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12/03/2016 11:00 PMThe Valley Regional-Old Lyme football team opened the Class M State Playoffs on the right foot and largely did so on the strength of Matt Sapere’s two feet. Sapere, a senior captain quarterback, ran for 244 yards and three touchdowns on 14 carries and also threw a TD pass to lead the Warriors to a 30-12 blowout of Berlin in Deep River on Nov. 29.
With the victory, top-seeded Valley-Old Lyme won its seventh-straight game, improved to 10-1, and advanced to a semifinal showdown at home against No. 5 St. Joseph (9-2) at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 5. If the Warriors win that one, they’ll go for their second state title in three years and take on the winner of Hillhouse and Killingly in the final on Saturday, Dec. 10.
Head Coach Tim King was impressed with how his team began its postseason quest by dispatching No. 8 seed Berlin (8-2), a program that always puts a solid product on the field.
“It was a big win for the program. There is no doubt about it. It was a big win. We didn’t win a state title, but we beat a terrific Berlin team,” Coach King said. “We saw them the week prior and they beat New Britain and, year in and year out, Berlin is always a quality team. They’re in the playoffs almost every year and so to beat them is a huge feather in our kids’ hat.”
Sapere’s big night saw him rush for 60-yard touchdown on the game’s first play from scrimmage to set the tone for a 21-point first quarter for the Warriors. He added an 82-yard scoring rush in the second to stake Valley-Old Lyme to a 28-0 halftime advantage. Valley led 30-0 by the time Berlin got on the board late in the final period.
Sapere has had an excellent season as the Warriors’ signal caller, doing a lot of his damage through the air. Against Berlin, however, Valley’s coaching staff decided to take the shackles off Sapere and give him a chance to break off some big plays in the ground game. Sapere delivered by running circles around the Redcoats.
“The thing was that we kind of held back. [Offensive coordinator Kevin Woods] held back running Matt all year and we knew he could run the ball very well. So going into the game, the newspaper was talking about stopping [Daniel Stecher and Garrett Burdick]. The article came out right before the game, Matt read that and was a little upset, and said, ‘Give me the ball,’” Coach King said. “We hadn’t run Matt very much and Coach Woods saved him for the playoffs, so they know if they want to stop Dan and Garrett, they now realize they have to stop Matt, too. And that makes it a little harder if they have stop him.”
Berlin couldn’t stop Sapere on Valley’s first play as he ran right, made one cut and bounced it outside, and then outraced everyone down the sideline for a 60-yard touchdown rush. Senior Garrett Burdick kicked the extra point and the Warriors had a quick 7-0 lead.
“That was huge,” said King. “I think it opened up lots of eyes and it was like, ‘Well, Valley is for real now.’”
Not long after, Valley was in Redcoats’ territory when Sapere got forced out of the pocket and lofted a pass to end zone. The ball went just over the fingertips of Berlin’s defender and into the mitts of Warriors’ junior Ernest Jean-Pierre for a 28-yard touchdown pass and a 14-0 advantage. Later in the quarter, senior captain Mitch Conrad recovered a fumble that set up Sapere’s 12-yard TD run to make it 21-0 after one.
Following an interception by Burdick in the second quarter, Sapere busted the game wide open by taking home an 82-yard scoring scamper. Burdick kicked his fourth extra point and Valley had a 28-0 command at halftime. Sapere’s 80-yarder unfolded similarly to the 60-yard rush, although he ran to his left instead of the right. Either way, Coach King knew that Berlin was going to be hard-pressed to overcome a 28-point deficit in the second half.
“That was a nail in the coffin. With less than two minutes on the clock, that really took the wind out of them,” King said. “They could put 28 points up in the second half, but it was going to be a struggle for them to do it the way we were playing defense.”
Valley’s defense accounted for the lone score of the third quarter as junior Roan Sullivan tackled a Berlin player in the end zone for a safety and a 30-0 lead. The Warriors limited Berlin to just five first downs and forced its two quarterbacks to throw three interceptions. Burdick had two of them to increase his school record total to 12 for the season, while junior Jake Kruszewski also picked off a pass for Valley-Old Lyme. Burdick additionally recovered a fumble, as did Conard and senior Ian Humphreys, while senior Charlie Littler forced a fumble. Littler and junior Jud O’Brien had a sack apiece for the Warriors, whose leading tacklers were senior captain Stecher with 14, plus senior Cody Stalls with eight that included three for lost yardage.
Coach King said that the offensive approach of the Warriors’ two prior opponents gave them a head-start in terms of preparing for Berlin’s double wing attack.
“We were blessed to play H-K and Granby because they ran some double wing looks at us, so went Berlin went to the double wing, the only difference was personnel,” King said. “So the H-K game was big and gave us a really good look at what they do and how the double wing is run. And [defensive coordinator Bobby Sanchez] did an unbelievable job of scouting and, when Berlin did go to a spread, we handled it well.”
Coach King also praised the play of his offensive line for opening huge holes that Sapere exploited on his way to his career performance. The Warriors’ line was led by junior center Ian Neviaser, Conard and Littler at the guards, and Stalls and senior Jeremy LaCasse at the tackle spots. Tight ends Humphreys and Sullivan also played key roles in Valley’s block party. Running back Stecher added 43 yards on 10 carries for the Warriors.
“By far, this was the best I’ve seen us play this whole year on the offensive line,” said King. “I told them after the game that in all my time coaching that was some of the best blocking I’ve ever seen. You could use some of those clips on a highlight film on how to block. They were picture perfect.”
With the Berlin victory in the books, the Warriors set their sights on facing St. Joseph in the Class M semifinals. The two teams were battling for the No. 1 seed right through Thanksgiving, when the Cadets lost to Trumbull, thus clinching the top spot for Valley. St. Joseph, which plays in the Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference, bounced back by beating Wolcott 48-21 in its first playoff game. This will mark the fifth time in seven years that Valley-Old Lyme has reached the state semis. The Warriors faced St. Joseph in the Class S semifinals in 2010 and took a 44-7 defeat.
“St. Joseph is one of the premier program in the state and, year in and year out, they are in the state championship game. I’m not quite sure how many they have, but it has to be like five or six state championships, and the last time we met was a pretty good whopping we took. So we know they will come in ready to play and have 100 kids on their sideline and we’ll have 30 and they’re going to be St. Joseph,” Coach King said. “So it should be a lot of fun. We’re looking forward to it. They have to come to us and one thing, too, is that they’ve played a lot on turf and now we get them on the grass field, so it will be interesting.”
From the Sidelines
The 2016 All-Pequot Conference selections were recently announced and Valley Regional-Old Lyme was well-represented on the All-Sassacus Team. Matt Sapere made it as the quarterback with Mitch Conrad sealing a spot on the offensive line. On defense, Garrett Burdick (defensive back), Dan Stecher (linebacker), and Cody Stalls (defensive line) were the Warriors’ All-Conference honorees.
On the other side of the Class M State Playoff bracket, No. 2 seed Hillhouse defeated Killingly 27-14 in one quarterfinal contest, while Killingly was a 27-7 victor versus Bunnell in the other quarterfinal.
In terms of the three other football State Playoff tournaments, Darien is playing Southington in one of the Class LL semifinal matchups with Ridgefield facing Shelton in the other. In Class L, the semifinal games are Windsor vs. Middletown and New Canaan vs. Notre Dame-West Haven. For the Class S bracket, Seymour will take on Rocky Hill and Ansonia is playing Cromwell-Portland in the quarterfinal round.