky Hill: Ran for 169 yards and five touchdowns on 15 carries, added 94 yards and a touchdown on five catches, and was perfect on six extra points, accounting for all his team’s scoring in a 42-7 victory over Lewis Mills.
John Neider, Law: Passed for four touchdowns and ran for two more in a 55-26 win at Stratford.
Caleb Smith, Staples: Was 18-for-23 for 274 yards and four touchdowns, and ran for 79 yards and three touchdowns on nine carries in a 56-7 win over Norwalk.
BABY, COME BACK/STICK YOUR STREAKS
Dontay Bishop, New Britain: Caught the 4-yard touchdown pass in overtime that, with the extra point, ultimately gave the Hurricanes a 48-47 comeback, overtime win over Enfield to snap a nine-game home losing streak.
NOT-FRIDAY NOTABLES
Benjamin Gordon, Tolland: Returned one of his two interceptions for a touchdown, and he made 11 tackles in Thursday’s 42-0 win over Northwest Catholic.
Cooper Light, Stonington: Interception helped turn around a 13-point deficit into a 14-13 win over Weaver.
Ben Roden, Northwest United: Ran for touchdowns of 64, 19 and 18 yards, and his 30-yard touchdown pass to Reed Woerner put the Workhorses ahead for good in a 36-31 victory over Bullard-Havens.
Coaches/stat folks, next week send us your Thursday and Friday stars by Saturday morning at info@gametimect.com. Email us your Saturday stars at the same address on Saturday so we can get them in Monday’s weekly Top Performers. Better yet, send us box scores and highlights, and we’ll put them in the roundup.
LOOKING AHEAD
Into November with Week 9:
Notre Dame-West Haven (5-2) at Fairfield Prep (4-3), Friday, 6 p.m.: The Jesuits’ three-game winning streak has propelled them into Class LL playoff position. Notre Dame sat third in Class M on Saturday morning. It isn’t exactly easy from here for either: Fairfield Prep has North Haven and West Haven, and the Green Knights have Shelton and Hamden.
Holy Cross (6-1) at Woodland (6-1), Friday, 6 p.m.: Things get real for Woodland, third in Class S right behind the Crusaders: After the teams they beat in their five-game winning streak combined for eight wins, the Hawks close with Naugatuck and Seymour. Holy Cross’ final two opponents combined for three wins.
Windham (7-0) at Ledyard (6-1), Friday, 6 p.m.: More immediately, it’s the de facto ECC Div. II title game. Looking down the road, it could be a Class SS playoff preview. Windham leads the points standings but not by a whole lot over Cromwell/Portland, with Foran lurking.
Cheney Tech (5-2) at Thames River (6-0) (Grasso Tech), Friday, 6 p.m.: Thames River gave up seven points on Friday. It last gave up points in Week 1, six of them. Cheney Tech comes in 10th in Class MM and is probably going to need a lot more than seven.
Southington (7-0) at Maloney (7-0), Friday, 6:30 p.m.: Here we go, No. 1 visiting No. 3 in the most recent GameTimeCT Top 10 Poll (and No. 2 New Canaan lost this week), a game that has been circled on the calendars for a long time. They both went into Saturday’s games in second in their respective CIAC playoff classes, LL for the Blue Knights, L for Maloney. Southington beat the Spartans in the 2021 opener, and the Blue Knights are the last team to beat last year’s Class L champs.
Haddam-Killingworth (4-2) at SMSA (7-0), Friday, 6:30 p.m.: A winner of three in a row, H-K has nudged itself into Class S playoff position, but SMSA is the second of three teams on its schedule that came into this week unbeaten: The Cougars’ last loss was to Cromwell/Portland, and Valley Regional/Old Lyme lurks Thanksgiving week.
Ridgefield (4-3) at Trumbull (5-2), Friday, 7 p.m.: Trumbull is sixth and Ridgefield is ninth in Class LL, but looking at some of the teams surrounding them and the games those teams have remaining (not to mention that the Tigers and Eagles both still have to face Danbury, who went into Saturday’s game against Fairfield Warde in eighth), it’s not necessarily must-win. But, hey, it’d help.
Cheshire (5-2) at Shelton (4-3), Friday, 7 p.m.: How’d these guys do Friday… oh. Like Ridgefield and Trumbull, even though this is Class L’s sixth-place team visiting its eighth, this may be more “would be nice” than “gotta have.”
Foran (7-0) at Guilford (4-2 pending Saturday at Woodstock Academy), Friday, 7 p.m.: All right, who had this one circled at the start of the season? (Our man Pete Paguaga.) Guilford went into Saturday’s roadie just outside the nutty Class MM playoff picture, while Foran has rolled along, not playing a particularly close game since Week 1 though not facing a team with a winning record since Week 3.
Notre Dame-Fairfield (4-3) at New Fairfield (6-1), Friday, 7 p.m.: Notre Dame woke up Saturday on the outside looking in in Class S, and though it could win its last two games, this one could make it a tough road or could be a playoff preview. New Fairfield sat fourth, bouncing back from the Barlow loss with a two-score win over Brookfield.
New Milford (3-3 pending Saturday at NFA) at Bunnell (4-3), Friday, 7 p.m.: New Milford was 11th in Class L going into Saturday’s game. Bunnell was 14th. Someone’s gonna need these 100 points to make it interesting.
Platt (5-2) at RHAM (5-1 pending Saturday vs. Bloomfield), Saturday, 11:30 a.m.: Both were in playoff position, Platt in Class MM, RHAM in M. Platt has the tougher go of it from here, with Bloomfield and Maloney to come.
SEE YOU NEXT WEEK
Ellington (5-2), ninth in Class SS, has the week off.
