But Berlin quarterback P.J. Sanzo threw a pair of touchdown passes, the final one coming with one second left before intermission to give Berlin an insurmountable 15-point lead en route to a 35-6 Nutmeg League win.

"I wasn’t nervous," Sanzo (5-for-9, 2TDs, 1 INT, 100 yards) said, recalling the six-play, 65-yard drive that took just 2:06 and culminated in a 4-yard fade pass to Chris Schroder with 1:07 left to make it 14-6. The key play was the 39-yard hookup Sanzo had with Schroder two plays earlier on a third-and-6 from Vinal/Coginchaug’s 45-yard line.

"We had to get done what needed to get done," Sanzo noted. "That’s all that matters."

While Berlin’s offense executed on the drive, the defense executed superbly, stopping the Hawks (2-2-1) on two incompletions to get the ball back at the midfield stripe with 27 ticks left.

After an incomplete pass, Sanzo found Josh DeConti for a 16-yard completion, and then stuck the dagger in the Hawks’ hearts with a 34-yard crossing pattern to big play man Joel Hartunian who touched paydirt with 1.1 seconds showing on the scoreboard.

"That was a bad one," McNamara said of Berlin’s second touchdown. "We might have gotten a little greedy offensively there, but Berlin is a good team."

Berlin continued making the plays after intermission when the Redcoats (5-0, 4-0 Nutmeg), who garnered their 32nd consecutive Nutmeg League win (and 25th consecutive regular-season victory), put the game out of reach when Bryan Hill (11 carries, game-high 108 yards) went 42 yards up the middle to make it 27-6 after the extra point sailed wide left.

"We never stopped their power running game," McNamara lamented afterward. The yardage numbers bear him out, as the Redcoats compiled 322 yards on the ground as Hartunian (7, 42) and Chris Laroche (15, 90) and DeConti (65-yard TD run in his only carry) had big nights.

Vinal/Coginchaug was led by David Francis. Francis rushed 10 times for 63 yards, had a reception from Todd Manjuck (5-17, 29 yards), and an interception and subsequent 49-yard return, but left dissatisfied with the loss even when he recalled Brenton Milardo’s fumble recover midway through the final period.

"That picked us up a little," Francis said. "But walking around, seeing (his teammates’) faces, people didn’t look too well."

The Hawks engineered a crisp 12-play, 71-yard drive that ended on Berlin’s one-yard line as time ran out with Parker coming up just short of the goal line on the second down run.

"They bend, but just don’t break," McNamara said of the Berlin defense. "We couldn’t pop another one like the one we popped with Ned (Parker)."

Mcnamara commended his right guard and tackle, juniors Shawn Meadows and Matt Rohrig, who provide the thrust when Vinal/Coginchaug runs right.

"Meadows and Rohrig are good football players," McNamara noted. "Our right side does a nice job every week, (but) our left side got a big first down late in the game.