Berlin Dominates New London 50-12 in coach Capodice’s Season Debut
NEW LONDON – Berlin High School football launched its season with a commanding 50-12 victory over New London Thursday night, marking the return of coach Capodice to the sidelines. A dominant 35-point first half propelled Berlin to a decisive win,showcasing a potent offensive attack and a stifling defence.
Quarterback Puzio completed 5-of-7 passes for 75 yards and three touchdowns, while also contributing 17 rushing yards and a touchdown on two carries. Running backs Lavender (70 rush yards) and Rice (60 yards) combined for 130 yards on 13 carries and a touchdown.Rio proved a dual threat, scoring touchdowns on both of his receptions totaling 29 yards and adding an interception. Defensively, Sean granger anchored the team with three tackles for loss and two sacks.
“It was great, you always want to start off hot and games like this make it much better,” Puzio said following the game.
Rio emphasized the team’s resilience despite graduating key players last year. “I think we’re very underestimated knowing we lost a lot of guys last year,” he stated. “We worked our a**es off in the offseason and we grinded and we know, it’s that time. we get down in between those lines, it’s over.”
rice credited Capodice with revitalizing the program.”I feel like it realy just sparked us,” he explained. ”At first, we couldn’t find a coach and we were down and out but Cap came, he just got us right to it, he got us going and going, and we never stopped.”
Berlin faces a critically important challenge next friday, traveling to Bloomfield to take on the Class S runner-ups at 6:30 p.m. Bloomfield lost its season opener to Ansonia 23-14. Capodice indicated the team will thoroughly review game film to identify areas for advancement before preparing for the Bloomfield contest. “You always have these thoughts, then you go back to the film and it always says differently,” Capodice said. “I think I want to go back to the film with the kids and work on our deficiencies. They’re a great team,it’s going to be a competitive game,it should be a great night of football.”
