SOUTHINGTON — Frank Sinatra's "My Way" is played after football games at Fontana Field. The Southington Blue Knights absolutely blare it.
For good reason. The record shows the Blue Knights took the blows and, despite a rough start that had them 2-3 at the midpoint of the regular season, are heading to the CIAC Class LL championship game after routing Norwich Free Academy 42-7 in the semifinals on Monday evening.
Southington, the No. 4 seed, the winner of seven straight and now 9-3, will face No. 3 Greenwich on Saturday at a site and time to be announced. Greenwich defeated No. 2 Fairfield Prep 31-10 in Monday's other Class LL semifinal.
For now, the Blue Knights can croon from the rooftops along with Ol' Blue Eyes. They are heading to their first state championship game since the back-to-back banner years of 2013 and 2014.
"I knew all week we were going to win this game," said junior quarterback Luke Prozzo. "The hard work we put into this week and this whole season, the second half of the season, it's been amazing. Our whole team is very happy right now."
Sophomore running back Ben Beaulieu led the way with four more touchdowns — two rushing and two receiving. Senior wideout Rosco Cook added a third TD reception from Prozzo. The left-hander was exceptional on a frigid night, completing 18 of 26 passes for 218 yards.
Southington also got a touchdown from its defense. Outside linebacker Dan Corrado recovered a fumble in the end zone at a critical juncture in the second quarter, when the Blue Knights led by only one score.
Connor Orange stripped the quarterback on the play. Tyler Koski was first to the ball, but couldn't quite corral it. Corrado was Danny-on-the-spot for his first varsity touchdown.
"Tyler Koski, it should have been his," Corrado said. "He rolled on it. It popped back up. I came flying in. I got that touchdown."
Corrado's score pushed the lead to 21-7. It was 28-7 at the break after Prozzo went up top to Beaulieu on a quick-hitter from 38 yards.
After Prozzo connected with Cook from 46 yards and Beaulieu notched his fourth TD of the night on a 13-yard run, it was 42-7 at the end of three and the game was on running time.
"The kids focused; they executed," said Southington coach Rob Levesque. "We had some errors, but we stayed mentally tough, and we've been coaching that aspect of the game, especially since the bye week when we had a bad loss to New Britain. That kind of woke us up in a lot of areas."
No. 8 NFA (7-5) got a rushing touchdown in the first quarter from Mhi'Blessin Maddox-Moore to answer an initial scoring drive from Southington. Moore's TD was set up by an interception from Makiye Howard.
Austin Sirois picked off a pass for Southington and Tyler Koski later did secure a fumble recovery, which led to the game-icing touchdown by Beaulieu in the waning minute of the third quarter.
Beaulieu finished with 140 rushing yards on 20 carries. His nine touchdowns over the past two games broke Bill Albrycht's program record of eight, which had stood since 1949.
Monday's semifinal pitted two teams that stumbled out of the gate, then righted the ship. NFA's turnaround was just as dramatic at Southington's. The Wildcats opened 0-3. The only blemish since was a 63-27 loss to powerhouse Killingly.
Lest anyone believed NFA's 6-1 closing run was a figment of the Eastern Connecticut Conference schedule, the Wildcats pulled off the upset of the quarterfinals, routing No. 1 New Britain 35-0 at Veterans Stadium behind Aaron Driscoll's four TD passes to chalk up their first postseason win in 11 years.
"I couldn't be prouder of our group," said NFA coach Dylan Schroth. "Some of them come from different backgrounds and have struggled tremendously just in life, and for them to come out and start 0-3 in football and not quit, our seniors now know when life throws curve balls, not to quit. It's just a football season, but it's a representation of so much more."
Monday's semifinal was a rematch of the 2014 Class LL state championship game, won 49-0 by Southington.
The Blue Knights advanced to the semis in 2015, 2016 and 2017 and 2023, but batted 0-for-4, losing three straight to Darien and then 41-0 to Staples two years ago.
All history now. The final curtain is about to rise.
Player of the Game
Dan Corrado, Southington outside linebacker. Yes, it was another magnificent night for running back Ben Beaulieu. QB Luke Prozzo was also exceptional. But game ball on this night goes to Corrado and the D, which produced three turnovers and limited NFA to a first quarter TD. Corrado's fumble recovery in the end zone pushed a 14-7 Southington lead to 21-7 in the second quarter.
Southington 42, NFA 7
NFA 7 0 0 0 — 7SOUTHINGTON 7 21 14 0 — 42
S—Ben Beaulieu 9 pass from Luke Prozzo (Sawyer Trudeau kick)NFA—Mhi'Blessin Maddox-Moore 4 run (Wyatt Woodworth kick)S—Beaulieu 7 run (Trudeau kick)S—Dan Corrado fumble recovery in end zone (Trudeau kick)S—Beaulieu 38 pass from Prozzo (Trudeau kick)S—Cook 46 pass from Prozzo (Trudeau kick)S—Beaulieu 13 run (Trudeau kick)Records: NFA: 7-5; Southington 9-3.