On Friday, Stafford co-op football coach Brian Mazzone told his team that he wouldn’t be coming back next year.
Mazzone, who has a 60-35 record and is Stafford’s winningest football coach, decided to step down after 10 years to spend more time with his family.
Mazzone will coach Stafford (4-5) in one last game Wednesday on the road against the Windsor Locks co-op team at 6 p.m. at Windsor Locks.
“I know the time was now,” Mazzone said. “I wanted to coach for 10 years. It was just a number I had in my head, I don’t know why. It happened to coincide with my son starting high school next year.
“I know there’s going to be things I want to be at. He says he’s going to play football. He’d play freshman football on Thursday at 3:45. There’s no way I’m running a practice at Stafford at 3:30 and in my head, worrying what’s going on at Platt or Bristol Central or wherever he is that day. I gotta be there for it.”
Mazzone still plans to be an assistant baseball coach at Enfield, where his son will play football and baseball, and he will be coaching his kids in CYO basketball as well.
“I had a conversation with (Stafford athletic director) Damian (Frassinelli) a few years ago and he said we’ll work it out. But I just felt like it wasn’t sensible,” Mazzone said. “I told the kids the other night, ‘I’m 100 percent in all the time, I’m all in in what I do.’ If I can’t do that, I don’t want to do it.
“Hopefully, we go out with a win.”
East Hartford’s big win
East Hartford stunned Manchester Friday, 46-0, in a CCC Tier 1 game Friday night. The Hornets lost six of their first seven games but bounced back to win their last three.
In his last game, senior quarterback Dravyn Roberts, who is also a top wrestler for the Hornets, scored seven touchdowns, four rushing and three passing. He also helped stop Manchester’s offensive attack.
“It was sad, but we had a good game,” East Hartford coach Bennie Fulse III said. “It build some confidence, built some character; it let the guys know we had a chance, we just didn’t stay focused all year. It’s a good win. It’s a rivalry.
“What we did all week was we made sure we stayed with basic football, stayed with the game plan.”
East Hartford will not make the playoffs; Manchester (6-4) is currently ranked seventh in Class LL and eight teams will advance to the playoffs. The CIAC tournament pairings will be announced Friday.
Here are some top performances from last week:
Nate Blumes, Conard: Blumes had 19 carries for 76 yards and had a field goal and caught a touchdown pass in the fourth quarter in a 16-10 loss to Hall Saturday. Blumes needed 43 yards to become the 16th running back in school history to rush for over 1,000 yards and he was the first to do since his brother Arsen Shtefan on the same date in 2019.
Carter Chambers, Granby/Canton: Chambers had 11 carries for 103 yards and two rushing touchdowns, and caught a 4-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter from Vince Forte en route to a 42-7 win over North Branford Friday.
Will Davis, Rockville: Davis had 11 carries for 97 yards and two touchdowns, including a 53-yarder, in Rockville’s 44-7 win over Coginchaug Friday.
Tyler Redden, Hall: Redden had 22 carries for 83 yards in Hall’s 16-10 victory over crosstown rival Conard Saturday.
