EAST HARTFORD, CT — In a battle of underdogs employing hard-hitting defenses and crunching run offenses, it was Joel Barlow High School that hit just a bit harder and ran just a bit stronger.
The Barlow Rams eeked past the Watertown High School Warriors, 21-20, to win the CIAC Class SS state championship Saturday night at Pratt & Whitney Stadium in East Hartford.
With both squads employing "3 yards and a cloud of dust" offenses, this battle was a football purist's delight, featuring hard running balanced out by equally hard-hitting defenses.
In the end, a failed two-point conversion — a bold decision by Watertown coach Shawn Stanco — was the difference in the title game.
With that, Barlow, led by coach TJ Cavaliere, repeated as SS title holders, winning the program's second CIAC title.
The 7th-seed Falcons, a regional school serving Redding and Easton, came into Saturday night's title game with a 6-4 regular season record, followed by two close playoff wins.
Meanwhile, Watertown was only 5-5 in the regular season, but as the 8th seed, the Warriors were propelled by two upset, playoff wins to the championship game.
Watertown, which came up short in another improbable upset bid Saturday, last won the state championship when Ronald Reagan was president in 1986.
Both sides felt each other out in the first quarter, whittling down the clock with running attacks that, ultimately, led to a 0-0 score.
As the second quarter arrived, Barlow's running game pushed across the field into Watertown territory.
The drive gave Barlow a 7-0 lead after junior Falcon quarterback Jack Gilbert kept the ball and plowed across the goal line from the 1-yard line with 7 minutes, 23 seconds in the first half.
But Watertown struck fast, with senior running back Aiden Arline running about 60 yards to pay dirt with a spectacular run down the right sideline, evening the score at 7-7 after the extra point.
Later, Watertown returned a Barlow punt to the Falcons' 39-yard line and moved down the field with a pounding rushing attack and one big pass play that gained a first down on third and 19.
The Warriors took a 14-7 lead at the half when junior quarterback Brayden Gambee pushed through from the 2-yard line with 19 seconds left in the second quarter.
After a Watertown punt at the start of the second half, Barlow's first possession was a bruising, ground-crunching push toward the end zone, fueled by a 15-yard face-mask penalty by the Warriors.
On the next play, Barlow sophomore running back Luke Bishop ran up the middle for 17 yards and a Ram touchdown, evening the game at 14-14 after the extra point.
Watertown fumbled its first running play after Barlow scored, gifting the Rams with good field position at the Warrior 28-yard line after Barlow recovered.
The Rams smash-mouthed their way downfield and took the lead when Gilbert kept it and scored a touchdown from the 1. After the extra point, Barlow was up 21-14.
With Barlow one drive away from putting the game away, Watertown didn't let it happen and they nearly pulled off a stunning upset.
After getting the ball toward the end of the fourth quarter, Watertown moved downfield after a long scramble by Gambee and a critical pass interference penalty by the Rams.
They were knocking on Barlow's door as the clock continued to tick, when Arline scored on a 12-yard run, making the score 21-20 Barlow.
But looking to steal a championship, Watertown went for 2 points instead of kicking the extra point.
But that effort failed when Gambee was stopped short of the goal line and his desperation toss into the end zone after the line of scrimmage was ruled an illegal forward pass instead of a fumble.
It kept the Rams in the lead and, ultimately, was the difference in a tight, close game.
Armed with two timeouts, however, Watertown went for the onside kick and Barlow recovered with 1 minute, 36 seconds left in the game.
Using their timeouts, the Warriors were able to get the ball back on their own 20 with 16 seconds left, but it was too tough an obstacle as Barlow intercepted a pass, ending the game.
For a recap of the game, along with the boxscore and statistics, click on this link.