NEW BRITAIN – Masuk junior Jackson Zylick lined up three times for a field goal with less than 10 seconds left and the game on the line in the Class MM football championship against top-ranked Windsor at Central Connecticut’s Arute Field.
The first time, the ball sailed through the uprights, but Windsor had called a timeout right before the kick, so it didn’t count.
Zylick tried again. This time, the kick was short, but the officials called roughing the kicker, a call with which Windsor coach Rob Fleeting did not agree.
Zylick lined up again. This time, with four seconds left, the 27-yard field goal counted and No. 6-seeded Masuk defeated previously unbeaten Windsor 24-21 for the state title on a chilly Friday night.
“I thought, ‘Oh, shoot, it’s the third try, but we got it done,” Zylick said. “I had a feeling, I don’t know how, before the game, it could come down to a kick.”
It was Masuk’s first title since 2010.
Windsor, the No. 1 team in the Courant’s state coaches poll, now 12-1, left the field stunned and deflated.
“I take my hat off to Masuk,” Fleeting said. “I take my hat off to both teams. I thought we both played hard. You hate to see a game end like that on what I feel is a bad call.”
Fleeting said he thought when the ball fell short in the end zone, the game was about to go into overtime.
“I didn’t even see the flag,” he said. “I heard people saying, ‘What’s going on? They threw a flag. No way.’
“We looked at the camera – the (Windsor player) got tossed into the kicker. I asked them, I said, ‘Hey, I’m seeing the guy got tossed into the kicker.’”
But the officials stood by their call. Windsor got the ball back with four seconds left but couldn’t do anything and the game was over.
“Amazing. Amazing,” Masuk coach Steve Christy said. “(Zylick) is legit, he’s a stud. I had full confidence in him. I played for that.”
Masuk quarterback Aaron Champagne completed 15 of 21 passes for 187 yards and two touchdowns. Windsor was led by senior running back John Manning, who had 38 carries for 208 yards and two touchdowns.
Masuk scored first on a Champagne 26-yard touchdown pass to Shane Walker and the Panthers led 7-0 with 8:34 left in the first quarter. Manning put Windsor on the board with an 8-yard touchdown run with 10:50 left in the first quarter and the kick was good to tie the score at 7-7.
Champagne had a 56-yard pass to Gavin Walker to put Masuk on the 5-yard line and then he had a touchdown pass to Steven Curtin to give the Panthers a 14-7 lead with 7:56 left in the first half.
With the clock running down in the half, Windsor AJ Robinson had two incomplete passes but he hit Jaden Langford with a 64-yard touchdown pass on the third attempt and Windsor scored. The kick failed and Windsor trailed, 14-13 at halftime.
Masuk recovered a Windsor fumble early in the second half and marched down the field to the 1-yard line and Tariq Al-Hameedi scored with 6:41 left and Zylick’s kick was good to put Masuk up 21-13.
Lewis picked off a Champagne pass and on the next play, Manning scored on a 10-yard run and ran in the two-point conversion to tie the score at 21 with 4:28 left in the third quarter.
Windsor had a chance for a field goal but missed in the fourth.
So it came down to the last play.
“We just did what we do in practice, rep through it,” Zylick said. “I got a great snapper, holder, great team to block, great coaches to support me.”
Class MM championship
Masuk 24, Windsor 21
Masuk 7 7 7 3 – 24
Windsor 0 13 8 0 – 21
First quarter
M-Shane Walker 26 pass from Aaron Champagne (Jackson Zylick kick)
Second quarter
W-John Manning 8 run (Matthew Nesheiwat kick)
M-Steven Curtin 5 pass from Champagne (Zylick kick)
W-Jaden Langford 64 pass from AJ Robinson (kick failed)
Third quarter
M-Tariq Al-Hameedi 1 run (Zylick kick)
W-Manning 10 run (Manning run)
Fourth quarter
M-Zylick 27 FG
Records: Windsor, 12-1; Masuk, 10-3.