TOLLAND – For the Newington football team, last season was one of those that the players and coaches will talk about for a long time.
The Nor’easters went from a two-win campaign the year before to being a touchdown shy of finishing the regular season undefeated, then they knocked off Wethersfield, the team that had denied them their undefeated regular season, the next week in the first round of the playoffs.
They made it to the Class MM semifinals, fueled by defense and the donuts they got after putting up zeroes on the scoreboard. They had five shutouts and three games where they gave up only one touchdown.
This year is a bit of a different story. Quarterback Enzo Corvino graduated, as did two-way star Aiden Bengtson. They have fewer numbers. More players have to play two ways. They are a work in progress.
But their defense – spearheaded by senior linebackers Josiah Sims, Mason Hill and Heath Weeden – is still strong. They earned their donuts this week after shutting out Tolland, 35-0 on Friday night.
“We had a stronger team last year but over the summer, we worked together, we came out here tonight and got a good win,” said Hill, who rushed for 89 yards and a touchdown and had eight tackles.
“Last year we had a great defense. We lost a lot of people. But all the people stepped up this year. We know our assignments and know what we have to do.”
Newington linebacker Mason Hill tracks down Tolland quarterback Brayden O’Connor Friday night during Newington’s 35-0 win over Tolland at Tolland High School. (Photo by Tom Fearney)
Sims, who started on defense last year and played some offense, has seen a bigger role on offense this season. He’s a receiver, a running back– he does a little of everything. He rushed for 118 yards and three touchdowns and had nine tackles and blocked a punt Friday night.
“I feel like our defense is still the same,” Sims said. “We’ve been making big time plays when it’s needed. Our offense is getting better little by little; hopefully by the end of the season it will be at full capacity.”
Victor Rodriguez was moved from linebacker to quarterback and offensively, things are not quite where they were last year. But the Nor’easters have Sims, who is big and fast and has an offer from Wagner to play next year and is hoping for more. Last year, Evan Piggott was the main running back but he graduated and now Sims is getting his turn.
“If I get the ball, I feel like we’re going to score,” Sims said.
Sims scored on a 38-yard run less than four minutes into the game and again on a 4-yard run with 3:21 left in the first half. He scored on a 28-yard run late in the third quarter and when Newington went up 35-0 on a 46-yard touchdown run by Hill heading into the fourth quarter, the game went into running time.
Last week in a 21-14 win over Bristol Central, Sims caught a 77-yard touchdown pass from Rodriguez
“If you get him the ball in the middle, he can run it up the gut,” said Newington coach John Acquavita, the veteran coach who took over at Newington three years ago. “If you get him out on the edge, he can make a big play.
“He’s a nice 1-2 punch with Mason, which is good because both guys play a lot of D so they can spell each other at little bit on O. We’re not as deep as last year. Heath’s playing on one leg and he’s still dominating.”
Weeden, who injured his knee against Bristol Central and has been limited in practice, had 13 tackles, four for losses and two fumble recoveries. Last week, in a 21-14 win over Bristol Central, Weeden had eight solo tackles and nine assists.
“Last week was a battle, great game,” Acquavita said. “This was a good performance. They were smart. They didn’t get beat on the double wing, play action pass. We played it smart.”
Acquavita is doing what he can with what he has. He’s down about a dozen players, numbers-wise, from last year. He’s trying not to burn out his best players. Friday night, he was able to play a lot of younger players in the second half to see how they did and they responded.
“Last year’s team, there was a lot of depth,” he said. “Aiden Bengtsten was the only two-way player. Everybody else was able to rest. That is interesting this year, we don’t have the depth but that little sequence at the end where there were nine backups playing and holding strong gives us a chance to continue to build depth as the season goes on.”
Newington 35, Tolland 0
Newington 14 7 14 0 -35
Tolland 0 0 0 0 – 0
First quarter
N- Josiah Sims 38 run (Erik Brito kick)
N-Jaden Mangual 60 interception (Brito kick)
Second quarter
N-Sims 4 run (Brito kick)
Third quarter
N-Sims 28 run (Brito kick)
N-Mason Hill 46 run (Brito kick)
Records: Newington, 2-0; Tolland, 0-2.
