2004 Class L 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 L Playoff Point Rankings | Class L Regular Season Results
Class L Rosters: East Lyme* | Newington* | Staples | Windsor Locks/Suffield*

FINALS

S Nick Corona 10 run (Brian Wrapp kick)
S Ryan Bohling 20 run (Wrapp kick)
S Wrapp 45 punt return (Wrapp kick)
S Brian Weverbergh 70 pass from D.J. Stefkovich (Wrapp kick)
EL Tim Allen 2 run (Aaron Zrenda kick)
S Bohling 57 run (Wrapp kick)

West Haven - Staples of Westport received another ferocious effort from its defense as it beat East Lyme, 35-7, to win the CIAC Class L championship at Strong Stadium.

It was the second state title for the No. 2 seeded Wreckers (11-1) and its second in three seasons.

Senior linebacker Pat Scott was named Staples' most valuable player as he spearheaded a terrific defensive effort. The Wreckers held the top-seeded Vikings (11-1) to 142 yards.

"Pat Scott, he's been a leader all year long," Staples head coach Marce Petroccio said. "I can remember when he was a sophomore on the scout team and you couldn't block him. The kids would talk about what a pain in the rear end he was because he just kept coming and coming and coming. And today, he played an unbelievable game."

Staples set the tone on its first possession as, on a fourth-and-1 play from the East Lyme 47, it went for the first down. Senior Nick Corona ran five yards for the first down, and two plays later scored on a 10-yard run.

Corona finished with 22 carries for 77 yards while junior quarterback D.J. Stefkovich added 77 yards on 11 carries. Junior Ryan Bohling also had three carries for 76 yards and two touchdowns.

"I can't say enough about the job our offensive line did today," Petroccio said. "The talk has been about Staples' defense this year, and deservedly so, they did a tremendous job. But we challenged the offense on Wednesday afternoon and said, 'We know we play great defense, but we need to get our act together offensively.' They came out today and really took it to a team that was much bigger than us."

Tim Allen, who had 28 carries for 86 yards and a touchdown, was named East Lyme's MVP. He finished the season with 2,012 yards rushing this season, breaking the record set by his brother, Lou, last season (2,007).

"Our kids worked their butts off," East Lyme head coach Dousis said. "They did everything we asked of them. I'm very proud of them. It just wasn't our day. It was (Staples') day and they deserved to win. They played very hard, they're well coached and they're the champions. And we're second."

SEMIFINALS

EL - Jason Hurlock 10 pass from Aaron Zrenda (Matt Lamoureux run)
EL - Zrenda 23 FG
EL - Tim Allen 13 pass from Zrenda (Zrenda kick)
WL - Robert Kill 90 kickoff return (Jon Haslam run)
EL - Xerxes Baccus 16 pass ftrom Zrenda (Zrenda kick)
WL - Will Hill 39 run (R. Hill run)
EL - Allen 58 run (Lamoureux run)
EL - Lamoureux 2 run (Zrenda kick)
EL - Tyler Berry 11 pass from Zrenda (kick failed)
EL - Allen 35 run (Zrenda kick)
WL - R. Hill 19 run (Pat Sullivan kick)
WL - Andrew Wells 2 run (run failed)

East Lyme - Junior Tim Allen ran for 239 yards and scored three touchdowns, leading top-seeded East Lyme to a 53-29 victory over Windsor Locks/Suffield in the Class L semifinals.

Allen scored on a 13-yard touchcdown reception and on runs of 58 and 35 yards.

East Lyme quarterback Aaron Zrenda threw for 138 yards and four touchdown passes to four different receivers: Allen, Jason Hurlock, Tyler Berry and Xerxes Baccus.

East Lyme (11-0) took an 18-0 lead in the first period before Windsor Locks' Robert Hill ran a kickoff back 90 yards for a touchdown. East Lyme scored on its next possession when Zrenda hit Baccus with a 16-yard scoring pass.

Windsor Locks (8-3) cut the lead to 25-16 on quarterback Will Hill's 39-yard touchdown run, but Allen's 58-yard touchdown run on East Lyme's ensuing possession made it 33-16.

East Lyme led 40-16 at halftime and 53-16 midway through the third period.

Jon Haslam led Windsor Locks with 86 rushing yards. Robert Hill gained 63 yards.

N-Jordan Knight 86 kickoff return (Christian Teixeira kick)
N-Andrew Guilbault 6 pass Matthew Knight (Teixeira kick)
S-Brian Levine 5 pass D.J. Stefkovich (Brian Wrapp kick)
S-Levine 34 pass Stefkovich (kick blocked)
S-Nick Corona 18 run (Brian Weverbergh pass Stefkovich)

WESTPORT-- D.J. Stefkovich threw a pair of touchdown passes to Brian Levine and Nick Corona rushed for 125 yards and a score, leading second-seeded Staples to a come-from-behind 21-14 win over third-seeded Newington in a Class L semifinal Tuesday night.

Staples, which will play top-seed East Lyme in the title game, fell behind 14-0 just 36 seconds into the game. Jordan Knight returned the opening kickoff 86 yards to give visiting Newington (9-2) a 7-0 lead. Newington then recovered the ensuing kickoff at the Staples' 1-yard line, and, after a false start, went up 14-0 on Matthew Knight's 6-yard touchdown pass to Andrew Guilbault.

But Staples (10-1) pulled withing 14-13 at the half as Stefkovich hooked-up with Levine on scoring passes of 5 and 34 yards.

Corona's 18-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter gave Staples its first lead, and Stefkovich completed the 2-point conversion pass to Brian Weverbergh to make it 21-14.

Staples, which had given up just 39 points since a season-opening loss at Greenwich, was led defensively by Dylan O'Shea, who intercepted two passes to halt Newington drives deep inside Staples' territory. O'Shea also recovered a muffed Newington punt with 14 seconds left in regulation, icing the win for the Wreckers.

Freshman Nathan Pagan had 95 yards rushing for Newington, with 59 of those coming on one run in the second quarter.