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Sports

Staples Ready For Top-Ranked Xavier In Class LL State Title Game

Wreckers will be looking to upset the Falcons, who have won 25 straight games, and win the school's fourth football state championship

The Xavier football team has been like a runaway train, seemingly destined to a win a second consecutive state championship and stake its claim as one of the greatest high school squads in Connecticut history.

It is a daunting task that awaits the Staples Wreckers in Saturday's Class LL title game at UConn's Rentschler Field in East Hartford (5:30 p.m.).

But as Staples coach Marce Petroccio said following last week's 44-20 semifinal victory over Newtown, the Wreckers do plan to show up.

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"I think it's a great opportunity for us to play the No. 1 team in the state," Petroccio said. "We've played some great football teams this year. They're another great football team we're going to play, but we're going to show up and be ready to play."

The Class LL final will be broadcast on WELI 960 AM and also can be heard on the Internet via Sportingnewsct.com. MSG Varsity will televise the game on a taped delay basis.

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Staples actually was the last team to beat Xavier (12-0), a 31-28 victory in the Class LL semifinals. Since then, however, the Falcons have reeled off 25 consecutive victories, the longest current winning streak in the state.

Masuk's 24-game winning streak was snapped last week with a 35-14 loss to Hand in the Class L semifinals.

A victory on Saturday will give Xavier a second straight 13-0 season and stamp them as the undisputed No. 1 team in the state for the second consecutive year. Last year, the Falcons defeated Trumbull 24-13 in the Class LL finals.

Still, Staples has put together an 11-0 season and gotten stronger as the season went along. The Wreckers have reached the state final with a number of juniors and sophomore quarterback Jack Massie, who may have had his best game last week, still is just 15 years old.

Massie completed 14 of 18 passes for 215 yards and three touchdowns against the Nighthawks. Joey Zelkowitz rushed for 121 yards on 10 carries in the second half for the Wreckers after not playing against Ridgefield as he was still recovering from a shoulder separation suffered against Fairfield Warde on Nov. 5.

The Wreckers boast solid depth in the backfield with Zelkowitz (996 yards), Nick Kelly (696 yards, 14 touchdowns) and Jon Heil (795 yards), who ran for an FCIAC-record 366 yards in Staples' 48-21 quarterfinal win over Ridgefield.

Staples forces a lot of turnovers on defense and leads the state in sacks with 60, so the Wreckers may have the ingredients in place to give Xavier a test.

Still, the Falcons' biggest strength is their huge offensive and defensive lines, which presents a dual problem. Trying to run against Xavier is nearly impossible and trying to stop them almost as difficult.

Xavier averages 42.7 points per game and give up just 8.0 per outing. In the playoffs, the defensive has been even stingier, allowing just 172 total yards in the two games, and a large chuck of that came on one play (72 yards against Norwalk in the quarterfinals).

The Falcons reached the final with a 55-14 victory over Norwalk as seven different players scored for Xavier, which rushed for 388 yards and six touchdowns on 50 carries.

It is going to take a perfect game to beat Xavier, whose closest game during the season with a 42-20 victory over Cheshire in Week Three.

Staples is appearing in its eighth state championship game, all under Petroccio, and seeking its fourth title. The Wreckers have dropped their last two final appearances, 28-26 to Bunnell in the 2006 and 28-21 in overtime to Cheshire in 2009.

Staples' last state crown came in 2005, when it defeated Masuk 31-6 in the Class L final. 

Xavier is appearing in a state final for the fifth time and chasing its third title. The Falcons also won the Class LL crown in 2005 with a 45-30 victory over Southington.

NOTES: The state championship weekend gets under way Friday night with No. 2 seed Holy Cross (11-1) facing No. 8 Cromwell  (10-2) in the Class S final at 6:30 p.m. at Rentschler.

A tripleheader is set for Saturday, beginning with the Class M battle between No. 1 Ansonia (12-0), which is seeking its record 17th state championship, and No. 3 Ledyard (11-0) 10:30 a.m.

At 2 p.m., No. 5 New Canaan (11-1) faces No. 2 Hand (12-0) in the Class L final. New Canaan is aiming for its ninth state title, which would tie Hand for third all-time. St. Joseph is second with 10.

Since 2004, the FCIAC has won 10 state championships with the Southern Connecticut Conference right behind at nine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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