Turkey and tournament collide

When 10 a.m. rolls around Thursday morning and the ball is kicked off for another edition of the Cheshire-Southington Thanksgiving rivalry game, there will be a lot more on the line than pride. At the end, one team will be giving thanks while another curses the spirit of Thanksgiving.



It's always fun on Thanksgiving between Cheshire and Southington...this is

from 2007. (photo courtesy of record-journal.com)



As usual, there is no love lost between the bordering towns. Each will enter the Thanksgiving Day game treating it like the final battle of a border war; every year it's treated like the final battle. This will be no different.

Here's what is different: Cheshire (4-5), the defending Class LL champs, has been eliminated from playoff contention and has nothing to lose. That is in much part thanks to an absolute brutal schedule as the team's losses came against, undefeated, LL No. 1, Xavier, 8-win, L No. 3 Hand, 7-win, LL No. 10 West Haven, 6-win Notre Dame-West Haven and 4-win Wilbur Cross. Those are some just tough, tough match-ups in the Southern Connecticut Conference (SCC).

On the flip side, Southington (8-1) has everything to gain and everything to lose. Currently sitting pretty at No. 5 in the Class LL rankings, a loss would possibly drop them out of the tournament, a win means they hang at No. 5 and possibly sneak up to a No. 4 seed and a possible home game. Unlike Cheshire, though, the Blue Knights' schedule has been forgiving as only three of the team's wins have come against opponents at .500 or better. The other five victories were against squads with two wins or less.

In the grand scheme, both teams are more evenly matched than the records would suggest. And as is the case with every rivalry game, everything gets thrown out the window for this one and all that matters is the 48 minutes of football between 10 a.m. and about 1 p.m.

So what to expect...
One storyline is obvious - D.J. Hernandez, Southington head coach, will be back on the sidelines for the first time since the Newington game on Nov. 5. That's just under three weeks, but granted, there has only been one game since then. It will be interesting to see if there is any change in his demeanor or coaching style after everything that has happened over the past couple of weeks.

In regards to the actual action on the field, Southington has gotten better and better offensively over the last couple of weeks as senior quarterback Connor Butkiewicz has been reinserted into the lineup. The team played sloppy against Newington, bounced back and played great against East Hartford and with two weeks to prepare, looks primed for Cheshire.

It has to be noted that while Hernandez has suffered a publicity nightmare, he has pushed almost every right button this season.

• In the Glastonbury win in game two, he turned strictly to the Wildcat offense with Connor Butkiewicz hurting, and Joe Pesce ran all over the Tomahawks for the victory.
• Also, the defense continues to rally around each other even after key injury after key injury have piled up.
• When running back Matt Scarpati went down for the year, in stepped Jarrid Grimmett who has taken off in the lead-back role.
• With Butkiewicz out, Hernandez turned to Stephen Barmore, a freshman, to take the reins at QB and Barmore excelled as one of the most efficient QBs in the state.
• Other minor decisions that paid off include the insertion of Jordan Chapman at kicker, as he's been almost perfect.

The one slip-up came on the soggy field against Windsor when Pesce went down early, Butkiewicz was already out and there was no real back-up plan. Nick Gothberg tried valiantly, but the Knights lost 12-8 and that is still the only blemish on the record.

So say what you will about Hernandez, but he's had the Midas Touch this season when it comes to managing his players.

All that being said, the key to tomorrow's contest is the same as it's been all year - play really good defense, utilize offensive weapons Jordan Chapman and Tyler Dube, and don't make mistakes. This team has a ton of talent (we haven't even mentioned key players Zach Wholley and Andrew Walowski) and they can do some damage in the tournament, but they have to get there and they'll have to be mentally prepared when they awake Thursday morning and get ready for the game.

The Rams of Cheshire are going to take no prisoners and after what they'd call a lost season, to end it with a win and knocking Southington out of a playoff spot would be nothing short of gravy on top of their Thanksgiving feast.

Strap your boot buckles up tight, because it's going to be a drop down, drag-out, battle. Still, I give the nod to Southington, at home, in front of their fans, with everything to play for. See you in the morning.

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