CROMWELL – Missoni Brown was part of the Windsor High football team last year, though he didn’t play as much, and Jayden Compton started on defense, but not offense. The juniors both remember the feeling they had watching Masuk win the Class MM championship over Windsor on a last-second field goal last year.
They are happy to have another chance at a title, one in which they are key performers this season.
Brown, who was the MVP as a freshman of the Division II state basketball championship game won by Windsor, is now a standout receiver for the football team. He broke the single-season school record in receiving yards in a quarterfinal win over Plainfield/Quinebaug Valley. He had two touchdowns – a 71-yard reception and a 52-yard run – in the 42-0 win over Newington in the Class MM state semifinal game Monday night.
Compton, who had an 87-yard touchdown reception Monday night and an interception, is now a little ahead of his teammate with 1,369 receiving yards. Brown has 1,323 and they both have 18 touchdowns for top-seeded Windsor, which will play Bunnell Saturday at 3 p.m. at CCSU for the state championship.
“I was here for basketball,” said Brown on Tuesday at the pre-championship media lunch at the TPC River Highlands. “It feels good. We get a chance to make a statement. We haven’t won a championship in what – 10 years, 11 years? Now we have a chance to do it again, it’s great.
“I witnessed the heartbreak (last year), yeah. Now that we’re here again and I’m actually playing, I can make something happen.”
Compton said he was mad after the 24-21 loss last year in the final, but added, “I knew we was going to get it back this year.”
They are the favorite targets of senior quarterback AJ Robinson, who was named the state Gatorade Player of the Year last week.
Windsor is playing for its first title since 2014. The Warriors have advanced to the finals three times since then but lost.
Coaching support at home
Cheshire coach Don Drust knows when he goes home, he has another coach who knows exactly what’s going on with him. That would be his wife, Kristine, who has won two state softball titles, including one this past spring with the Rams’ softball team.
“I’m really fortunate, I walk in the door every night, and I have somebody that is the closest person to me, my wife, who I can lean on for real true genuine advice,” Drust said. “I don’t know how much better it can get. She helps me every day, work through all of it.”
Third-seeded Cheshire (9-3) will face three-time defending champion and unbeaten New Canaan (12-0) for the Class L championship Saturday at 2 p.m. at Veterans Stadium in New Britain.
Drust was an assistant coach the last time Cheshire won a title, in 2009.
“It’s been a little bit,” he said.
Cheshire, which beat Ridgefield 21-0 in the semifinal, has played three of the teams in the finals – Sheehan, Hand and Southington – and the Rams scrimmaged Windsor in the preseason. They beat Sheehan and Hand but lost to Southington on Thanksgiving.
The Rams were down 19 points at halftime to Fairfield Ludlowe in the quarterfinal game but rallied to win.
“It speaks to the locker room, it speaks to the kids, there’s always a belief,” Drust said. “No matter where we’re at, just keep playing and working together. They don’t panic. Just keep going.”
A shot at redemption for Berlin
Berlin, which lost in the Class M semifinal to Brookfield last year, has another shot at the Bobcats in the state championship game.
The second-seeded and unbeaten Redcoats (12-0) will play No. 5 Brookfield (10-2) for the Class M title Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at CCSU. Brookfield beat defending champion St. Joseph, 6-3, in the semifinal game Monday. St. Joseph had beaten Brookfield by a point in the final last year.
“To be able to go back to the state championship is a great feeling,” said Berlin senior quarterback Cody Puzio, who had five touchdowns (four rushing, one passing) in a 49-7 win over Holy Cross in the semifinal Monday. “In 2022, when we were freshmen we also went to the state championship but we also lost and we don’t want that feeling again. Last year as well, we played Brookfield in the semifinals. We had that bad taste in our mouth and we want to come out and work this week and have a good day.”
Puzio said the team has been preparing for this moment all year.
“I didn’t care who we played but now we’re playing them, it feels even better,” he said. “We got another shot. That’s all we can ask for.”
Hand faces Killingly in Class SS
Second-seeded Hand will take on No. 1 Killingly, owner of a 24-game win streak and last year’s defending Class SS state champion, in the Class SS championship game at the Coast Guard Academy Saturday at 10:30 a.m.
Hand (11-1) lost in the semifinals last year to St. Joseph after winning the Class M title in 2023.
“We’ve gone through the best and worst together,” Hand senior wide receiver/defensive back Stone Leckey said. “Losing last year was tough but it was a big bonding moment. Immediately after the game, we texted each other, we were talking about next season and getting back to work. We have a very tight knit group of seniors and the underclassmen have bought into the process.
“Killingly’s got a lot of different formations they’ll come out in. They’re hard-nosed, they want to run it down your throat. We’re ready for that.”
Fans will need Real IDs for Class SS game
Fans over the age of 18 going to the Class SS state championship at Coast Guard will have to have a Real ID or passport to get into the facilities.
“It’s a requirement when you’re going onto a military academy base, you need to have a Real ID, it’s almost like going to the airport,” CIAC executive director Glenn Lungarini said. “Any of the forms accepted to TSA, you’re going to be able to use – an ID, a valid passport.
“We’re encouraging people to get there early.”
Coaches will also need to have Real IDs but the players who arrive on the buses will not need them, Lungarini said.