New London Clinches Playoff Berth [VIDEO]

In a matter of minutes, thoughts of New London missing the CIAC football playoffs were replaced by home cooking.

As in enjoying Thanksgiving dinner after a 37-17 victory over Norwich Free Academy and as in hosting a Class L quarterfinal game Tuesday.

The Whalers ultimately won in comfortable fashion, riding the spectacular talent of runningback Kyle McKinnon, who had 240 yards rushing and three touchdowns. They also showcased the consistently dazzling work of skill players Jevon Elmore (67 yards rushing and two TDs) and Khaleed Fields, whose 43-yard TD pass from Robert Key on the first-half's last play turned the game around.

Before Fields' score, New London (9-1) held an 18-17 lead and had no answers for NFA's deep passing game of Erik Washburne to Ryer Caruso, who caught a 73-yard scoring bomb. With four seconds left, Key hit Fields on a crossing pattern and the senior outrun NFA's secondary to make it a 25-17 halftime lead.

"We were in a ballgame and we said to ourselves our season's on the line," Key said. "The ball was supposed to go deep, but Khaleed came across the middle and I saw an open galley. He broke some tackles. It was a game changer.'

McKinnon ran 18 yards for a third-quarter score and turned a Key screen pass into a 77-yard TD with 4:35 left to give NL a 20-point victory, if not a comfortable one.

The second half worked out well for New London in many fronts. Coventry/Windham Tech, a team ranked ahead of NL in Class L power points, lost Thursday. That meant not only did New London avoid a quarterfinal road game at powerhouse Masuk, it gained the 4th seed and a first-round home game Tuesday against fellow perenniel powerhouse New Canaan (9-1).

New London coach Jeff Larson applauded his team for blanking NFA (7-3) in the second half. But he advised his secondary will need a crash course in pass defense, especially in a Class L field loaded with wide-open aerial attacks, including Masuk and former Whaler QB Casey Cochran, top-seed Windsor and No. 5 seed New Canaan, whose QB set a state record with 43 TD passes last season as a junior.

"Everyone is going to look at this tape," Larson said. "It wasn't perfect. Do we have a lot to work on? We're are going to half to work our butts off in practice the next four days. But where else would you rather be, trying to win a state championship in the greatest game ever made."

NFA found New London' soft spot in the secondary early with Caruso and Marcus Outlow catching TD passes. New London made an adjustment, putting Fields on Caruso, who caught 270 yards worth of passes against Fitch, on every play to curtail the deep game.

And, of course, a great defense is a ball-control offense, courtesy of McKinnon, who carried the Whalers, and many Wildcat tacklers. McKinnon, who was offered his first Division I scholarship offer to Akron University last week, broke tackle after tackle, churning his legs and changing direction on plays seemingly stopped.

"I knew I was going to get the ball today," McKinnon said. "It's exciting to play good teams, like today and the way it will be the rest of the way. It gets me motivated to play even harder."

Now New London, which incidentally forced a three-way tie for the ECC Large title with NFA and Fitch, will need to play hard against New Canaan, which also needed to win on Thanksgiving, burying rival Darien, 42-21, to make the playoffs.

The Whalers have already conquered a Fairfield County power, topping Greenwich 51-33 early in the season. Can they do it again?

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