NEW BRITAIN - New Britain High School's Golden Hurricanes beat Southington's Blue Knights 14-6 Monday in the first powder puff matchup between the schools on a cold, wet night at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

New Britain, a newcomer to powder puff football, had been considered the underdog, but the Hurricanes' speed on offense and defense proved to be too much for the Blue Knights.

"This was a great event, not only for the town but for all my girls," New Britain coach Carlos Pina said after the game. "It wasn't an easy sell and we had a few obstacles, but I told my girls I thought we would pull it off."

Moments after talking to reporters, Pina was drenched from behind as his players dumped water over his head. His whole team erupted in shouts of joy.

"New Britain gave us a good run for our money. It was a great game and was close," Southington coach Charles Kemp said. "We got what we wanted - a team to play and a nice clean game. I think everybody had a lot of fun."

The Hurricanes got the ball first and started at their 34-yard line. They came out throwing deep, but quarterback Olivia Maisto threw just beyond her receiver. On ensuing plays, Maisto and running back Emily Polkowski had good gains on the ground. Polkowski capped the 66-yard drive with a 30-yard dash into the end zone for a touchdown. Carina Saverino kicked the extra point.

From there, the game turned into a defensive struggle as both teams held each other in check, with good penetration into the backfield. Southington had two interceptions to stop New Britain drives in the second quarter.

Late in the second quarter, Southington quarterback Katie Monbaron connected with wide receiver Devon Thomas on a 70-yard pass play. Thomas was stopped on the 9 yard line as time expired. A defensive penalty gave Southington one more chance, but a run was stopped in the backfield to end the half.

The half time show consisted of music by the New Britain marching band and a cheer routine to the Miley Cyrus song Party in the U.S.A. by the Southington cheerleaders.

"They are pretty good. They must have been practicing," said Marcia Cook from the Southington side as she watched the show with her husband Mike and Debbie Solomon. "I try to come out every year to watch. It's a tradition."

The cheerleaders were boys dressed in cheerleading skirts, wigs and stuffed bras. The crowd cheered them on as they had an impressive showing with dancing, pyramids and even flips.

"Some of the cheerleaders helped us out, but we added a lot of our own stuff," said cheerleader Brian Cannata. "We're definitely better than the game."

Southington received the kickoff to begin the third quarter at the 40 yard line. They showed some life early with a 45 yard run by Thomas on a triple reverse, but couldn't come away with points.

New Britain scored again early in the fourth quarter on a 1 yard run by Maisto followed by another Saverino extra point to bring the score to 14-0.

Late in the fourth quarter, Southington got into the end zone on Monbaron's 51-yard connection with wide receiver Hyla Costello. Southington tried to kick an extra point but the ball sailed wide left.

With just under a minute to go Southington got the ball back but fell short on 4 straight pass plays. Maistro took a knee with 25 second left in the game to finish it.

"I am very happy. We didn't know what to expect but I'm very proud of my team," Polkowski said after the game. "I always wondered what it was like when the boys talked about scoring a touchdown. It was a great feeling."

rrathsack@record-journal.com

(203) 317-2227

   

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