For the first time in a long time, Patriots fans woke up Monday morning lamenting a loss. It seemed as if New England would never lose again on the magical ride that’s been the 2025 season. But, Buffalo did what championship teams do, dominating the second half before finding a way to win a tough, old school division game on the road. The Patriots lost the chance to celebrate an…
Image courtesy of ESPN FOXBOROUGH – This was supposed to be a day like so many back in the mid-2000s. Tailgates were firing by 9:00 a.m. Rte. 1 was backed up by 9:30. Snowy, sold out Gillette Stadium was rocking on Sunday and for a while, it seemed like there would be quite a celebration for the new AFC East champs as the Patriots built two 21-point leads in the…
Image courtesy of Scott Sulkazi By Andy Close NEFJ Correspondent NEW BRITAIN — Greenwich made back-to-back look easy on Saturday. The Cardinals put together a dominant first half, as Jack Kelly accounted for four total touchdowns in a 45-6 win over Southington in the Class LL title game to win a second consecutive state title. “It feels surreal,” Kelly said. “We came into this season and said we can’t get……
Image courtesy of Dan Heary By Rob Gullo NEFJ Correspondent NEW BRITAIN — When Brookfield scored a touchdown and converted a two-point conversion to take a 15-14 lead over Berlin with 48 seconds left in Saturday’s CIAC Class M state championship game at Arute Field, it looked as if the Bobcats were going to avenge last year’s title loss and becomes this year’s champion. Berlin’s Eli Rice had different plans….
Image courtesy of Scott Sulkazi By Andy Close NEFJ Correspondent NEW BRITAIN — Make it four in a row for the New Canaan Rams. Behind 166 yards and two touchdowns on the ground from Finn Mocco , the Rams rolled to their fourth consecutive CIAC Class L title, 34-13 over Cheshire on Saturday. It was a dominant performance from start to finish from one of New England’s premier programs. It…
Image courtesy of Carlos Rodriguez By Rob Gullo NEFJ Correspondent NEW BRITAIN — A year ago, Windsor saw its season-long goal of becoming state champions come up short at the hands of the Masuk Panthers, who defeated the Warriors by three points for the 2024 CIAC Class MM state title. Fast forward a year later to Saturday and the opportunity wasn’t going to pass them by this time. Windsor defeated…
By Craig Boland NEFJ Correspondent NEW BRITAIN – With three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Sheehan running back Joshua Durant carried multiple Northwest Catholic defenders into the end zone (with a helpful push from multiple linemen) for his third rushing touchdown of the day, putting Sheehan ahead 21-7 after a Reid Carter extra point. Northwest Catholic would not score again, and the Titans went on to win the Connecticut…
Image courtesy of Scott Sulkazi By Rob Gullo NEFJ Correspondent NEW BRITAIN — A 27-point second half by Hand in the CIAC Class SS championship on Saturday led to the 15th state title in program history as the No. 2 Tigers defeated No. 1 Killingly, 37-13. Trailing the Trailblazers 13-10 midway through the third quarter, Hand retook the lead 17-13 as Lucca Boyce rushed for his second touchdown of the…
UNH fans woke up to some pretty stunning news on Saturday morning. Longtime head coach and former Wildcat Rock Santos is leaving to become the head coach of the Ivy League’s Penn Quakers. Santos led the Wildcats to a 37–24 overall record and a 28–12 record in the CAA over his five seasons as head coach. UNH earned NCAA FCS Playoff berths in 2022, 2024, and 2025 under Santos. In…
Image courtesy of the New England Patriots FOXBOROUGH – No one in New England was more happy for Bob Chesney when he got the UCLA job than Ashton Grant. It’s well-known that the Patriots’ quarterbacks coach played for Chesney during his days at Assumption. Of course, he was thrilled for his old coach and mentor to get his first big time FBS gig after leading James Madison to the College…