EAST HARTFORD — Bloomfield found itself in an unusual position, backs to the wall, staring at the end of its football season.
This is not, historically, the way things are dictated in one of Connecticut’s prolific football towns, home of 10 state champions.
Then the Warhawks lined up at their 32-yard line with 5:46 to go, on a cold damp night that “felt like snow,” as they say, and went to their bread and butter, went back on the march.
Bloomfield rallies to beat East Catholic, 22-21, in Class S playoffs
“Just drive, fight hard, fight as hard as possible,” senior running back Marlon Britton said. “We always felt the we had the talent to get here, we just had to work for it. We had a team of no-names this year, but we all worked together to make our team … Bloomfield.”
They powered the ball downfield, running it 10 times in a row with Britton and Zachai Kimber grinding out yards, killing the clock. With 1:38 left, quarterback Cameron White put it in the air, and Romar Heron came down with it in the end zone.
Then, without a reliable kicking game, Bloomfield put the season in Britton’s hands, and he ran in the two-point conversion.
That gave Bloomfield a 22-21 victory over tenacious East Catholic-Manchester in an emotional CIAC Class S quarterfinal game at East Hartford High, certainly one of the best of the 23 playoffs games played across the state on Tuesday night.
“Our seniors stepped up,” coach Ty Outlaw said. “They were playing hurt, they were playing injured and they wouldn’t quit. I’m proud of ’em – even if we lost this game, I was already proud of ’em, but this one touches me. It is special, because we weren’t supposed to be here. These young boys worked hard since the spring and here we are.”
After losing much of its starting talent, nearly all of its offensive ballhandlers from last year’s championship team, Bloomfield (8-3), the No. 5 seed in Class S, was perceived to be in rebuilding cycle. Three games were lost during the season, a one-point game to Middletown, and shutouts against top-five opponents St. Joseph-Trumbull and Windsor.
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But the ‘Hawks unleashed their running game effectively on everyone else, averaging 280 yards per game. When they met East Catholic on Oct. 16, they won 46-18.
That was the Eagles’ only loss of the season, but the rematch was destined to go much differently. It took every last bit of effort for Bloomfield to get this one, stopping East Catholic quarterback Christian Morales on fourth down, inside the 30-yard line, with 35 seconds left to finally seal it.
“I’m just proud of the way they came out and fought tonight, could not be more proud,” said East Catholic coach Tommy Seaver, fighting back his own emotions after talking to his team. “People didn’t think we had any chance in this game, saw that we’d lost to them last time by 28, but we believed that we could do it. Our 10 seniors have worked so hard to turn this program around the last four years and have really put us on the map.”
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East Catholic (9-2) was in the playoffs for the second time in three years, and trying for its first postseason win since 1987. When the Eagles first play from scrimmage, an errant snap, went for a 20-yard loss, they showed the first hint of the mettle that was to come, making up the yardage, Morales completing a 34-yard pass to his best weapon, Joey Montalvo, to set up a 2-yard run on a quarterback keeper.
Bloomfield’s running game was contained in the first half, but White (12 for 17, 106 yards) threw touchdown passes to Heron and Dakhai Powell, and ran in for a conversion on one of them.
“We’re are a run heavy team,” said Britton, who gained 83 on 11 carries, “but I love when our quarterback and our receivers contribute. It makes us an amazing team.”
In between, Morales and Montalvo hooked up for a 32-yard score, and it was tied at 14 at the half. They each contributed interceptions on defense to thwart long Bloomfield drives.
When Tacqori Jackson. Jr.’s 87-yard kickoff return to start the second half was nullified by penalty, East Catholic had its best chance to take control. The Eagles regained possession on downs with good field position, and scored to take the lead on another Morales-Montalvo catch and run, 20 yards, to take the lead. Montalvo’s interception with 8:58 left in the game gave the Eagles a chance to put it away, but Bloomfield made a big stop to set up its winning drive.
“I told everybody, ‘keep your head up and just go out there and eat,” Cameron White said. “My two guys, Marlon and Zachai, they’re always going to go out there and eat, no matter what. Run, run, run, and throw the ball when we have to. If they can’t stop the run, keep running.”
As it got colder still, and the clock was time was running out on the season, Bloomfield devoured the yardage it needed to survive. One by one the key figures of the game were tossed up on top of the shoulders in the postgame huddle.
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“Don’t ever forget that feeling when you were down,” Outlaw told his team. “Because a champion always fights back, and you did that today.”
East Catholic’s season is over, but the Eagles have Montalvo’s senior season to anticipate. “We’ll be back,” Seaver said.
“They played a phenomenal game,” Britton said.
Bloomfield marches on to play at home, against Waterbury Career Academy, in the semifinals on Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
“We won the ‘chip last year, and we’re held to a high standard,” White said. “We came out and fought. No matter who’s next, we’re coming for them.”