CHESHIRE - For the third Thanksgiving in a row, the Cheshire football team stood holding the Apple Classic trophy at midfield, the latest hoist coming after the Rams grinded out a 24-11 victory over rival Southington on Thursday morning at Maclary Athletic Complex.

The Rams (9-1) recovered from an early Southington safety to score on three consecutive offensive plays to open up a 21-2 lead in the second quarter and, despite a stout Blue Knights defense in the second half, clinched a CIAC Class LL playoff berth for the second year in a row.

"It's a testament to our kids," said Cheshire coach Mark Ecke, whose team is looking at a rematch with Glastonbury in Tuesday's semifinals. "We have some kids that can score and they made plays today."

Southington (5-5) was making the plays early on. After being stopped by the Cheshire defense, Blue Knights punter Nick Gothberg booted the ball 64 yards, deadening it on the Cheshire 1.

On the second play of the ensuing drive, Cheshire quarterback Greg Palmer tried rushing to the right, but was taken down in the end zone by Southington senior linebacker Joe Pesce for a safety.

Later in the first quarter, after a Southington drive stalled on fourth and 12 at its own 47, Blue Knights coach Bill Mella called for a fake punt and it worked perfectly. Gothberg connected with Pesce down the right sideline for a gain of 27.

But Cheshire took back the momentum, forcing two straight Connor Butkiewicz incompletions to stop the Blue Knights.

And that's when the Cheshire flurry started.

The Rams took over after the turnover on downs and drove 75 yards on eight plays to take a 6-2 lead on a Palmer 1-yard TD dive with 2:25 to go in the first quarter.

After a Southington punt, Sweeney took the Rams' next snap 63 yards for a TD with 11 seconds remaining in the opening frame. Paul Tuscano connected with Sebastian Little for the two points and the 14-2 lead.

Southington answered with a promising drive, but stalled at the Cheshire 17. Taking over on downs, Palmer (10-for-14, 174 yards) found Brian Havlicek wide open deep in the Blue Knights' secondary for an easy 83-yard connection that opened up a 21-2 lead.

Southington's Dylan Danko and Cheshire's Kyle Pulek exchanged short field goals, 20 and 24 yards, respectively, to end the half 24-5.

The Blue Knights opened the second half with a long 12-play drive that resulted in a 15-yard TD pass from Butkiewicz to Tyler Dube to close the gap to 24-11. The run on the two-point conversion failed.

That score would be the last of the game.

Butkiewicz's right arm got a workout. The junior completed 27 of 49 passes for 265 yards and a TD. His favorite targets were Anthony Florian (10 catches, 66 yards) and Zack Etter (7-66) and Dube (5-82).

"They are a really good team," Etter said. "We wanted to come out and end the season on a winning note, but I wish them luck in the playoffs. We tried really hard to get it done."

Etter was named Southington offensive MVP and Pesce nabbed defensive honors.

"The kids fought hard and that's what I'm most proud of them," Mella said. "They don't give up. They don't quit. I hope that every team I have, if nothing else, I hope they learn never to quit. But Cheshire was the better team today."

Sweeney, who rushed 18 times for 156 yards, was named the game's overall MVP and Cheshire's best offensive player. Sophomore linebacker Dylan Baumgardner, who recovered a Southington fumble, was Cheshire's defensive player of the game.

"It was big," Baumgardner said. "We all got very excited. I went in for the tackle. Ryan Connolly hit the guy and forced the fumble and I jumped right on it. It was big and it got us pumped up and set us up for a big gain."

Cheshire closed out the game behind the running of Palmer (20-75) and Sweeney, mixed in with a little Paul Tuscano and Mike Skibicki.

"This is all about our seniors and having them have this experience on what may be their last game on this field," Ecke said.

If the CIAC playoff points hold, it will be. At the No. 3 spot in Class LL, Cheshire is in line for a Tuesday night semifinal in Glastonbury, which beat the Rams in last year's state final. Official playoff pairings come out today.

Cheshire 24, Southington 11

At Maclary Athletic Complex

Southington 02-03-06-00-11

Cheshire 14-10-00-00-24

First Quarter

S-Safety. Greg Palmer tackled in end zone by Joe Pesce, 7:56

C-Palmer 1 run (pass failed) 2:25

C-Dan Sweeney 63 run (Sebastian Little pass from Paul Tuscano) 0:11

Second Quarter

C-Brian Havlicek 83 pass from Palmer (Kyle Pulek kick) 8:09

S-Dylan Danko 20 FG, 4:14

C-Pulek 24 FG, 0:18

Third Quarter

S-Tyler Dube 15 pass from Connor Butkiewicz (run failed) 8:35

   

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