Berlin Freshman Football Team Finishes Strong

The freshman football team played host to “Hard Hittin” New Britain on Thursday at Sage Park but it was the Redcoats who served up a dose of their own hard hits and tough football defeating the Hurricanes 24-22 in a gridiron battle.

New Britain took an early 6-0 lead with a 65 yard touchdown run on their first play from scrimmage but Berlin refused to waiver and answered back with a classic Redcoat drive that covered 67 yards and finished with Jake Loiselle crossing the goal line on a sweep which tied the game 6-6.

The two teams played even for most of the remainder of the first half until New Britain drove down the field as the half was nearing an end and was knocking on the door for the go ahead score. With 1:03 left in the second quarter The Hurricanes QB faded back and attempted to hit his receiver on a screen play when Berlins Owen Taylor read it perfect, intercepted the pass and took it 85 yards for the “pick six” and a 12-6 lead which the Redcoats carried into halftime.

The second half saw the two teams trading touchdowns with Ryan Cop scoring first on a rushing drive which made the score 18-6 and New Britain answering with six of their own and adding a two point conversion cutting the lead to 18-14. With the third quarter nearing a finish it saw Jake Loiselle fielding a punt by New Britain and going the distance for his second touchdown of the day and a 24-16 lead.

New Britain would score again in the fourth quarter and converted on two closing the gap to 24-22 but that is where it would stay as Berlin’s defense anchored by the strong front line of Jon Beckman, Nick Cardello, Zack Pampuro and Vin Biscoglio shut down any attempt of New Britain to move the ball on the ground. Berlin's secondary also batted away multiple pass attempts and saw Alex Ladas intercept a New Britain pass to shut down yet another Hurricane drive.

When asked Coach Aresimowicz stated, "I'm really proud of these guys and the way they held their composure when New Britain went up early. They just stuck to what they knew, executed well on both offense and defense, played their game and took it to them. There is a ton of talent on this team which they showed here tonight and they have a great future ahead of them with Berlin Football."

The freshmen team finishes the year 7-2 with a 6 game win streak where they outscored their opponents 212-28.