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NORTH BRANFORD — Save for a brief stint as a lineman when he was 11-years old, basketball has always been Nick Wright’s thing, not football. He averaged 9.2 points per game as a junior, helping Cromwell’s boys basketball team win a state championship last winter. But as Wright made insane grabs and jukes over and […]
Vitals COACH — RANDALL BENNETT (2nd year, 8-2) CONFERENCE — Pequot Sassacus PLAYOFF CLASS — S (co-op) HOME — Pierson Park, Cromwell 2017 RECORD — 8-2 2018 OPENER — Sept. 7 vs. Rockville, 6 p.m. TEAM WEBSITE — Maxpreps | TWITTER — @cromportfb | INSTAGRAM — cromportfb Top Players BRYCE KARSTETTER, Sr., QB (5-10, 180) ZAC CYR, Sr., […]
Portland’s powerhouse boys golf program won the Division IV state championship for the third straight year Monday, shooting five strokes better than runner-up Immaculate of Danbury at Timberlin Golf Club.
Highlanders coach Joe Santavenere said…
A glance at the four CIAC boys golf divisions says at least this much: Xavier, Portland and Coginchaug are owning, not renting, their real estate as title contenders once again.
Xavier won the Division I championship a year ago, its first in t…
Bryce Karstetter doing his best Randall Cunningham impersonation, scrambling & delivering 40 yard TD to Dianta Highsmith. 6-0 C/P #cthsfb pic.twitter.com/QMl2fq2NxC — Josh Howard (@RareReminderJH) October 20, 2017 CROMWELL — Dianta Highsmith and Bryce Karstetter hooked up for a pair of touchdowns in the second quarter and Cromwell/Portland turned to its defense in the second […]
PORTLAND — Haddam-Killingworth’s boys soccer team is rounding into tournament shape.With the Shoreline Conference and CIAC state tournaments looming, H-K won for the 10th time in 13 tries, beating Portland 3-1 in an SLC match at Portland Hig…
PORTLAND — Except for a brief stretch at the end of the first half, Cromwell’s boys soccer team dominated Portland in winning the Shoreline Conference match 4-1 at Portland High Thursday evening.“I thought our energy level was really, re…
HADDAM >> Bryce Karstetter threw for 258 yards and four touchdowns in leading undefeated Cromwell/Portland to a 43-7 Pequot League win over Haddam-Killingworth in front of 400 at H-K High School Thursday evening. Karstetter (12-for-22, one interception) had TD passes to Dianta Highsmith of 74 yards in the first quarter, a 31-yarder to Liam Coleman […]
Just about every school has soccer. It may not be a big player on the national scene, but at the high school level it’s universal. Here follows the outlook for many of the boys and girls teams in the Greater Middletown area. BOYS Xavier The Falcons were 6-5-5 in 2016 and the hope is they […]
WATERTOWN >> On a day and a course meant to test anybody’s love for golf, Portland dug in to defend its Division IV State Golf Championship with a vengeance Monday at Watertown’s Crestbrook Park Golf Course. The Highlanders beat second-place Immaculate by nine strokes, 323-332, on a course that held psychological rewards for those […]
WATERTOWN >> On a day and a course meant to test anybody’s love for golf, Portland dug in to defend its Division IV State Golf Championship with a vengeance Monday at Watertown’s Crestbrook Park Golf Course. The Highlanders beat second-place Immaculate by nine strokes, 323-332, on a course that held psychological rewards for those […]
CROMWELL >> Cromwell’s season-opening, three-game losing streak is a distant memory. That’s because the surging Panthers have ripped off eight wins in a row, the latest an 11-0 Shoreline Conference romp over Portland Monday afternoon at Fran Monnes Field. “This was just one of those days,” Portland coach Rick Borg said of his team. “We […]
PORTLAND >> Citing concerns about the demands of his jobs as both athletic director and boys basketball coach at Portland High School, Chris Serra resigned the basketball job over the past weekend. Serra met with his team Sunday and told the players and communicated his decision via email to parents and Shoreline Conference ADs and […]
CROMWELL >> The Cromwell boys basketball team’s recent stretch of four straight losses must have felt like an eternity for Panthers coach John Pinone. Well, the streak is over. But ending it wasn’t easy. Junior guard Noah Budzik drained some big 3-pointers in the second half and finished with 17 points, junior forward Austin […]
NORTH BRANFORD >> The North Branford boys basketball team matched last season’s win total with a 56-34 Shoreline Conference victory over Portland on Tuesday night at North Branford High School. Junior guard Brett LeQuire poured in a game-high 22 points, while junior Jake Haeckel scored all 17 of his points in the second half while […]
Chris Eckert, the 2016 Pequot Sassacus Coach of the Year who guided Cromwell/Portland to the Class S semifinals this season, announced his resignation as the team’s head coach Wednesday, according to a note posted on the team’s Twitter account, which is run by Eckert. In a note, Eckert cited his desire to pursue an administrative role within […]
ANSONIA >> Heading into Monday evening’s Class S semifinal against Ansonia, Cromwell/Portland was well aware it had to stop Chargers star running back Markell Dobbs. Knowing and doing are two completely different things. Behind 312 yards rushing and 411 combined yards by the junior back, second-seeded Ansonia easily defeated the sixth-seeded Panthers 49-28 at Jarvis […]
CIAC Football Playoff Scoreboard More Playoff Capsules: CLASS LL | CLASS L | CLASS M CLASS S The 2016 CIAC Class S Semifinal Previews. Compiled and written by Mike Pucci. Videos by Sean Patrick Bowley. No. 6 Cromwell/Portland at No. 2 Ansonia WHERE / WHEN — Jarvis Stadium, Monday, 6:30 p.m. TEAM RECORDS — Cromwell/Portland 10-1 (Pequot Champions); Ansonia 11-0 (NVL […]
WFSB 3 Connecticut BLOOMFIELD >> Cromwell/Portland held an eight point lead over defending Class S champion Bloomfield with less than two minutes to play and all Panthers senior Kristian Sapp wanted to do was get a first down. Instead, Sapp got a terrific block, burst through an opening and raced 67 yards for a touchdown. […]
More Previews: CLASS LL | CLASS L | CLASS M CLASS S Capsules compiled by Mike Pucci (Seymour v. Capital Prep, Ansonia v. Stafford, Rocky Hill v. Bullard-Havens) and Derek Turner (Bloomfield v. Cromwell/Portand). Sean Patrick Bowley contributed. No. 8 Seymour at No. 1 Capital Prep/AF Where/When: Jessee/Miller Field (Trinity College), Hartford, Tuesday, 6:30 p.m. Team records: Seymour 8-2 (NVL […]
CROMWELL >> Rocky Hill clinched a Class S playoff berth with a dominating 28-6 victory over Cromwell/Portland before a huge Thanksgiving Eve crowd Wednesday night at Pierson Park. Yup, the Terriers made a number of big plays in the second half and ruined the Panthers perfect season. Cromwell’s biggest concern, however, is the health of […]
NORTH BRANFORD >> The last time Cromwell/Portland won the Pequot Football Conference championship the Panthers went on and defeated Ansonia in the Class S title game. Can that blueprint be repeated? After a 63-6 thumping over North Branford at Colafati Field, it seems like 2008 all over again for the Panthers. Cromwell/Portland clinched the Pequot […]
MIDDLETOWN >> The Portland girls soccer team’s run finally came to an end. The Highlanders started 2-7, then got off the deck and qualified for the Class S tournament on the final day, beating Old Saybrook on the road. They then won three tourney games in a row to get to Monday night’s semifinal date […]
CROMWELL >> Cromwell/Portland senior Kristian Sapp is one of the top playmakers in the Pequot Conference. Sapp is a fast and shifty running back as well as a terrific receiver with a nose for the end zone. Sapp showed Morgan on Friday night that his repertoire also includes blocking field goals. With the Huskies threatening […]
DEEP RIVER >> After losing a heartbreaker against Rocky Hill in last year’s season finale, a Thanksgiving loss that cost Cromwell/Portland a trip to the state playoffs, Panthers senior Kristian Sapp went into the weight room. “His offseason this year was probably the best offseason he’s had to prepare for what he’s had to do […]
MIDDLETOWN >> The headliners in the area this week are both in the city: Wethersfield at Middletown and West Haven at Xavier. Both MHS and Xavier are in everybody’s Top 10 and both must win to stay there. In other games, Cromwell/Portland and Valley Regional/Old Lyme look to go to 2-0, while Haddam-Killingworth, Coginchaug and […]
Vitals Coach: CHRIS ECKERT (Sixth year, 36-19) Conference: Pequot Sassacus North Playoff Class: S (296 boys enrollment) Home: Pierson Park, Cromwell 2015 Record: 8-2 (4-1 Pequot East) 2016 Kickoff: Sept. 9 vs. Coginchaug, 4 p.m. Team website: MaxPreps Top players KRISTIAN SAPP, Sr., RB (5-10, 175) ETHAN ROY, Sr., DE (6-3, 220) JON SIENA, Sr., WR (5-10, 175) ANTHONY PUNTIEL, […]
MIDDLETOWN >> Middletown internet radio station WCNX enters its ninth season this fall broadcasting local high school football games. From Xavier’s home opener against Norwich Free Academy at McHugh Field to Cromwell’s Thanksgiving Day clash against Rocky Hill at Pierson Park, WCNX will broadcast 15 regular season games. And owner John Clark is thrilled with […]
CROMWELL >> RCP’s American Legion team broke open a close game with five runs in the fifth and sixth innings to beat Middletown 8-0 in an inter-zone game played Thursday evening at Fran Monnes Field at Cromwell High School. For RCP, there are only two out-of-zone games left — today with Waterbury at home at […]
