Mistakes Prove Costly as New Britain Shuts Out Hall

NEW BRITAIN – coach Frank Robinson III is as congenial as they come when it comes to birthdays, but his football team’s generosity went a little too far.

First-year New Britain coach and former New England Patriots defensive back Tebucky Jones turned 37 Friday but a six-pack of giveaways was just too dear a gift.

The mistakes stunted the Hall offense and one led directly to the game-clinching touchdown as New Britain whitewashed the Warriors, 19-0, in a CCC Division I West clash at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

“Much too many [turnovers]. You can’t win games when you do that,” Robinson said. “Credit them. They made the turnovers happen.”

New Britain, which has won two straight after opening the year with two losses, hadn’t enjoyed a victory over a team with a winning record since defeating Berlin on Thanksgiving Eve in 2009.

“We’ve played four teams and I didn’t think any of them were better than us,” Jones said. “I actually felt we were better, but we made so many mistakes. The last two weeks we minimized our mistakes.’

Hall (3-1) put its worst foot forward right from the start. New Britain speedster Devante Gardner snagged a long opening kickoff, eluded the first wave of tacklers and flashed 80 yards through Hall’s unbalanced coverage for a 6-0 lead.

“The kick did not go where I wanted it to go and we didn’t cover it well enough,” Robinson said. “You can’t give a team six points to start a game.”

Jones also noted that the length of the kickoff was to New Britain’s advantage and extended Hall’s coverage strategy.

“I didn’t think they were going to kick it that far,” he said. “When Devante got the ball, they were too far up. I always say the best returns are when the ball hits the ground and when everybody’s coming at you, you pick it up running full speed.”

In addition to the return, Gardner ran for 106 yards and caught two passes for 29 more.

“As small as he is (5-foot-7, 175 pounds], he runs hard for a guy his size,” Jones said. Two plays into Hall’s ensuing drive, the Hurricanes’ defensive tackle Jose Gonzalez recovered a fumble. Solid defensive work by cornerback L.T. Nembhard, linebackers Sal Ghamo and Jesse Maltz, and lineman Keye Frank blew up New Britain’s drive.

Hall began moving the ball effectively. Mixing the run and short pass, quarterback George Lund drove the Warriors from his own 17 to the New Britain 25 when another fumble handed the ball back to the ’Canes.

A timely third-down tackle by Cole Souza forced a three-and-out for New Britain and laid the groundwork for an extended Hall possession. Two fourth-down conversions set Hall up with first-and-goal at the 9 but Lund’s pass for Max Ghamo in the end zone fell incomplete on fourth down.

“We were doing fine but they did a great job in the red zone,” Robinson said. “We couldn’t get in and that was the difference in the game.”

Hall looked to go into intermission down just one score but New Britain went 69 yards in 53 seconds and crossed the goal line with 3.8 ticks left. Quarterback Malique Jones, Tebucky’s son, covered the last 10 yards and the Warriors trudged off with a 12-point deficit.

Hall made its second excursion deep into New Britain territory midway through the third quarter but came up empty again.

A daring return by Ian Dugger and a New Britain personal foul placed the Warriors at the Hurricane 28. Passes to Max Ghamo and Devin Ortiz covered 15 yards. A well-executed draw to Jesse Maltz went for eight yards to the New Britain 2 on third down but Ortiz, running out of the double wing, was stopped on the 1.

With just over three minutes remaining, Lamont Priest picked off a Lund aerial and cruised 70 yards to put the game out of reach. Axel Rosado had two interceptions and Daequone Clark had a pick and a fumble recovery.

Robinson paid tribute to the Hurricanes’ athletic secondary but were unable to stretch the defense. Lund completed 19 passes but 14 were for less than 10 yards.

“They are [athletic] but we moved the ball up and down the field and the early turnovers were fumbles,” Robinson said. “Later on, there were some picks when we tried to take some chances. But they made great plays.”

Hall looks to get back on the winning track against undefeated Middletown Oct. 15. 

New Britain 19, Hall 0

Hall (3-1)                0  0  0  0 –   0

New Britain (2-2)    6  6  0  7 – 19

SCORING SUMMARY

First Quarter

NB – Devante Gardner 80 kickoff return (kick failed), 11:46

Second Quarter

NB – Malique Jones 10 run (kick failed), :3.8

Fourth Quarter

NB – Lamont Priest 70 interception return (Michael Porras kick), 3:01

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING – Hall: Christian Bohn 8-28, Jesse Maltz 4-25, Devin Ortiz 3-19, Jordan Bell 2-9, George Lund 4-(-11). NB: Devante Gardner 22-106, Lamar Bowsky 11-64, Malique Jones 5-26, Giovanni Viven 1-6.

PASSING – Hall: Lund 19-38-4, 142 yds.; Bohn 0-1-0, 0 yds. NB: Jones 10-14-0, 90 yds.

RECEIVING – Hall: Ian Dugger 7-63, Ortiz 6-33, L.T. Nembhard 2-26, Bohn 2-10, Max Ghamo 1-10, Maltz 1-0. NB: Larry Garcia 3-37, Gardner 2-29, Viven 3-1, Daequone Clark 1-15, Fitzrism Ingram 1-8.