Last season, Maloney lost four of its first six games, but the Spartans’ early schedule was brutal and two of its first three opponents were New Canaan, which went on to win its third straight Class L title, and Staples, the 2023 Class LL champion.
They still advanced to the playoffs for the seventh straight year, losing to New Canaan 41-7 in the Class L quarterfinals.
This season, the early going has been a little better for Maloney. The Spartans are 4-0 heading into a tough Alliance game Friday against Fairfield Prep, ranked No. 6 in The Courant’s state coaches poll, at Fairfield University.
“We’re off to a pretty good start,” Maloney coach Kevin Frederick said. “I like the way our team is trending.”
While his first-year quarterback Eli Showerda, who’s 52-for-70 passing for 765 yards and 10 touchdowns with no interceptions on the season, and running back Devan Bacote (393 yards, six TDs) are playing well, Frederick likes the way his offensive line is holding up so far.
“I think our offensive line is the key,” he said. “Our offensive and defensive lines are playing really well. We were able to dominate the line of scrimmage in some of those games we played well and won.”
Senior right guard Kamarii DuBose (5-10, 275) is a three-year starter and he lines up with junior left tackle Mike Talley (6-6, 340), sophomore left guard Bryce Dolan (6-4, 300), right tackle Chris McDonald (6-3, 285) and senior center Jamari Harrell (5-10, 250).
“A lot of them only play one way so we can keep those guys fresh,” Frederick said.
They will have their work cut out for them Friday against Fairfield Prep, whose only loss is to unbeaten Greenwich, ranked No. 2 in The Courant poll.
“It’s going to be a big challenge for us but it’s something we’re looking forward to,” Frederick said. “We understand what’s at stake.”
Cheshire scores big upset
The Rams (3-2) gave Hand, which was ranked No. 3 last week, its first loss, 28-27, in overtime Friday night at the Surf Club in Madison. Quarterback Aiden Gregorich had a two-yard touchdown run in overtime and passed to Liam Suomala for the winning two-point conversion.
“There was a lot of, just, belief,” Cheshire coach Don Drust said. “Our kids worked really hard all week. We’ve played some really good teams – Wilton is a very good football team, North Haven is very good, Guilford, they’re a good football team.
“Our kids looked at it and said, ‘We got to clean some stuff up, we’re not far off. We got to be a little more consistent.’”
Cheshire was losing 13-3 at halftime but that didn’t faze the Rams.
“It didn’t feel negative,” Drust said.
Cheshire scored 17 third-quarter points but Hand snuck back in the waning moments of the game to tie the score at 20 when Stone Leckey caught a 17-yard TD pass from Robert Reh. Hand scored in overtime but didn’t go for two points.
“You’re playing the (No. 3) team in the state at the Surf Club,” Drust said. “You get an opportunity to win a game like that, you go and win the game.”
Hand dropped to No. 7 in the top 10 poll this week.
Windsor’s quarterback AJ Robinson had six touchdowns in a win over . (Aaron Flaum/Hartford Courant)
Here are some highlights from last weekend:
New Britain senior Jayden Allen had 236 yards on 33 carries and four touchdowns in a 42-14 win over Southington. … Windsor senior quarterback AJ Robinson had five touchdown passes and one rushing TD in the Warriors’ 52-7 win over Enfield. Jayden Compton caught two of Robinson’s TD passes and Mason Brown had a 53-yard interception return for a touchdown and caught one of Robinson’s passes in the first quarter for Windsor (5-0). … Jalil Montgomery had four touchdown runs, including a 49-yarder in the second quarter, to boost South Windsor over Conard, 50-26 Saturday. Montgomery had 18 carries for 202 yards. Conard quarterback Brady Cersosimo completed 19 of 21 passes for 209 yards and two touchdowns. … Jacoby Roman completed 21 of 30 passes for 223 yards and two touchdowns in a 42-14 loss to New Britain. … Jamien Evans had two touchdown passes for Haddam-Killingworth in a 20-13 victory over Morgan/Old Saybrook/Westbrook. Trevor Powell took MSW down the field with three minutes left and scored on a 2-yard run to cut the lead to one touchdown with under a minute left but H-K recovered the onsides kick to hold on for the win. … Josh Duran rushed for 190 yards and two touchdowns in Sheehan’s 28-14 victory over Xavier. … Darren Ghostlaw completed 10 of 11 passes for 192 yards and three TDs in Rockville’s 35-13 win over Stafford Friday. The Rams are 5-0.
Games to Watch
Maloney (4-0) at Fairfield Prep (4-1), Friday, 6 p.m. at Fairfield University: This is a big game for Maloney and a chance to make a statement against a team that is ranked No. 2 in Class LL. Fairfield Prep’s only loss is to unbeaten Greenwich, top-ranked in Class LL.
Guilford (4-1) at Platt (3-1), Friday, 6:30 p.m. at Falcon Field, Meriden: Platt had a big overtime win over Glastonbury two weeks ago and had a bye week last week and will get right back into it in an Alliance game against Guilford, whose only loss came to Cheshire in Week 2.
