Plainville football stays unbeaten as Abarno and defense deliver dominant win over Tolland
PLAINVILLE – Who’s that up there with the Daniel Hands and Ansonias of the Connecticut high school football world? Right there at the top of the CIAC Class SS playoff rankings?
That would be Plainville, a spotless 4-0 after routing Tolland 40-0 Friday night in a CCC Tier 4 battle of unbeatens at Tinty Field.
What was supposed to be a showdown turned out to be a showcase instead, featuring a shutdown defense and one of the state’s most accurate passers.
That would be Anthony Abarno. Plainville’s senior quarterback completed 21 of 30 passes for 266 yards and four touchdowns. He also ran for a score as the Blue Devils steadily built leads of 7-0 after one quarter, 21-0 by the half, and 33-0 by the end of three.
Abarno connected twice on scoring passes with Chase Bouchard. They opened the game with a 16-yard strike and closed it with a 15-yard connection in the opening minute of the fourth quarter, which put the game on running time.
Abarno also found Christian Hairston from 31 yards out in the second quarter and Billy Putnam from 19 in the third.
Putnam, the kicker, went 5-for-5 on PATs and also booted a 31-yard field goal.
Plainville’s defense, after allowing a 35-yard gain on the opening carry to Tolland scatback Jon Carlos Gonzalez, a 100-yard rusher in each of his first three games, lowered the boom and kept the Eagles off the board.
Led by senior linebacker Dylan Feltt, a fourth-year starter, the Blue Devils twice stopped Tolland on fourth downs just over midfield in the first half when the game was still tight.
The Plainville D also chalked up a safety in the third quarter, sacking Tolland QB Caleb Graham in the end zone, and recovered a pair of fumbles courtesy of linebackers Jose Gutierrez and Javin Arocho.
Friday marked both Homecoming and the home opener for Plainville, which kicked off with road wins at Lewis Mills (48-7), Joel Barlow (49-20) and Newington (21-6).
Tolland also came in at 3-0 and fresh from its most impressive win of the season to date, 37-8 over Bloomfield. It’s been a remarkable turnaround season so far for the Eagles, who were 1-9 a year ago.
This story will be updated.
Player of the game
Anthony Abarno: Plainville’s senior quarterback completed 21 of 30 passes for 266 yards and four TDs.
Quotable
“This team, honestly the best team I’ve ever been on in my entire life. There’s so much chemistry. We can go real far. ” – Plainville linebacker Dylan Feltt.
Plainville 40, Tolland 0
TOLLAND 0 0 0 0- 0
PLAINVILLE 7 14 12 7-40
P-Chase Bouchard 16 pass from Anthony Abarno (Billy Putnam kick)
P- Abarno 1 run (Putnam kick)
P- Christian Hairston 31 pass from Abarno (Putnam kick)
P-Safety. Tolland QB Caleb Graham tackled in end zone.
P- Putnam 31 FG
P-Putnam 19 pass from Abarno (Putnam kick)
P-Bouchard 15 pass from Abarno (Putnam kick)
Team records:
Tolland 3-1; Plainville 4-0.
This article originally published at Plainville football stays unbeaten as Abarno and defense deliver dominant win over Tolland.
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