Playoff Picture Murky for New Britain High School Football
By Matthew Cannata | Sports Correspondent at November 14, 2023 | 8:15 am | Print
The New Britain High School Golden Hurricanes football team holds a 6-3 record, but their chances of reaching the playoffs became much harder after they lost to Glastonbury last week. New Britain, which is currently ranked 14th in Class LL, will need to jump six other teams to get to the 8th seed, which will be enough to get them into the playoffs.
Currently, there are only two teams that have clinched a playoff spot – Newton and Southington. The rest of the remaining six spots are up for grabs but New Britain will need a lot of help from other teams for this to happen. For example, if Glastonbury loses to Windsor, they will likely be knocked out of playoff contention and New Britain will move up in the rankings. If Hall were to lose to Hartford Public and Conard, they would fall behind New Britain.
The playoff spots are determined by the average point total, which is the total number of points a team has accumulated throughout the season divided by the number of games played. Points are earned in various amounts depending on whether a team beats an opponent in a division below them, a division above them or in their own division. They’re also earned by other teams that one has defeated when they beat another team. For example, after New Britain defeated Conard, they get points when Conard defeats an opponent that New Britain has already played.
At this point in the season, the maximum number of points New Britain can get is 1,230. The maximum average that New Britain can get, which is the number that really matters, is 111.82. The teams currently ahead of them have the possibility of a higher maximum average but the 8th ranked team, which is Hall High School, can only get a maximum average of 120 so it’s not a long way off.
It’s truly a complex system and there are a wide array of scenarios for New Britain, who have outscored their opponents 198-173, to make the playoffs. However, none will matter if they don’t win their remaining two games against Newington on Friday and then against Berlin on Nov. 26.
Neither team is an easy match-up as Newington is 5-3 and has outscored its opponents 191-156. Berlin is undefeated with a 9-0 record and has outscored its opponents 240-44. To make things more impressive, they haven’t allowed more than eight points in any one of their games.
For now though, head coach Tebucky Jones said their focus is on Newington, the players that he has in the locker room and nothing else.
“After we lost to Glastonbury, I told the kids that we would watch the film but once that’s over, it’s time to move onto the next opponent. I told them that we can’t think about things we can’t control – we just have to prepare for this week’s game against Newington.”
Regardless of what happens, New Britain has provided many exciting moments on the field this year and are guaranteed to have a winning record for first time since 2011, where they were 6-4 but missed out on the playoffs in similar fashion. They were led by seniors such as Elvin Silva, Joshua Graves, Alex Swaby, Marcus Torres and others. Jones said that these guys, and many others on the team as well, always played their best and never gave up.
When Jones was asked to give his thoughts about the future of the team heading into next year, his response was simple and direct.
“This year’s not over yet.”
They’ll look to keep their season alive on Friday night at 7 PM at Veterans Stadium against Newington and with a win, they’ll keep their playoff hopes alive heading into their final game against Berlin on Nov. 26 at 6 PM, also at Veterans Stadium.
