EAST HARTFORD — The Allard brothers are of one mind when it comes to football.
“We never give up, like three times we were down two scores and we came back to win,” Hayden Allard said, after scoring five touchdowns in Killingly’s 48-33 victory over Sheehan-Wallingford in the CIAC Class SS championship game, a Friday night barn-burner at Renschler Field.
“We never give up,” echoed Hunter Allard, who had two big receptions and one interception. “We just keep fighting.”
The Allard twins, juniors, are brothers of few words, large deeds. Two of a kind, they made their best bid to try to vault Killingly (13-0) to the No.1 spot in the state polls.
“I thank their parents for having twins,” coach Chad Neal said. “They’re just great kids. They don’t say a word, they work hard. Hunter’s a dog, he’s tough, physical. Hayden is, too. They just complement each other so well.”
Killingly, out in the state’s “quiet” Northeast corner, has become one of the premier football powers. This was the school’s fifth state title dating back to 1981, its third since 2017, and it has reached the semifinals in eight of the last nine seasons thanks in large part to the well-coordinated youth programs in the area. The youth coaches in Brooklyn were the ones who identified Hayden was a running back, Hunter a receiver, and they’ve been in those positions ever since.
The juniors and seniors who led this Killingly team watched the 2017 and 21 state champs with admiration in their eyes, and have been knocking on the door to get their own.
“Watching the 2017 team that went undefeated, we looked up to them,” Hunter Allard said. “My freshman year (2022), we came here and lost. I remembered the feeling. So I wanted to come back and win it.”
They dominated most of their opponents start to finish his season, outscoring them by 454 points, 34.9 per game, but Sheehan-Wallingford staged two epic battles to try to take Killingly down. In its closest game of the season, Killingly defeated the Titans 32-26 on Sept. 27.
On Friday night, Sheehan (10-3) slugged away on offense, matching Killingly drive for drive, breakout run for breakout run. The Titans, down eight, were pounding toward a potential tying score when Killingly forced a fumble and Payton Wallace recovered at the 6-yard line. Then Killingly marched 94 yards, scoring with 1:21 left on quarterback Quinn Sumner’s 1-yard push to finally put it out of reach.
“Our guys have heart and their tough and they compete and we gave it all we had,” Sheehan coach John Ferrazzi said. “The game was going to come down to playing defense. The team that got the most stops was going to win. These kids fought this year, overcame a lot, got better and better every week and for that I am proud of them. This loss stinks, but it’s a hell of a group of kids we have here.”
No argument from Killingly, which knew it was in a battle throughout the frigid night. Hayden Allard carried 36 times for 267 yards, scoring on runs of 18, 3, 57 and 13 yards from scrimmage, and had an 81-yard kickoff return for a touchdown that turned momentum Killingly’s way in the second quarter, after Sheehan had taken a 14-6 lead.
“We needed a big play there,” Hayden said. “I saw a lane and I just hit it. I just wanted to score every time I touched the ball. Didn’t want to go down, didn’t want to get tackled.”
Hayden Allard finished the season with 1,791 rushing yards. He scored seven TDs in the season-opener against Stonington.
Hunter stymied one early Sheehan drive with an interception near midfield, and his two over-the-shoulder catches for 59 yards positioned Killingly for two TDs. Everton Brown also had a 40-yard TD breakaway for Killingly.
There was only one punt, by Sheehan, in the game. Neither defense was able to stop the opponent except by takeaway. Two offensive lines were simply too skillful in opening holes for their ballcarriers.
Richard Van Dyke had an interception and a 49-yard fumble recovery return to help set up Sheehan touchdowns. Joshua Durant and Jack Grant each scored two touchdowns, Jake O’Brien scored the other for the Titans.
Given their 13-0 record, the wide margins of victory and Windsor’s loss to Masuk-Monroe in the Class MM championship, Killingly was ranked ninth in the Courant’s coaches poll following the regular season, and finally broke into GametimeCT’s Top 10 writers poll at No. 10. Going into Saturday’s championship games, Brookfield (12-0), scheduled to play St. Joseph-Trumbull in Class M, was the other remaining unbeaten team.
“Why not consider us?” Neal said. “If we’re the only undefeated team, consider us. That’s all I’m asking. I know we’re in Windham County, people see our schedule and say this and that. I get it. The FCIAC, SCC, SWC, there’s all great teams. I get it. Just keep us in the conversation. But either way, whether we’re No.1 or not, we’re state champions. That’s the main thing.”