WILTON — When Bunnell football coach Ty Jenkins saw senior Rickie Miller in class Monday, just a few hours before the Bulldogs were set to take on Wilton with a ticket to the CIAC finals on the line, he asked him a simple question.
“Are you ready to win this game for us?” Jenkins asked the star running back and defensive end.
“We’ll make it happen,” was Miller’s response.
With Miller running like a true Bulldog, Bunnell earned its first trip to the state finals in 18 years with a thrilling 21-20 victory over Wilton in the Class MM semifinals at Fujitani Field.
Wilton quarterback Charlie Calabrese scored the game’s final points on a 30-yard run with 7:44 remaining, but a two-point conversion attempt came up short and the Bulldogs burned the clock to end the game.
Bunnell (10-2), the No. 3 seed, will face No. 1 Windsor (11-1) for the Class MM championship Saturday. Windsor defeated Newington 42-0 in the other semifinal.
The Bulldogs were close last year, but lost to Masuk in the semifinals.
“I’ve worked for this for four years, and last year we were so close,” said Miller, who rushed 26 times for 145 yards and a touchdown. “I put the old players, the seniors from last year, in my heart, and my family, and played for them. We came out and dominated and did all the small things right.”
That was clear in the final two quarters.
The Bulldogs opened the third quarter with a 11-play drive which ended with a 12-yard touchdown pass from Jake Garrigan to Rody Ricketts. A conversion pass to Miller added two more points for a 21-7 lead.
After Wilton cut the deficit to one, the Bulldogs chewed up the clock with a 14-play drive that ended when Garrigan kneeled down at the Wilton 2-yard line as time expired.
“During a timeout (on the final drive), I told them — ‘breathe’,” Jenkins said. “This is what we do. This is the weight room all year long.”
The loss ended a remarkable season for Wilton, which went 5-5 last year after going to the Class MM final in 2023.
Wilton had a chance to build an early two-score lead when Calabrese scored on a 26-yard run and then used a 40-yard carry to get the ball back to the Bunnell 1-yard line. But a penalty knocked the Warriors back, and the Bulldogs’ defense knocked the ball loose and recovered a fumble on the next play to keep the deficit at 7-0.
“You don’t know if it’s a different outcome, but that play down on the goal line with the flag and then the turnover, it’s probably a different game,” Wilton coach EJ DiNunzio said. “We just didn’t get it in there, and then they went with that heavy (running) package, which I was worried about. It was constant pressure.
“But it was a great football game and somebody wins, somebody loses.”
For Jenkins, who took over the Bunnell program in 2019 and lost his first seven games with the Bulldogs, the trip to the final epitomizes the team’s "Brick By Brick" motto.
“People ask us what Brick By Brick means, and it’s to get consistently better,” Jenkins said. “They earned this tonight. It has nothing to do with me. My staff came out here and worked hard and the kids worked hard. I'm just so proud of our community and our kids.”
Player of the game
Rickie Miller, Bunnell: The senior was the engine of the offense, rushing 26 times for 145 yards and a 38-yard touchdown, which put the Bulldogs ahead for good.
Quotable
“Us and Brookfield both beat FCIAC teams, so the SWC is well-represented. (Brookfield) coach (Bryan) Muller is a great coach. Our league is a great league, from Dan Farina (at Newtown) to Nate Tyler at Stratford High. Our league top to bottom, I’d put them toe to toe with anyone.”
—Bunnell coach Ty Jenkins on the SWC putting two teams in the state finals.
Bunnell 21, No. 5 Wilton 20
BUNNELL 0 13 8 0—21WILTON 7 0 0 13—20
W—Charlie Calabrese 26 run (Mason Behar kick)B—Jake Garrigan 1 run (Joel Otshudi kick)B—Rickie Miller 38 run (kick blocked)B—Rody Ricketts 12 pass from Garrigan (Miller pass from Garrigan)W—Denny Dustin 2 run (Behar kick)W—Calabrese 30 run (run failed)Team records: Bunnell 10-2, Wilton 10-2.
Dave Stewart is a sports reporter with Hearst Connecticut Media Group who has been covering sports in Connecticut since 1996 and serves as the GameTimeCT writer for volleyball, girls hockey, wrestling and girls lacrosse. He has won multiple New England Newspaper & Press Association and Connecticut SPJ awards for writing and photography and is a member of the FCIAC Hall of Fame.