Southington Takes Back Apple Valley Classic Trophy In Win Over Cheshire

Blue Knights celebrate around Apple Valley Classic trophy NMR PHOTOGRAPHY

Southington football entered their Thanksgiving matchup against Cheshire having lost the last two Apple Valley Classic rivalry games. Between a stout defense and an explosive offense, the Blue Knights reclaimed the trophy with a 31-0 victory.

“The rivalry goes in circles, for both towns. It’s a positive, competitive, good rivalry. Hats off to Cheshire, they have a great team this year,” head coach Rob Levesque said. “That kind of game, records go out the window, playoffs go out the window, we’re coming, they’re coming and we’re going to get after it. It’s what was expected. My kids loved it and played great.”

Game Recap: First Half

Southington’s first score came after three straight runs from sophomore Benjamin Beaulieu, when junior quarterback Luke Prozzo found senior Jaxiel Rivera from 36 yards out to put the Blue Knights on the board. The extra point made it 7-0 with 8:27 remaining in the first quarter.

It wasn’t long before Southington got possession back. Cheshire fumbled the ball on fourth-and-one, with Blue Knights senior Daniel Corrado recovering it. Southington then went on an extended drive that featured a long Prozzo run and another deep pass to Rivera. With 1:49 remaining in the quarter, sophomore Sawyer Trudeau gave the Blue Knights a 10-0 lead on a 26-yard field goal.

Cheshire seemed to be getting some momentum, blocking a Southington punt to start the second quarter. They would then convert a fourth-and-six. However, senior Austin Sirois halted the Rams in their tracks with a tackle for loss that forced fourth-and-11, and Cheshire missed a 43-yard field goal.

On its next drive Southington capitalized on a pair of strong runs from senior Lonnie Green, including one for 13 yards. Prozzo then converted fourth-and-two to junior Leif Renehan. With the receiver breaking tackles deep into Cheshire territory, the Blue Knights tacked on a 23-yard Trudeau field goal to take a 13-0 lead into halftime.

RB Lonnie Green breaks off a big run

OLB Daniel Corrado waits for the snap

WR Jaxiel Rivera lines up

K Sawyer Trudeau kicks field goal

RB Leif Renehan gains key yards

Recap: Second Half

The Blue Knights brought out the fireworks to open the second half, as Prozzo found Beaulieu for a 40-yard touchdown pass with 10:53 left in the quarter. While the kick was blocked, Southington was up 19-0.

Next, Cheshire started driving down the field, converting on fourth-and-11. But a Sirois interception again stopped their momentum. The turnovers weren’t done yet – on the first play of Cheshire’s next drive, junior Connor Orange recovered a fumble.

The ensuing drive saw a Prozzo interception get called back for pass interference. A few plays later, Beaulieu ran in a three-yard touchdown. Orange wasn’t finished recovering turnovers, picking up his second of the quarter shortly thereafter. Southington took a 25-0 lead into the final frame.

Beaulieu put the finishing touches on the victory by scoring a five-yard rushing touchdown with just over 11 minutes remaining. It was the only score the fourth quarter as the Blue Knights put the seal on a rivalry win.

Southington not only took back the Apple Valley Classic, they chalked up their fifth victory in a row, the last four before a home crowd.

“Being in Southington is special,” Levesque said. “Being on the road is hard to do so many weeks in a row. After the bye and a bad loss to New Britain, we had a reset. We had to make some real changes in the way we did things, the way we prepared. We did that, and it was the perfect time in the season to hit the reset button. The kids bought in and they’ve been executing.”

RB Ben Beaulieu runs past defenders....

...goes in for the touchdown...

... and celebrates with his teammates.

Luke Prozzo Makes His Return

Senior quarterback Prozzo had been out of action since suffering an injury in Southington’s win over Hall, which was later revealed to be a second grade AC sprain in his shoulder. After a lengthy recovery, the quarterback was finally able to get in a couple days of practice leading into the Thanksgiving clash.

Prozzo was informed that he was going to be the starter on Wednesday night. When he learned of that decision, he said, “I knew I was going to lead the team to a victory.” The junior would go on to complete 13-of-26 passes for 161 yards and two touchdowns, and get named Southington’s Apple Valley Classic Offensive MVP.

Prozzo admits he was playing at about 80 percent capacity, but felt that he “had to be out here with the boys.” Once he completed his first touchdown pass to Rivera, he knew he was “on his A-game.” From there, Prozzo was solely focused on winning the rivalry matchup.

“They took it from us two years in a row, so it felt great to take that back,” Prozzo said. “We have the right momentum going into the playoffs, and I think we’re going to get it done.”

While Prozzo may not have been competing come gameday, he remained active in team preparations and was fully involved in Southington’s growing success.

“Luke is a gamer at all points,” Levesque said. “He’s never been gone, he’s been in the huddles, he’s been in the films, in the practices. He’s been doing everything he can. He hasn’t missed a beat in terms of the mental reps that it takes to play this game.”

Heading into the playoffs, Levesque and company will have a decision to make at starting quarterback. In Prozzo’s absence, sophomore Jacoby Roman led the Blue Knights to five victories. Whoever ends up getting the starting nod, Levesque is confident Southington’s quarterback will deliver.

“There’s a lot of factors that go into the decision,” Levesque said. “Obviously Jacoby has won the last four games for us. He’s been tremendous for us. It’s a good, healthy competition between them. We’re going to continue to ride that, that’s a good problem to have. Great character kids and competitors.”

QB Luke Prozzo steps back to pass

Blue Knights Offense, Defense Both Shine

Defensively, Southington held Cheshire to just 61 yards total. With three fumble recoveries and an interception, the Blue Knights easily won the takeaway battle. That they are ‘takeaways’, not just turnovers, is something Levesque emphasizes, as he wants Southington to be intentional when they attack on defense.

“Sudden change is a big part of the game,” Levesque said. “It’s a game of motion and momentum. We led the turnover battle and it led to some sudden change. We focus a lot on takeaways. We don’t like to call them turnovers, takeaways are on purpose. It worked for us today.”

Orange, who had two of those fumble recoveries, was named Southington’s Apple Valley Classic Defensive MVP. He argued it should be a team award as he wasn’t the only one who stepped up to help set a new standard in the rivarly with Cheshire.

“We really wanted to start a new standard around here,” Orange said. “We knew they were going to run the ball a lot. We really worked hard for our outside linebackers to set the edge. This whole week has just been preparing. 100 percent intensity, 100 percent locked in.”

With three total touchdowns and 155 yards of offense, Beaulieu was named the Apple Valley Classic MVP. The Blue Knights had 134 total rushing yards with Beaulieu contributing 100 of them. Still, for the sophomore, his favorite moments on the field are not individual achievement but soaking in a score with his teammates.

“It feels amazing. After you score, being able to be with your offensive linemen in the end zone. That’s the best feeling in the world,” Beaulieu said. “I feel sorry for people who can’t experience it because honestly it’s amazing. I’m super grateful for it.”

It has been a rollercoaster season for Beaulieu, who began the year as a backup before going on to win MVP. Whatever role he was put in, the running back was ready.

“Offseason it was a lot of, ‘What can I do to help this team the most?’ Whether that would be starting or being on special teams, just to help anywhere in practice,” Beaulieu said. “Being able to get an opportunity was great, I know I’m built for it. I have a great offensive line I can trust.”

All three players kept focused on the Blue Knights’ trusted mantra, ‘1-0 every week’. As they head into postseason play, they know what they’re capable of and are prepared to put the work in to succeed.

“Our mentality is just to keep on going,” Prozzo said. “Whatever is working is working.”

“We just got to keep working hard,” Orange added.

“1-0 every week, keep it rolling,” Beaulieu concluded.

OLB Connor Orange with his Defensive MVP award

Southington's stout defense shut out Cheshire

Glastonbury Awaits

With the win, Southington ended their regular season with a 7-3 record. They clinched the No. 4 seed in the Class LL State Tournament and will host No. 5 Glastonbury on Tuesday, December 2. Kickoff is set for 6:30.

It will be a rematch of the school’s regular season matchup, a game that saw Glastonbury come away with a 41-35 victory in overtime. But Southington is now a much different team than they were back in Week 2. With momentum from their win over Cheshire, Levesque and the Blue Knights are ready for playoff action.

“We’ll see who we get. The coaches are going to gameplan, and the players are going to trust us. We’re going to trust them,” Levesque said. “We’re going to go out and play.”

WR Roscoe Cook hauls in a pass

The crowd for the Apple Valley Classic

For more SHS sports photography, check out NMR Photography.

An Unexpected Discovery At The Barnes Museum – 5,000 Years Of Connecticut Prehistory

A Native American toolkit from the Barnes Museum NADIA DILLON PHOTOS

The passion that Bradley Barnes, last owner of the Barnes homestead, had for historical artifacts explains why the Barnes Museum is so full of treasures today. In June 2021, while exploring the attic at the Barnes, I found one of these treasures. My eye was caught by what I thought at first was jewelry. I rushed over to discover a case containing over 70 Native American projectile points. The glimmer came from quartz, the mineral from which projectile points are made. Drawing on my recently completed degree in Anthropology/Archaeology, I made it my mission to identify every single point and tell the story of its origins and its place in Connecticut’s Native American prehistory.

The find was a surprise because, as far as we know, the Barnes family of Southington had no Native American ties. However, Bradley Barnes did have a summer home in the Indian Cove neighborhood of Guilford called ‘Rock Edge.’ It is believed that he found many of those projectile points along the beach there.

How To Date The Points

I first needed to date these artifacts. There are two types of dating methods; absolute dating  and relative dating. People might think that getting an absolute date from radiocarbon dating would be the method I used.

However, radiocarbon dating can only identify the time period of a living organism. All living things contain carbon 14 when they take in air. When they die, they stop absorbing it. Radiocarbon dating measures the decay of this carbon, and from it, the time that has passed since the living thing died. You can use this method for soil, plants, seeds, shells, textiles, and the remains of both humans and animals. But you cannot use it for projectile points because the stone they are made from was never alive.

Fortunately, relative dating can be just as accurate. This is the method I used. It involved matching the projectile points with similar artifacts from others sites whose absolute dates are known. Through this process, the collection was show to contain projectile points belonging to cultures that were around up to 5,000 years ago.

Late Archaic Projectile Points

The oldest artifacts belonged to the Late Archaic Period, which ran from 5000 BC to 3000 BC. During that time, Native Americans in Connecticut sustained themselves by foraging for nuts, fruits, and wild plants, as well as hunting deer and other small mammals and fishing. They processed their food by baking, roasting, and drying it. They lived in seasonal base camps with smaller temporary campsites along the Connecticut and Farmington Rivers.

There were two distinct populations at the time. The first, the Laurentian people, settled near rivers and lakes. They resided in base camps with man-made pole structures, but also occupied seasonal rock shelters and temporary open-air camps. These rock shelters can still be found across Connecticut at sites such as Chatfield Hollow State Park in Killingworth and Peoples State Forest in Barkhamsted.

The projectile points from this time are called Brewerton Notched Points. They are identified by notches on their stems, a slightly concave base, and an expanded stem. They were primarily used as spear points for hunting large mammals, though some were also used as knives. Most of the projectile points from Connecticut were made of quartz and chert. They are also commonly found in New England, New York, and the Ohio Valley.

Brewerton Notched Points from the Barnes Museum

The other population from this time, the Narrow Point people, settled in various micro-environments – open-air camps, quarries, highlands, shell middens, and rock shelters. Their lithics include Lamoka and Squibnocket points made of local quartz and quartzite. Lamoka points are small, with an expanding stem and straight base. Like the Laurentian points, they are found in New England and the Ohio Valley and were used as dart points attached to a spear. Squibnocket points can be either stemmed or triangular. The stemmed points are thin with a long stem and a base that curves outward. The triangular points can be equilateral or isosceles, with a concave base. Both types were used as dart points attached to spears.

Lamoka Points from the Barnes

Points From The Terminal Archaic

During the Terminal Archaic period, which ran from 3000 BC to 1000 BC, Native Americans expanded trading along the rivers and coasts of Connecticut to obtain exotic materials from distant regions. The two main traditions were the Narrow Point Tradition and the Susquehanna/Broad Spear Tradition. Although they belong to the same time period, archaeologists continue to debate whether the two traditions were truly separate, as they had been in the Late Archaic.

The Narrow Point people were descendants of the Late Archaic, living in similar dwellings and areas as their predecessors, with their camps organized by labor. They continued to use Squibnocket and Lamoka points with spears launched by an atlatl.

Squibnocket Points from the Barnes

The Susquehanna/Broad Spear tradition evolved from the Laurentian tradition. Peoples from this tradition settled near rivers and lakes, which made trading easier. They were known for their Snook Kill and Orient points, which were used as knives, scrapers, and spears.

Snook Kill Projectile Points from the Barnes

The Late Woodland Era

A few projectile points were also found dating to the Late Woodland period, which spans the years 1000 BC to 1500 AD. During this time, the indigenous people settled in permanent, year-round settlements where they grew crops and hunted small mammals. They often lived near marshlands and estuaries, and developed extensive trade networks with European settlers that spanned most of North America. Their main crops were corn, beans, and squash, also known as the “three sisters.” Food was cooked in clay vessels.

This is the period when projectile points began to be used as true arrowheads. The Levanna point, one of the earliest examples of this, was attached to an arrow shot by a bow. These points can be recognized by their straight edges and concave bases:

Levana Points from the Barnes

We also found drill points, knives, and scrapers in the Barnes Museum collection. Drill points and awls had many uses. Traditionally they were employed to burr holes in wood for furniture. They were also used to make holes in clothing and for sewing. They were often reworked from projectile points that had became dull and no longer had enough material to sharpen.

Scrapers and knives had related purposes. A scraper would help cut the fatty tissue away from an animal hide so that the hide could be used as textiles. They were also employed for woodworking. Knives could also serve as scrapers, but unlike scrapers, they were used for hunting, skinning animals, and cutting meat:

Left to right: curated drill point (black flint), two drill points or awls (chert), scraper (red jasper), three knives/scrapers (chert)

This collection of projectile points not only reflects Bradley Barnes’s passion for preserving history but also provides a rare window into the lifeways of Connecticut’s earliest inhabitants. As tools used for hunting, farming, and daily survival they offer evidence of evolving trade networks and cultural traditions, and tell a story that stretches back thousands of years. By uncovering and studying them, we ensure that the voices of the region’s Native American past remain part of the broader history preserved within the Barnes Museum.

Missing No More: Remains Of Southington WWII Airman Recovered

The WWII Memorial on Southington's Green PHILIP THIBODEAU PHOTO

On the night of March 22, 1945, six weeks before Nazi Germany surrendered, a fleet of B-17G ‘Flying Fortress’ bombers belonging to the 429^th Bombardment Squadron, 2^nd Bombardment Group, took off from an airfield in Italy to begin a long, hazardous journey northward.

On board one of those B-17s was Technical Sergeant Donald Arthur Dorman. Dorman, who was born in Meriden and grew up in Southington, had enlisted in the U. S. Army Air Forces in 1942. An upper turret gunner, he was tasked with defending his plane from enemy fighters using a mounted pair of .50 caliber machine guns. He was 21 years old, and about to embark on his final flight.

The squadron’s mission that night was to bomb an oil refinery in the southeast corner of Germany, not far from the border with Poland. As it approached its target, Dorman’s plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire. The crew steered the plane east, hoping to make an emergency landing on Russian-controlled territory in Poland. The plane was then struck again by fire from German fighter planes. Some crew members managed to parachute out before the crash. Two who made it safely to the ground before being taken prisoner were the sole surviving witnesses to the ordeal.

The other eight crew members were officially listed as MIA because their bodies were never found. And that is where Dorman’s story stood – until this past September.

A Boeing B-17G 'Flying Fortress': Dorman operated the gun turret behind the pilots' cabin. PHOTO FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS

The Recovery

In the decades after WWII, the task of recovering the remains of U.S. military personnel who were designated MIA belonged to the American Graves Registration Command. As the Cold War intensified, cooperation between the U.S. and the Soviet Union ground to a halt, which hampered efforts by the Command to look for the remains of the missing in Soviet-controlled Poland. By the time the Soviet Union collapsed in 1989, the possibility of finding identifiable remains seemed very remote indeed.

But in the late 1990’s, advances in genetic testing made it possible to reconstruct an individual’s genetic profile from microscopic fragments of organic material. With the arrival of this new technology, hopes of identifying remains rose again. The search for remains was renewed in 2008. The first order of business was to find the crash site. Four years later, investigators determined that a B-17 had crashed near the Polish village of Glinica in 1945.

In 2019, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency contracted with Alta Archaeological Consulting of Santa Rosa, California, to excavate at the site of the crash. This past summer, a 20-person team of volunteers and paid staff performed the back-breaking work of shoveling clay into buckets and sifting it to look for fragments of the plane and signs of the crew. This article from the Arizona Daily Star offers an illustrated account of their efforts.

The archaeologists found what they were looking for: not just pieces of the bomber, but the remains of multiple individuals. The remains were sent to the Agency’s laboratory for analysis. Fortunately, they contained enough DNA to yield full genetic sequences. The next step was to sample DNA from the relatives of the eight missing crew members so that the sequences could be compared and family connections established.

Of the matches that were made, one involved a cousin of Dorman, who still lives in Southington. On September 19 of this year, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced that the remains of Technical Sergeant Donald A. Dorman had been identified. Dorman is MIA no longer.

Dorman's name on the Town's WWII memorial PHILIP THIBODEAU PHOTO 

The Return

News of the identification first reached Rachel Wache, the chair of Southington’s Veterans Committee, while she was at the Apple Harvest Festival. There an old acquaintance came up to her and said, “Rachel, I have something very interesting that you might want to see.” Pulling out her phone, she showed the official announcement to Wache. The woman with the phone was Sergeant Dorman’s cousin.

Wache had the honor of announcing this discovery to the Veterans Committee at their monthly meeting at the Calendar House. She is working now to coordinate the return of the remains and the burial ceremony. A local funeral home and the American Legion have been contacted, as well as the Southington Historical Society and Southington's school system, in the hope that their archives may contain more information about Dorman.

Wache says that she has been informed by the Department of Defense that they will not be taking any further actions in the case until sometime next year. When the remains are released, a military funeral will be held with full honors. Donald’s mother was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery, so the tentative plan is to bury him there.

The Southington Outsider will update this story further as it develops.