By Rob Gullo
NEFJ Correspondent

SOUTHINGTON — Hosting the No. 10 Cheshire Rams in the 29th Apple Valley Classic Thanksgiving Day game, the Southington Blue Knights football team broke a two-game skid against Cheshire with a dominant 31-0 shutout victory.

The Blue Knights were led on offense by running back Ben Beaulieu, who scored three touchdowns (two rushing, one receiving) and quarterback Luke Prozzo, who threw a pair of touchdown passes.

Beaulieu was named the Player of the Game, Prozzo earned Offensive Player of the Game, and linebacker Connor Orange earned Defensive Player of the Game (two fumble recoveries.)

Heading into the game, Southington coach Rob Levesque treated this year’s Apple Valley Classic like any other year. With how amplified the Southington-Cheshire rivalry is, it doesn’t matter what the team’s records are, their recent success, or who won last year’s game.

“I think records go out the window for this game,” said Levesque. “If we were 3-7 last year and they were 7-3, it doesn’t really matter, we’re going to go into this game like [it’s] the Super Bowl. Some people talk about looking forward to the playoffs and the teams that make it, that’s not happening.”

“This is the Super Bowl for both of us,” Levesque continued. “Emotions are a big part of this game, they’re either going to hurt you or help you and I think our kids’ emotions were in check today, helping us execute the ball at all three phases of the game.”

Southington jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter. Prozzo connected with wide receiver Jaxiel Rivera on a 36-yard touchdown pass on his first throw of the game.

“It was great, offensive coordinator called a great play, and that just got the game started,” said Prozzo. “I knew from that pass we were going to keep firing and win this game. It got the momentum for us to keep going.”

A 24-yard field goal from kicker Sawyer Trudeau gave the Blue Knights a 10-0 lead with 1:49 left in the opening quarter.

A second made field goal by Trudeau with 25.8 seconds left in the half gave Southington a 13-0 lead at the break.

Southington opened up the second half, scoring on its opening drive as Beaulieu took a screen 40 yards for a score. With a missed extra point, Southington gained a 19-0 lead less than two minutes into the second half.

A Beaulieu three-yard touchdown run gave Southington a 25-0 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Beaulieu would punch in another rushing touchdown early in the fourth quarter, giving Southington a 31-0 lead with 11:07 left in the game.

Beaulieu, who began the season as RB4 for Southington, has become the team’s leading rusher and brought his rushing touchdown total to 10 on the season with his hat-trick. The selfless sophomore once again pointed to his linemen for allowing him to thrive and said it feels good to have the trust of the team as a sophomore.

“My offensive line is the best in the state,” said Beaulieu. “They’re all a bunch of dogs, they’re great people and great linemen. Being able to be trusted as a sophomore feels great.”

Like they did all game, the Southington defense, which recorded four turnovers, had every answer for the Cheshire offense and stopped them all game. Cheshire came close to scoring midway through the third quarter, but quarterback Aiden Gregorich was picked off in the end zone by Southington defensive back Austin Sirois.

Prior to Thursday morning’s game, Southington had already clinched a playoff spot in the CIAC Class LL playoffs. With the win, they secured a home playoff game in the first-round of the playoffs.

The Blue Knights finished the regular season with a 7-3 record and are riding a five-game win streak, including wins over two top-10 opponents (Windsor, Southington.) The Blue Knights finished last season 3-7 and missed the postseason.

Levesque said the team reflected, made corrections to mistakes, and fully bought in after the team’s Week 5 42-14 loss to New Britain, which had the blue Knights sitting at 2-3. Those have been the three key components to Southington’s recent success.

“Reflection, we’re big self reflectors, coaches, players, we looked in the mirror and we knew we were better than what we were,” said Levesque. “When we lost those games, they were identifiable mistakes that were correctable, and we got back to the drawing board and we committed to correcting them.

“That’s the biggest difference, these kids have bought in, they believe, and that’s the difference right now.”