2004 Class LL Football Playoffs

Scoring summaries and game stories courtesy of The Hartford Courant, Bristol Press, Connecticut Post, Danbury News-Times, Manchester Journal Inquirer, Middletown Press, New Britain Herald, New London Day, New Haven Register, Norwich Bulletin, Stamford Advocate, Torrington Register-Citizen, Waterbury Republican-American.

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Final Class LL Playoff Point Rankings | Class LL Regular Season Results
Class LL Rosters: Bridgeport Central* | East Catholic/Cheney Tech* | Greenwich | New Britain

FINALS

NB Mike McLeod 1 run (kick failed)
NB McLeod 60 run (Chris Roberts kick)
G Tom Brown 1 run (kick failed)
NB McLeod 8 run (Roberts kick)
G Brown 1 run (Brandon San Antonio kick)
G Chad Ingalls 8 interception return (San Antonio kick)
G San Antonio 91 pass from Ian Barto (Dennis Bien kick)
NB McLeod 58 run (Roberts kick)
NB Nick Colagiovanni 10 pass from Roberts (kick blocked)
G Anthony Cameron 60 pass from Barto (San Antonio kick)
NB Ed Campbell 27 pass from Roberts (pass failed)

West Haven - Ed Campbell caught a 27-yard touchdown pass from Chris Roberts with 5 minutes, 1 second left in the game for the go-ahead score as New Britain defeated Greenwich, 39-34, to win its second consecutive CIAC Class LL championship game at Strong Stadium.

"It's just a great feeling," Roberts said. "We had to fight back. We kept our heads up high. We just kept fighting and fighting, and we never thought we were going to lose. We always knew we were going to win this game."

Mike McLeod had 22 carries for 184 yards and four touchdowns for the Golden Hurricanes (12-1) and was named his team's MVP. Roberts was 14-of-23 for 241 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.

New Britain's win now sets up debate as to which team is the No. 1 in the state - Hand of Madison or New Britain.

Greenwich was No. 1 in The Day Top 10 poll while the Golden Hurricanes were No. 3. New Britain's loss came out of state, however, to Xaverian (Mass.), 49-0.

Hand of Madison (13-0), which was ranked second, defeated Brookfield, 35-6, in the CIAC Class M game. No team that had one loss has ever finished above an unbeaten team in the coaches' poll.

Greenwich (12-1) fell behind 13-0 early, but came back in the second half. The game had four lead changes in the second half.

McLeod scored on runs of 1 and 60 yards to give New Britain a 13-0 lead with 4:33 left in the first quarter.

Tom Brown scored on a 1-yard run for Greenwich (12-1), the Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference champion, early in the second quarter. McLeod scored again, this time on an 8-yard run, however Brown scored on a 1-yard run with 1:11 left in the first half to cut New Britain's lead to 20-13.

Greenwich tied the game early in the third quarter when Chad Ingalls had an 8-yard interception return for a touchdown. The Cardinals would go ahead, 27-20, when Brandon Sanantonio took a pass from Ian Barto and turned it into a 91-yard touchdown late in the third quarter.

The lead was short lived as McLeod scored on a 58-yard run to tie the game at 27-27.
Nick Colagiovanni caught a 10-yard touchdown from Chris Roberts with 9:19 left in the game to give the Golden Hurricanes a 33-27 lead, however the extra point was blocked.

Greenwich took the lead again 19 seconds later when Anthony Cameron scored on a 60-yard touchdown pass from Barto. The extra point gave Greenwich a 34-33 lead.

The Cardinals stopped New Britain on fourth down with over 6 minutes left, however Carlos Amaro intercepted a Barto pass to give the Golden Hurricanes the ball at the Greenwich 27. Two plays later, Roberts and Campbell hooked up for the go-ahead touchdown.

Barto was 6-of-17 for 200 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions for Greenwich. Jones added 63 yards on eight carries while Brown had 43 yards on 19 carries.

SEMIFINALS

G - Tom Brown 38 run (Brandon San Antonio kick)
G - San Antonio 37 field goal
G - Cameron Jones 1 run (kick failed)
G - San Antonio 82 pass from Ian Barto (kick failed)
G - Kevin Chao 1 run (San Antonio kick)

The Greenwich High School football team advanced to the CIAC Class LL finals for the fifth time in six years with a convincing 29-0 semifinal round home win last night over East Catholic/Cheney Tech.

No. 1-seeded Greenwich will face third-seeded rival New Britain in Saturday's championship game. New Britain eliminated Greenwich from the playoffs a year ago with a 20-0 win in the semifinals.

After a scoreless first quarter that saw the Eagles stop the Cardinals twice inside the 10-yard line, Greenwich went ahead on a 38-yard touchdown run by junior fullback Tom Brown with 8:49 left in the opening half. Brown powered the Cardinals' rushing attacking, gaining 138 yards on 22 carries.

Greenwich, which took a 10-0 lead on Brandon San Antonio's 37-yard field goal, upped its advantage to 23-0 when quarterback Ian Barto connected with San Antonio on an 82-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the fourth quarter. Cameron Jones scored on a 1-yard run in the third quarter and Kevin Chao plunged in from 1-yard out in the fourth.

Barto completed 8-of-13 passes for 151 yards for the Cardinals, who outgained the Eagles 410-179. After completeting his first two passes of the game, Eagles quarterback Dan Beli finished the game 5-of-20 for 65 yards with one interception.

NB-Chris Roberts 1 run (Roberts kick)
NB-Mike McLeod 8 run (Roberts kick)
NB-McLeod 12 run (Roberts kick)
C-Dashawn Brown 61 fumble recovery return (Alexis Diaz kick)
NB-McLeod 7 run (Roberts kick)
NB-McLeod 2 run (kick failed)
NB-Ed Campbell 6 pass Roberts (Roberts kick)
NB-Brandon Reed 21 pass Roberts (kick failed)
NB-Derek Roberts 41 interception return (kick failed)
NB-Kadeem Carson 35 pass from Roberts (kick failed)

BRIDGEPORT--Mike McLeod rushed for 178 yards and scored four first-half touchdowns to lead defending champion New Britain to a 59-7 victory over Bridgeport Central in the Class LL semifinals at Kennedy Stadium. The Golden Hurricanes (10-1) will be making their third championship game appearance in four years under coach Jack Cochrane. Central, which was making its first state playoff appearance, falls to 10-2. New Britain quarterback Chris Roberts completed 17-of-24 passes for 237 yards and threw three touchdown passes in the second half to put the game away.

After Central's Dashawn Brown recovered Brandon Reed's fumble on the opening kickoff, the Golden Hurricanes' defense held the Hilltoppers from making a first down. Then it was off to the races for New Britain. The Golden Hurricanes scored on five of their seven first-half possessions and never punted. Chris Roberts scored on a 1-yard run. McLeod scored from 8, 12, 7 and 2 yards out. Ed Campbell, Reed and Kadeem Carson caught TD passes in the second half. Derek Roberts added the final score with a 41-yard interception return.

Central was led by tailback Akeem Wright, who rushed for 97 yards on 11 carries, and Dashawn Brown, who returned a fumble 61 yards for Central's only touchdown in the second quarter. Hilltoppers' quarterback Levar Hardison was just 2-of-14 for 4 yards and was intercepted twice.