Dom Amore’s Sunday Read: Killingly makes ruckus in CT’s ‘quiet corner;’ UConn ace joins Chisox, more

KILLINGLY — They took a little time to savor and celebrate an undefeated season in 2024, then twin brothers Hayden and Hunter Allard and their teammates went right back to “The Barn” to get bigger, stronger still.

“We were rated No. 4 in the state and we wanted to be No.1,” Hunter Allard, a defensive back said. “People were still doubting us, they’re still doubting us right now, too. We want to make sure we’re No. 1.”

Killingly has won 24 in a row across the last two football seasons, the longest active winning streak in Connecticut going into CIAC Class SS semifinal game against Ledyard, to be played at Killingly Monday at 3:30 p.m. The Trail Blazers (11-0) are ranked second in the state writers and coaches’ polls, still carrying that chip the size of the Eastern slice of the state on their shoulders.

“We’re smaller, there aren’t many people who think we’re that good because we’re on the smaller side of the state,” Hayden Allard, the top rusher, said. “So we just play our brand of football.”

The Barn is the Blazers’ workout lair, an old, classic red barn a few miles west of town, owned by assistant coach Chad Caffrey, who used to own a gym in Rhode Island and moved all the equipment into the barn. “It’s pretty intense in there,” Hunter Allard said, “coaches yelling at you to make sure you do what you’re supposed to do, your brothers all there to help you.”

Players gather in The Barn four nights a week, then make hay on the weekends. Killingly has outscored opponents 602-183, after beating Ellington 58-20 in the quarterfinals last Wednesday.

Most football teams today use RPOs, which stand for run/pass option. Here, the meaning is different.

“Our slogan is RPO — run people over,” Hayden Allard said.

“Our culture is one of caring, one of citizenship, giving back to the community, one of trust, of working together with unselfishness,” said Chad Neal, in his 22nd season as coach. “We’ve got a lot of unselfish kids who buy into what we’re trying to accomplish. It took a while to get the values we wanted, the standards. The kids understand the expectations of them, on and off the football field, and the older kids got to the younger kids and hold each other accountable.”

Neal, 49, also director of the school’s Career Center, is the architect of what has become a perennial state powerhouse, built to rival the best from other, more traditional seats of football power in Connecticut, and built to last. He is “Quiet Corner” through and through, a native of Putnam who learned football and the art of coaching it from Joe Humphrey at Putnam High. Neal has led the Blazers to state championships in 2017, 2021 and 24, and championship game appearances in 2019 and 22.

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“It’s just hard work,” said Soren Rief, who played on Killingly’s 2021 and 22 teams and is now a freshman running back at UConn. “You show up every day, guys are in The Barn with coach Caffrey in the offseason, the little things like that you don’t see, behind the scenes that go a long way. You’re going to get a blue-collar kid who’s just going to put his head down and not say a lot, just work hard. The Allard Twins, obviously, I saw them come up, kids who don’t say much, but you can count on them on the field. They have a bunch of guys like that who are just willing to do anything for their teammates.”

Killingly has a vocational agriculture program, which allows students from nearby towns to go there, but they must be accepted and commit to it before the first day of their sophomore year. The town’s youth programs run systems closely mirroring Neal and his staff, which has been together a long time, so there is continuity. The Allard brothers started to dream of being a Trail Blazer in 2017, looking up to running back Spencer Lockwood, who later played for Trinity.

And whatever the football “blue bloods” don’t yet know about Killingly can hurt them.

“We’re not different than them, the way we prepare, the way we train, the expectations, the standards, we’re not much different,” Neal said.

Since 2017, the Football Alliance has allowed Killingly to match up with strong nonconference opponents. The game Neal believes marked the program’s arrival was a decisive victory over Trinity-Catholic of Stamford, which came to Killingly early in ’17. This season, Killingly began with a resounding win over Bishop Hendricken, which has since repeated as Rhode Island Super Bowl champ. The Blazers also beat Law-Milford, Fitch-Groton and Norwich Free Academy, all playoff teams, NFA advancing with a win over New Britain in Class LL last week.

“We’ve never skirted anybody on our schedule, we’ve looked for those games,” Neal said. “We play the games we are given in our league, and whoever we get in our league, we play.”

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New Cannan from the FCIAC, is unbeaten and No.1 in both polls going into its Class L semifinal against the Hartford co-op.

Killingly, dressing 57 players, returned all but three starters from the team that beat Sheehan-Wallingford in the state championship game at Rentschler Field last season, so this was set up to be a peak year in a town that packs its football stadium. Quinn Sumner, a three-year starter at quarterback, Michael Allen, Tyler Smith, Devinnn Moe, Zach Phillips, Matt Guenette are among the senior leaders flanking the Allard brothers. If they beat Ledyard, the Blazers would play the Nonnewaug-Woodbury co-op or Daniel Hand-Madison for the Class SS title.

“It’s a blue-collar community,” Neal said. “There’s no entitlement with these kids, they’re going to work for what they have, and they get that from generation to generation in their families, and our community is a tight-knit community that gives back, that cares about one another. When we talk about ‘the Quiet Corner,’ it’s pretty special up here, because of the people that are up here. It’s different, that’s what I’d say.”

More for your Sunday Read:

Back to big leagues for UConn’s Kay

Former UConn ace Anthony Kay is back in the major leagues, after two stellar seasons in Japan. Kay, 30, the Mets’ first-round pick in 2016, was shifted from starter to reliever in stints with the Blue Jays, Cubs and Mets. In 2024, he joined the Yokohama Bay Stars in Japan, and came into his own with, pitching to a 1.74 ERA with 130 strikeouts and 41 walks over 155 innings.

The White Sox, in the midst of a long rebuilding cycle after their 121-loss season in ’24, will announce a two-year, $12 million deal with Kay, according to multiple reports, a team-friendly deal. Should they fall out of contention early next season, and Kay establishes himself as a viable starter, he’d be a prime target for playoff contenders in mid-season. And of course, it would be among the better stories of the season if Kay excels. It’s not unusual for pitchers to bloom in their 30s.

With the Rule V Draft coming up this week at the Winter Meetings, former Huskies Kyler Fedko, who had 28 homers and 34 steals in the high minors with the Twins last season, could be an attractive pick for a team that could offer a chance to play in the big leagues, like his hometown team, the Pirates. Another first found pick out of UConn, Reggie Crawford, could be taken from the Giants. Crawford has tremendous upside, but shoulder surgeries have stalled his progress, and he will be out until mid-2026. Crawford, remember, was a two-way player. Ironically, he transferred to Tennessee to gain draft leverage before the 2021 Draft and the Giants are now managed by former Vols coach Tony Vitello.

Sunday short takes

*Trinity, defending champs in Division III men’s basketball, are at it again, off to a 6-0 start and ranked No. 1. The Bantams won a tight one in what is becoming a sizzling local rivalry, beating Saint Joseph 72-68 Wednesday night.

The Bantams have a lot of talent back from last year, including Jarrel Okorougo, Henry Vetter, Drew Lazarre, and Jared Berry, all averaging in double digits. Trinity played Babson Saturday, and play UHart Tuesday.

*UConn is the only school in the country with ranked men’s and women’s basketball teams, and men’s and women’s hockey teams. The women’s hockey team rose to No. 7 after beating Quinnipiac and Yale in the Nutmeg Classic in Storrs last weekend.

*Sam Vecenie’s latest NBA mock draft has Braylon Mullins going at No. 11, which would add to UConn’s roster of lottery picks, followed by Alex Karaban (35), Tarris Reed Jr. (39) and Silas Demery Jr. (48).

*Hall of Famer Ray Allen took in the UConn-Illinois game at Madison Square Garden last week, and this week stopped in New Haven to watch his old teammates, Scott Burrell, coach at SCSU.

*John Greenleaf, David Hernandez, Bryant Lishness, Andy Freimuth, Gretchen Chiasson, Brian Archibald and Tom Dickau were all inducted into the Bristol Sports Hall of Fame last week.

*UConn athletics could thrive with Power Conference TV revenue, absolutely. But how many years does it have to sustain its Big East/Hockey East/independent football model before people stop saying it’s “unsustainable?” Asking for myself.

Jim Mora says hello at Colorado State, goodbye, good luck to players staying with UConn football

Last word

As UConn changes football coaches, it has become still more tangible, just how much Jim Mora and UConn did for each other. Mora, out of coaching, applied for the Colorado State job in 2019 and did not get it. After his four years at UConn, CSU came after Mora. And it would have been hard to imagine UConn attracting a coach like Jason Candle, with his impressive track record and recruiting classes, away from Toledo and the MAC in 2021. So Mora, as important as winning games, elevated the prestige of the job. Unless and until UConn joins a power conference, it could be a “bridge” or stepping stone job for football coaches, but that shouldn’t bother anyone — it works out fine in a lot of places — if each new coach succeeds and moves upward.

Source: Sports Yahoo