Maloney Captures First-Ever State Football Championship

NEW BRITAIN, CT — Josh Boganski rushed for 239 yards on 46 carries and scored four touchdowns, powering Maloney High School to its first-ever CIAC football championship with a 35-21 victory over Windsor in the Class L championship tilt at Veterans Stadium.

Boganski had a full game’s worth of statistics in the first half alone, carrying the ball 27 times for 139 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He added 100 yards on the ground and two more scores in the second half.

Windsor, the No. 5 seed, drew first blood on an 83-yard touchdown pass from Elijah Cromartie to Jaevion Walcott just past the midpoint of the first quarter. Maloney tied the score on a 5-yard run by Boganski with 8:13 left in the first half.

Windsor failed to convert a 4th-and-3 from its own 39 with just under three minutes to play before intermission. That decision proved costly, as Boganski bulled in from 6 yards out to culminate an 8-play drive which sent the Spartans to the locker room with a 14-7 advantage.

An interception by Kuron Wiggins in the opening two minutes gave Maloney great field position at the Windsor 26-yard line. Just over a minjte later, Boganski scored on an 11-yard run to provide the Spartans a two-touchdown cushion. They extended the lead to 28-7 on a 5-yard run by Boganski with 6:08 left in the third quarter.

The Warriors refused to fold, culminating an 11-play drive with a 1-yard touchdown plunge by Shawn Bell late in the third period. After Maloney turned the ball over on downs on its next possession, an 87-yard pass play down the left sideline from Cromartie to Bell trimmed the deficit to 28-21.

Quarterback Angel Arce capped the scoring for the Spartans on a 15-yard run in the final quarter.

Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Total
Windsor 7 0 6 8 21
Maloney 0 14 14 7 35

1st Quarter

W – Jaevion Walcott 83 pass from Elijah Cromartie (Miles McMikle kick), 5:31

2nd Quarter

M – Josh Boganski 5 run (Josh Scaramuzzo kick), 8:13

M – Boganski 6 run (Scaramuzzo kick), 0:29

3rd Quarter

M – Boganski 11 run (Scaramuzzo kick), 9:19

M – Boganski 5 run (Scaramuzzo kick), 6:08

W – Shawn Bell 1 run (kick failed), 1:39

4th Quarter

W – Bell 87 pass from Cromartie (Prince Samuels pass from Cromartie), 11:20

M – Angel Arce 15 run (Scaramuzzo kick), 8:51

Rushing

WIN: Shawn Bell 16-41, Elijah Cromartie 8-(-2).

MAL: Josh Boganski 46-239, Kenny McMillian 10-39, Angel Arce 6-3.

Passing

WIN: Cromartie 9-23, 200 yds, 1 TD, 4 INT

MAL: Arce 4-10, 47 yds, 1 INT

Receiving

WIN: Bell 3-94, Achillius White 3-11, Jaevion Walcott 2-83, Ray Rodriguez 1-12

MAL: Austin Studley 2-18, Ian Graham 1-17, Joziah Gonzalez 1-12

Other Championship Scores

CLASS LL

• No. 3 Darien 42, No. 1 Fairfield Prep 7

CLASS M

• No. 1 Killingly 28, No. 2 Rockville 14

CLASS S

• No. 2 Cromwell/Portland 21, No. 1 Bloomfield 6