Sports
Farmington Stomps Plainville but Playoff Bid Falls Short
Guadalupe scores 3 TDs and runs for 144 yards but help fails to materialize in race for final Class L playoff slot
PLAINVILLE – Thanksgiving fare had a bittersweet tang for coach Chris Machol and his Farmington High football team.
The Indians deftly took care of business Thursday morning, ripping Plainville 31-6 behind three touchdowns and 144 yards rushing from sophomore wunderkind Ivan Guadalupe and an air-tight second-half defense.
The sweetness comes from gaining initial control of the Old Canal Cup, a stunning piece of hardware fitted with a historical concept developed by Plainville athletic director John Zadnik and his Farmington counterpart Jack Phelan.
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The bitterness, which was probable but not official when the game ended, was that the Indians, despite their 9-1 record, would not be going to the Class L playoffs. The top eight teams qualify and Farmington finished ninth. Four other 9-1 teams qualified as did Notre Dame-West Haven (8-2) but the Indians lost out due to the strength, or in this case weakness, of their schedule.
“It’s a tough year to be a one-loss team in ‘L,’ I’ll tell you that much,” said Machol, knowing that the Indians needed a monumental upset in order to move up. Favorites New London, North Haven and Notre Dame all won to seal Farmington’s fate.
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“Probably eight of the [state’s] top 15 teams happen to be in this division and it’s tough. That’s what happened. We needed some things to work out but at the end of the day, if you told me we’d be 9-1 with our one loss to the number one ranked team in L (Windsor) what are you going to do? … We did everything we could do.”
Characteristically, Farmington preyed on Plainville’s mistakes to take control of the game. Fumble recoveries by Kevin Garger, Mike Landini and Thomas Stevens, and picks by Kenny Jones and Guadalupe gave Farmington 32 takeaways on the year against just 15 giveaways. On Thursday, Farmington enjoyed a 5-1 advantage, and it spelled disaster for the Blue Devils (5-5).
“When you give their offense a short field twice, it’s kind of tough,” Plainville coach Chris Farrell said. “When you’re backed up, it’s tough to make a stand.”
Garger’s recovery with 7:37 to go in the first quarter set up Farmington on the Plainville 20. Four plays later, Guadalupe burst in from the 1. Steven Davids kicked his first of four PAT placements to give Farmington a 7-0 lead.
Plainville answered in the second quarter with quarterback Tony Lopizzo firing a bull’s-eye to Dan Bates on third-and-goal from eight yards out. A two-point conversion try fell short, allowing Farmington to cling to a one-point edge.
Farmington responded promptly with a 27-yard Davids field goal – his third in three tries this year – to push the lead to 10-6 at the 2:39 mark.
A minute later, Landini recovered a fumble along the sideline at the Plainville 30. Quarterback Brian Logan hit Jones for 15. On the next play, Logan's rollout got the Plainville defense flowing right. He threw to Mike English on the left for an easy score and a 17-6 halftime bulge.
The Indians, who featured an explosive aerial attack most of the season, went to a “wildcat” attack with Guadalupe taking direct snaps.
“Something is just a little off on our pass game,” Machol said. “I don’t know what it is, but we put this in the second week. We said when we needed it, we’d bring it out. We didn’t need it until Middletown (Week 9). Two weeks in a row it’s really revitalized us.”
Guadalupe, who had a modest 38 yards in the first half, broke down the Plainville defense for 106 yards on 16 carries in the second half. He bolted 32 yards for a touchdown with 7:15 left in the third quarter.
“Coach always tells me to follow my blocking,” said Guadalupe, who replaced the injured Adam Buono (concussion) as Machol’s feature back. “Don’t go 100 miles per hour. Take a little time, read my blockers and then go for it.”
With the Farmington defense gathering momentum, Stevens recovered a fumble and the Devils’ 26. Five plays later, Guadalupe scored from the 12.
“He’s got great vision,” Machol said. “As he progresses and learns the other parts of playing running back, he’s just going to be more dangerous when his blocking and pass catching improve. He’s a fantastic runner.”
The Plainville offense managed just six yards from scrimmage in the second half. The Farmington defense made eight plays behind the line and the Devils had minus-one yard rushing over the final 24 minutes.
“We knew they were mostly a running team and that they had four good players,” said English, a defensive end. “We tried to keep everything inside and have our linebackers fill in the gaps. Our defensive ends had pretty good contain and they weren’t able to get outside.”
Jo Fillian, Mitchell Berlandy, Matt LeBlanc, Kevin Bittner and Sean Fern were among those sticking Plainville ballcarriers before they could reach scrimmage.
“It’s team D,” Machol said. “There’s 11 players with a responsibility. When it breaks down one play, it can be a big turning point so we just focused on doing our job and not trying to do anybody else’s.”
Guadalupe said if the playoffs fell through, the underclassmen would start working toward next season on Monday.
“It’s a little upsetting because we worked so hard,” he said. “We’ve been practicing since last December. We were ready for it but we’ll be satisfied with 9-1.”
Farmington 31, Plainville 6
At Alumni Field
Farmington (9-1) 7 10 14 0 – 31
Plainville (5-5) 0 6 0 0 – 6
SCORING SUMMARY
First Quarter
F – Ivan Guadalupe 1 run (Steven Davids kick), 5:59
Second Quarter
P – Dan Bates 8 pass from Tony Lopizzo (run failed), 5:11
F – Davids 27 FG, 2:39
F – Mike English 15 pass from Brian Logan (Davids kick), 1:03
Third Quarter
F – Guadalupe 32 run (Davids kick), 7:15
F – Guadalupe 12 run (Davids kick), 2:46
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING – Farmington: Guadalupe 25-144, Logan 2-0, Mitchell
Berlandy 1-1. Plainville: Adam Foster 14-43, Kevin Waite 9-19, Lopizzo 12-0, Chris Kuzia 3-2, Bates 1-2.
PASSING – Farmington: Logan 8-16-1, 75 yds. Plainville: Lopizzo 4-11-1, 20 yds.
RECEIVING – Farmington: Kenny Jones 4-50, English 3-26, Max Spracklin 1-(-1). Plainville: Bates 1-8, Nick Moshier 1-8, Kuzia 1-7, Joey Quintero 1-(-3).