Berkshire Bowl will remain in Winsted

WINSTED —The Housatonic/Wamogo Mountaineers fumbled away a chance to upset the Gilbert Yellowjackets when a muffed punt late in the fourth quarter led to a Gilbert touchdown, ending  Housy’s chance to win the game.

The favored Yellowjackets went on to win 21-6, giving them a second consecutive Berkshire Bowl victory. The bowl is an annual competition between the two teams (the Mountaineers are a co-op team with players from Housatonic and Wamogo); whoever wins the game keeps the trophy and hosts the following year’s game.

Tenacious ‘D’

The Mountaineers played hard-nosed defense throughout the game, consistently forcing Gilbert to turn the ball over on downs or punt it away.  And that tenacious “Dâ€� put Housy in position to take the lead, as another Gilbert punt yielded the ball to a pumped-up Mountaineer team that was down by only 7 points with almost three minutes to play in the fourth quarter.

But it wasn’t to be. Yellowjacket Devin Morgan’s tackle jarred the ball loose from the Housy punt returner. He then scooped it up and ran into the endzone for a game-clinching touchdown.

“This was, by far, the team’s best defensive effort of the season,â€� said coach Deron Bayer after the game. “We knew that they had a strong passing game, but we were able to knock down at least four passes. If we had intercepted one or two of those, it might have been a different game.â€� 

First-quarter opportunities

Housy’s defense faltered only once in the first half, when the Yellowjackets mounted a sustained drive that was capped with a 1-yard plunge for a touchdown midway through the first quarter.  

The Mountaineers’ own offensive efforts were thwarted by a combination of the Yellowjackets’ swarming defense and Housy turnovers and penalties, which negated several scoring opportunities. At the half, the single Gilbert touchdown stood as the only score, and the Mountaineers knew that they could pull out a win if they played better.

Indeed, the third quarter started with another great defensive stand, as the Mountaineers stonewalled Gilbert’s efforts to gain a single yard for a first down on three consecutive plays.

With the Yellowjackets forced to turn the ball over on downs, the Housatonic offense started clicking. Following some excellent blocks upfront by the offensive line, Housatonic running backs Eric Avery, John Haddon and Tanner Brissett methodically marched down the field.  

Brissett got around the left edge of the Gilbert defense and trotted untouched for 15 yards into the endzone for a Mountaineer touchdown. On the following two-point conversion attempt, Brissett appeared to push the ball over the goal line ... but the officials ruled otherwise, and Gilbert held onto a 7-6 lead midway through the third quarter.

The Yellowjackets answered with their own scoring drive, aided by a pass that was tipped away by the Housy defender — but still landed in the hands of the Gilbert receiver for a long gain.

A 6-yard touchdown run allowed Gilbert to enter the fourth quarter up 13-6.  

The Mountaineer defense stopped another Yellowjacket drive, but the Housy offense fumbled away the ball on its own 40-yard line.  

Fortunately, Aaron Csehak recovered a Gilbert fumble on the very next play. Unfortunately, the Mountaineers couldn’t move the ball and punted.

Once again the stout Mountaineer defense stopped the Yellowjackets and it appeared that Housy would have a final chance for a comeback. They saw that chance dissolve as Gilbert increased its lead to 21-6 on the touchdown resulting from the muffed punt.

Wanting it isn’t enough

“They played very hard,â€� coach Bayer said, “but wanting something isn’t always enough. That’s an important lesson in life. Even your best efforts can fail, and you must resolve yourself to more hard work to make it happen the next time around.

“I hope the players use this as motivation to get into the weight room and dedicate themselves to the offseason conditioning programs,� he said.

A year of building

The good news is that only four starters are graduating this year, so despite finishing the season with a 1-9 record, the future looks bright.

Junior Tanner Brissett, who had 134 yards on 24 carries, ended the season with 1,001 yards rushing; he also threw 10 touchdown passes. The offensive and defensive lines, which were almost all inexperienced at the beginning of the year, came together through the season and showed tremendous improvement, resulting in a stellar effort in the Berkshire Bowl.

If all the current players return, next year’s team could be an exciting one to watch.

Latest News

South Kent School’s unofficial March reunion

Elmarko Jackson was named a 2023 McDonald’s All American in his senior year at South Kent School. He helped lead the Cardinals to a New England Prep School Athletic Conference (NEPSAC) AAA title victory and was recruited to play at the University of Kansas. This March he will play point guard for the Jayhawks when they enter the tournament as a No. 4 seed against (13) Samford University.

Riley Klein

SOUTH KENT — March Madness will feature seven former South Kent Cardinals who now play on Division 1 NCAA teams.

The top-tier high school basketball program will be well represented with graduates from each of the past three years heading to “The Big Dance.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Hotchkiss grads dancing with Yale

Nick Townsend helped Yale win the Ivy League.

Screenshot from ESPN+ Broadcast

LAKEVILLE — Yale University advanced to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament after a buzzer-beater win over Brown University in the Ivy League championship game Sunday, March 17.

On Yale’s roster this year are two graduates of The Hotchkiss School: Nick Townsend, class of ‘22, and Jack Molloy, class of ‘21. Townsend wears No. 42 and Molloy wears No. 33.

Keep ReadingShow less
Handbells of St. Andrew’s to ring out Easter morning

Anne Everett and Bonnie Rosborough wait their turn to sound notes as bell ringers practicing to take part in the Easter morning service at St. Andrew’s Church.

Kathryn Boughton

KENT—There will be a joyful noise in St. Andrew’s Church Easter morning when a set of handbells donated to the church some 40 years ago are used for the first time by a choir currently rehearsing with music director Susan Guse.

Guse said that the church got the valuable three-octave set when Harlem Valley Psychiatric Center closed in the late 1980s and the bells were donated to the church. “The center used the bells for music therapy for younger patients. Our priest then was chaplain there and when the center closed, he brought the bells here,” she explained.

Keep ReadingShow less
Picasso’s American debut was a financial flop
Picasso’s American debut was a financial flop
Penguin Random House

‘Picasso’s War” by Foreign Affairs senior editor Hugh Eakin, who has written about the art world for publications like The New York Review of Books, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker and The New York Times, is not about Pablo Picasso’s time in Nazi-occupied Paris and being harassed by the Gestapo, nor about his 1937 oil painting “Guernica,” in response to the aerial bombing of civilians in the Basque town during the Spanish Civil War.

Instead, the Penguin Random House book’s subtitle makes a clearer statement of intent: “How Modern Art Came To America.” This war was not between military forces but a cultural war combating America’s distaste for the emerging modernism that had flourished in Europe in the early decades of the 20th century.

Keep ReadingShow less