Berlin Makes Big Plays In Win Over Bloomfield

The Bloomfield football team has earned a reputation for making big plays and being able to score from all over the field.

But Friday night, on Senior Night at Scalise Field, it was Berlin who made the most important big plays.

The Redcoats needed every one of them and held on to beat Bloomfield 17-12 to improve to 8-1 on the season.

"We lost six scholarship players, we lost Max (Delorenzo) so all the seniors heard was this was the year we were going to go 2-8, or you're going to go 3-7 or you're going to go 4-6 and you're going to be horrible," Berlin coach John Capodice said. "We struggled in a scrimmage with Cromwell and again they heard it. The coaching staff committed ourselves to make sure these seniors didn't have to go through that. We were going to do everything we could to help them be successful and they took it from there.

"We told the underclassmen we needed them to step it up and help the seniors. For those seniors to be 8-1 at this point in the season is amazing and I'm really proud of all of them."

Berlin led 11-0 on a field goal by Devin Silverman and a 3-yard touchdown run by Kevin Main but Bloomfield scored on a long pass play from quarterback Michael Campbell to Adrian Balfour to cut it to 11-6. The Warhawks, who came in 5-2, drove down to the Redcoats red zone just before halftime. Bloomfield used all three of its timeouts in driving inside the 10-yard line. Their final timeout came with one second left in the half. That timeout gave the Warhawks one more shot at the end zone but a pass fell harmlessly to the turf. The Redcoats clung to an 11-6 lead at halftime.

"On defense, we had a bend-but-don't-break philosophy tonight," Capodice said. "We didn't want to give up any big plays but they still got a few of them. At the end of the first half it was a huge stop for the defense. As they were going down the field I also knew they were getting the ball to start the second half. If they scored there it would have been a different game. To have the lead at halftime was a big boost for us."

Junior Tyler Bouchard made several important plays for the Redcoats. Bloomfield ran a well-designed pass play with the running back going in motion across the formation and then streaking down the middle. Bouchard, a linebacker, covered the back and was able to use his height to tip the ball away.

Bouchard also caught a 33-yard touchdown pass from Mitch Williams in the corner of the end zone to give Berlin a 17-6 lead in the third quarter.

"It all comes down to repetition," Bouchard said. "That is a play we run over and over in practice and in games. In that situation you just have to make a play and I was able to catch it. It was big, but it all comes down to having a good quarterback. Mitch put it in the perfect spot."

Bloomfield would not go down without a fight. A 35-yard touchdown pass from Campbell to Patrick Modest made it 17-12 in the fourth quarter.

The Berlin defense came up big again with a fumble recovery by Wojtus Zak with 6:05 left in the game.

The Berlin offensive line then took over and Berlin was able to run out the clock with the running of Kevin Main and Tommy Undercuffler.

"As the guy who calls the plays, I want the ball in our hands and I want us to hold onto the ball," Capodice added. "We put it on our offensive line to take over and for our backs to run hard and hang on to the ball. I didn't want to give them the ball back."

Berlin, now 8-1, has only its game against rival New Britain remaining in the regular season. A spot in the post-season should be insured with this win but seeding will be helped with a win over the 'Canes.