NEW BRITAIN – Brookfield had just scored the go-ahead touchdown with 48 seconds left in the Class M state championship game Saturday night.
Berlin hadn’t scored since late in the first half.
“We were just thinking, ‘We prepare, we do two-minute drill all the time,’” Berlin senior quarterback Cody Puzio said. “We know what we got to do in big moments and this is the biggest stage we can do it on.”
Berlin senior Eli Rice stood waiting for the kickoff. He was hoping Brookfield would kick it toward him and when the ball came his way, he was ready.
“The first thought before they kicked it was, ‘They better kick it to me,’” Rice said. “I want them to kick it to me. I thrive in high pressure moments. I saw the lanes, made the cuts and got to the end zone.”
Rice returned the ball 79 yards for a touchdown and just like that, Berlin was ahead with 33 seconds left.
The second-seeded Redcoats held on to win, 20-15, to finish their season undefeated (13-0) at CCSU’s Arute Field. It was Berlin’s first title since 2009.
“There was so many emotions – I felt everything,” Rice said of his touchdown. “I felt pain, I was happy. I was gassed.
“We brought another ‘chip to Berlin.”
It was Brookfield’s second close loss in a championship game. Last year, the No. 5 Bobcats (10-3) fell 21-20 to St. Joseph in the Class M final.
Brookfield beat Berlin 28-0 in the semifinals last year.
Puzio, who rushed for 67 yards, passed for 40 and had two touchdowns, had a 1-yard keeper with 3:32 left in the first quarter to give the Redcoats a 7-0 lead and a 5-yard pass to Rice with 38 seconds left in the first half to take a 14-7 lead over Brookfield.
That score held up until the last minute. The game went back and forth. Berlin missed a field goal early in the fourth quarter. And when Brookfield scored, it seemed that the momentum had finally shifted to the Bobcats.
“Unbelievable,” Puzio said. “I did not expect that at all. Our guys worked their butts off. I’m so happy.”
After Berlin scored in the first quarter, four plays later, Brookfield’s Tyler Buttendorf scored on a 54-yard run to tie the score at 7-7.
Berlin was in the Class M state championship game in 2022 but lost to Notre Dame-West Haven. The last time Berlin won a title was 2009 under coach John Capodice, who returned in March to coach after a 10-year absence after the CIAC penalized the Berlin football program for allegedly recruiting players.
“I was fortunate to have to done this before,” said Capodice, who worked for Wesleyan for the last 10 years before returning to replace retired coach Joe Aresimowicz. “We had a NESCAC championship (with Wesleyan), a state championship – but I really wanted to do it with these kids.
“The principal, the AD and the superintendent believed in me and stuck with me and gave me this opportunity to come back and lead our program. God is good.”
Class M championship
at CCSU, Arute Field, New Britain
Berlin 20, Brookfield 15
Brookfield 7 0 0 8 – 15
Berlin 7 7 0 6 – 20
First Quarter
BE-Cody Puzio 1 run (Collin Sullivan kick)
BR-Tyler Buttendorf 54 run (Zachary Costa kick)
Second Quarter
BE-Eli Rice 5 pass from Puzio (Sullivan kick)
Fourth Quarter
BR-Thad Balzi 1 run (Buttendorf run)
BE-Rice 79 yd kickoff return TD (run failed)