ESPN

Case Matheis looked like himself Wednesday afternoon.

“He was back playing in January,” Darien coach Jeff Brameier told the Stamford Advocate. “He could have done stuff in the fall, but he played it safe. He's good to go.”

ESPNHS has Matheis, a senior attacker, ranked as the No. 1 player in the country. He has committed to play college lacrosse at Duke.

Matheis entered the year with 120 goals and 94 assists during his first three varsity seasons.

Darien was without Matheis when it dropped an 11-3 decision to Wilton in last year's Class M tournament. The loss ended Darien's 16-game playoff winning streak. The Blue Wave had won the last six state titles.

Although Wednesday was technically the first game Matheis has played in since the injury, he also participated in a scrimmage against John Jay (Lewisboro, N.Y.) during the preseason.

“I think I got stronger and more explosive [after rehabilitating the injury],” Matheis said. “It's my senior season and I think it's gonna be a pretty special year.”

BACCARO STEPS DOWN
Bill Baccaro resigned from his position as football coach at East Catholic High School in Manchester earlier this week.

Baccaro had a 94-66-1 record during his 15-year coaching career, which included stints as the head coach at East Catholic, Cheney Tech-Manchester and for the East Catholic-Cheney Tech co-op team. He guided the co-op team to a 63-47 record from 1996 to 2006. When that team was dissolved, his Cheney Tech teams went 18-3 over a two-year span before he moved to East Catholic in 2009.

"East Catholic is very thankful and grateful to Coach Baccaro for his leadership and guidance of the football team during his tenure here at East Catholic,” East Catholic athletic director Tom Malin said. “The entire East Catholic community wishes the best to Coach Baccaro as he has had a tremendous positive effect on student-athletes. East Catholic will begin a search for the next varsity football coach immediately."

QUARTERBACK OPTIONS
The Connecticut team that will face Rhode Island in this summer's Governor's Cup All-Star football game was announced Thursday, and the team's deepest position may be quarterback.

Xavier-Middletown's Pat D'Amato, Hand-Madison's Henry Foye and Cromwell's Anthony Morales are the QBs who were selected. D'Amato and Foye each led their team to a state championship last season. Morales took Cromwell to the Class S championship game.

Morales led the state in passing yardage in 2011, when he averaged 283.7 yards per game and threw 43 touchdown passes. Foye ranked sixth in passing yardage with an average of 193.2 yards per game (29 TD passes). D'Amato is the best runner of the three. He threw for 15 TDs and gained 628 yards on the ground.

The Connecticut All-Stars will face Rhode Island on June 30 (4:30 p.m.) at Rentschler Field.

Connecticut extended its winning streak to nine games by beating Rhode Island 37-6 last year and has a 10-3 edge in the series.

The complete Connecticut roster:

Mike Antonio, Cromwell, WR; Aaron Berardino, Windsor, WR; Brandon Birdsell, Bethel, LB; Shaun Bowman, Cheshire, OL; Jawad Chisholm, Bunnell, S; Nicholas Colasate, Glastonbury, OL; Ben Compton, Windsor, LB; Matt Corcoran, Stamford, LB; Pat D'Amato, Xavier, QB; Brett Director, Cromwell, WR; Ian Dugger, Hall, WR; Matt Duignan, Masuk, LB; Jevan Elmore, New London, CB; Jimmy Fairfield-Sonn, Valley Regional/Old Lyme, CB; Timothy Farina, East Lyme, OL; Jose Forestier, Bulkeley, DL; Evan Foster, Bunnell, OL; Chandler Foster, Stamford, S; Henry Foye, Hand, QB; Vance Giarratana, Hand, S; Leaon Gordon, Brookfield, RB; Wesley Hopkins, Northwest Catholic, DL; Jamar Johnson, Bloomfield, DL; Emir Kuljancic, Wethersfield, DL; Sebastian Little, Cheshire, WR; Ryan Lumpkin, Windsor, WR; Brandon Lytton, Torrington, RB; Sean Marinan Jr., Xavier, DL; Brandon Martin, Notre Dame-West Haven, CB; Hakeem Martin, Ansonia, OL; Kyle McKinnon, New London, RB; Anthony Morales, Cromwell, QB; Genois Nelson, Maloney, DL; Devon O'Reilly, Glastonbury, CB; Daniel Palmer, Hartford Public, LB; Matt Paola, Pomperaug, K; AJ Pascuzzo, Sheehan, WR; Jason Piontkowski, Masuk, WR; Khamil Rangolam, Hillhouse, OL; Ludovic Richardson, Notre Dame-West Haven, DL; Maleek Riley, Northwest Catholic, OL; Robert Rose, Shelton, LB; Ardian Sahinovic, New Fairfield, K; Jovan Santos-Knox, Xavier, LB; Dallas Smith, Ledyard, LB; Isaiah Thomasson, Maloney, LB; Tommy Undercuffler, Berlin, S; Dylan Vano, Ansonia, OL; Giovanni Viven, New Britain, LB; Zach Voytek, Trumbull, OL; Jonathan Ware, RHAM, LB; Billy Wayrauch, Cheshire, LB; Austin Wezenski, Xavier, DL; Brandon Williams, Bassick, DL; Tyler Wood, Ansonia, LB.

BASEBALL IS BACK
The CIAC championship baseball games will return to Palmer Field in Middletown this year after being held at Muzzy Field in Bristol last spring.

Roger Brown is a freelance writer who has been reporting on high school sports in New England since 1992.

Tolland High School's Kristin Schatzlein was named Connecticut's top girls high school basketball player last week. She's hoping to make even bigger news this weekend.

Three days after Schatzlein became the first Tolland player to be selected as Connecticut's Gatorade Player of the Year, second-seeded Tolland advanced to the Class M championship game by defeating third-seeded Ellington 60-38 in Friday's Class M semifinals.

Tolland (22-2) will meet top-seeded Weaver (23-1) for the title. Weaver advanced with a 48-39 victory over fifth-seeded Cromwell.

“Schatzlein never gets rattled on the floor and always wants the ball when the game is on the line," Bloomfield coach Dan Matthews said. "She shoots the ball extremely well from beyond the arc, but she also handles the ball well."

Schatzlein scored 15 points in the semifinal win against Ellington. She entered that game averaging 20.3 points, 9.9 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 5.5 steals and 2.1 blocks per game. The Eagles had lost in the semifinals in each of the past two years.

The Gatorade Player of the Year Award recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the court.

Schatzlein has signed a national letter of intent to play basketball at Fairfield next season.

Recent winners of the Gatorade Player of the Year Award include Katie Mahoney (2010-11, Bacon Academy), Kastine Evans (2009-10, Norwich Free Academy), Symone Roberts (2008-09, New Britain), Heather Buck (2007-08 and 2006-07, Stonington), Shamika Jackson (2003-04, East Catholic), and Amanda Pape (2002-03, Trinity Catholic).

WHITE WASHING
It's probably safe to say the Hamden boys' hockey team has seen enough of Fairfield Prep forward David White.

White scored eight goals in three victories over Hamden this season. Two of those goals came during Saturday's 2-0 victory over eighth-seeded Hamden in the Division I quarterfinals.

Top-seeded Fairfield Prep (19-3-0) will face fourth-seeded Glastonbury (18-4-0) in Wednesday's Division I semifinals. No. 2 Notre Dame-West Haven (18-3-1) will meet No. 6 West Haven (15-7-0) in the other semifinal.

The Division II semifinals will be played Monday, and the Division III semifinals will be held Tuesday.

Division II: No. 1 Guilford (12-7-2) vs No. 5 Trumbull (13-9-0); No. 7 Branford (13-9-0) vs. No. 3 North Branford (13-8-1).

Division III: No. 1 Newington-Berlin (19-2-0) vs. No. 4 NFA-St. Bernard-Bacon (12-9-0) vs. No. 3 Northwest Catholic (17-4-0).

GRAPPLING WITH SUCCESS
Five Connecticut wrestlers won individual titles at the 48th New England Interscholastic Wrestling Championships held March 3 in Providence, R.I.

Sean Marinan, who helped Xavier win the 2012 State Open championship, prevailed at the 220-pound weight class. Marinan defeated Masuk's Eric Tucker to win the title.

Marinan will join the University of Connecticut football program as a preferred walk-on next season.

Middletown's Devon Carrillo (182), Newington's Chris Chorzepa (170), Hand's Will Crisco (120) and Westhill's Pascal Medor (106) also won New England titles in their respective weight class.

Timberlane (Plaistow, N.H.) won the team title. Hand-Madison was the runner-up.

RUNNERS GET HOLMES-SCHOOLED
Hillhouse junior Precious Holmes didn't disappoint her followers at the 25th New England Indoor Track Championship earlier this month.

Holmes set meet records by prevailing in the 300-meter run (:38.22 seconds) and the 600 (1:30.79). Her time in the 600 also established a New England record.

In addition, Holmes ran a leg on Hillhouse's 4x400 relay team, which finished first in 3:56.84. Johnesse Peterson, Jayvona McDaniel and Lanja Carr were the other members of the 4x400 team.

Roger Brown publishes the New Hampshire Football Report. He has been covering high school sports in New England since 1992.

Paula Hagopian's talent on the soccer field is so obvious she was named Connecticut's Gatorade Player of the Year even though her Kingswood Oxford team finished with a record below .500 last season.

Hagopian, a senior forward, collected 13 goals and 10 assists as a senior, when Kingswood Oxford went 5-7-2. She was also the 2011 Connecticut Soccer Coaches' Association Player of the Year, and has twice been selected as an All-American by the National Soccer Coaches' Association of America.

“Paula is so strong that defenders bounce off her,” said Matt Micros, a club coach with Connecticut FC. “She can hold the ball up well and also spin defenders with ease. What she lacks in technique she more than makes up for with power and pace.”

Hagopian led Kingswood Oxford to the 2010 New England Prep School Athletic Council (NEPSAC) Class B championship and completed her career with 56 goals and 35 assists. She will continue her soccer career at Yale next fall.

Past winners of the award include Riley Houle (2010–11, Windham), Kate McCarthy, (2009-10, Loomis Chaffee), Jessica Schloth (2008–09, St. Joseph), Alex Uscilla (2007-08, St. Joseph), and Bianca D’Agostino (2006-07, Loomis Chaffee).

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How good was Arkeel Newsome's sophomore season?

So good that you could argue it's the best season ever turned in by a Connecticut high school running back.

Newsome, a sophomore at Ansonia High School, capped the season by running for 364 yards and three touchdowns on 42 carries during a 38-0 triumph over Ledyard in Saturday's Class M championship game at Rentschler Field.

That performance gave Newsome the state record for yards rushing in a season (3,763). Former Ansonia running back Alex Thomas set the previous record (3,596) in 2007.

Newsome also completed the season as the leading rusher in the nation. Johnathan Gray of Aledo, Texas is second with 3,447 rushing yards. Gray has one game to play.

“We had high expectations, but it's kind of hard to expect a sophomore to lead the country in rushing,” Ansonia head coach Tom Brockett said. “He's such a dynamic player. Obviously college football is all about speed, and in terms of high school his speed is on another level.

“He's also dangerous in the kick-return game. I think he has a chance to be a big-time [college] running back.”

Newsome also set the state record for touchdowns scored in a season with 62 (58 rushing). He scored on runs of 13, 50 and 95 yards in the victory over Ledyard, which handed the Ansonia program its state-best 17th state championship.

Ansonia became the first team to complete a season with a 14-0 record. The Chargers outscored teams 624-154 this season.

Ledyard completed its season with an 11-2 record.

“We've already heard from BC, Connecticut, Miami and Iowa,” Brockett said. “People are just trying to get in on the process. I think college coaches will come after him as a running back, but he could definitely play on the other side of the ball. He'll have [scholarship] offers by the time he takes the field for his junior year.”

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Until this year, the Glastonbury High School girls' soccer program had always lacked a finishing kick.

Glastonbury had reached the Class LL championship game six times since 1983, and came away second best each time. That all changed when top-seeded Glastonbury defeated 18th-seeded Trumbull 2-1 Friday to win this year's Class LL title.

“I was doing this for all the [Glastonbury] girls who have been here before us,” Glastonbury senior midfielder Liz Otto said. “I'm just so excited we finally got it done.”

Otto gave Glastonbury a 1-0 lead when she headed Kayla Orozco's corner kick into the Trumbull goal with 19:45 to play. The Tomahawks doubled their lead when junior Kristen Dragotta scored with 2:41 left.

Trumbull made things interesting by scoring with 2:23 to play, but the Tomahawks hung on to finish the season with a 17-0-2 record.

In last weekend's other girls soccer championship games No. 2 Avon defeated No. 8 Farmington 2-1 to win the Class L title; No. 1 Northwest Catholic beat No. 2 Granby Memorial 4-0 in the Class M championship game; and No. 5 Immaculate defeated No. 7 Litchfield 3-0 to win the Class S title.

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One interesting subplot that's developed during the Connecticut high school football season is the competition for the state's Gatorade Player of the Year.

Through eight weeks the prime contenders are a pair of senior quarterbacks: Masuk's Casey Cochran and Cromwell's Anthony Morales.

Cochran, who won the award last year, has directed Masuk to 21 consecutive victories and may play for the best team in the state. He's completed 88 of 111 passes for 2,123 yards this season. Cochran has thrown 27 touchdown passes and has been intercepted three times.

Despite Cochran's gaudy numbers, it's Morales who leads the state in touchdown passes (30) and passing yardage (2,376). Morales, who is playing for his third coach in as many years, has completed 105 of 147 passes and has been intercepted four times. He has thrown for at least four touchdowns in five of Cromwell's eight games.

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At halftime of Saturday’s Governor’s Cup All-Star football game there were those who probably thought Connecticut’s eight-game winning streak against Rhode Island was in jeopardy. If so, those thoughts disappeared early in the second half.

Connecticut, which led by four points at halftime, scored three touchdowns in the first 7:18 of the third quarter and cruised to a 37-6 triumph over Rhode Island at Southington High School.

It was Connecticut’s 10th victory in the 13-year history of the event.

Things began to turn sour for Rhode Island when Montrell Dobbs (Ansonia) scored on a 77-yard run to help Connecticut increase its lead to 17-6.

Dobbs, who was held to two yards on five carries in the first half, finished the game with 96 yards on 10 carries. He was selected as Connecticut’s offensive MVP.

“At halftime we talked about taking care of business in our house, and that’s what we did in the second half,” Dobbs said.

Rhode Island fumbled the ball away on the next play from scrimmage. Two plays later Connecticut’s Max Delorenzo scored on a 15-yard run to help made it a 24-6 contest.

Jack DeBiase intercepted a pass on Rhode Island’s next possession, and Connecticut cashed in when Joe DellaVecchia tossed a 20-yard touchdown pass to Brian Kelly.

Kelly also caught a 13-yard TD pass from Kyle Nolan. He had three receptions for 69 yards in the victory.

“We just had to fix some problems,” Kelly said. “Our coach [Masuk’s John Murphy] told us that if we fix our mistakes we’d win.”

Connecticut’s only TD in the first half came on a 59-yard TD catch by Temple-bound wide receiver Nainy Bah.

Matt Cassidy’s fourth point-after kick followed Kelly’s second TD reception and capped the scoring. Cassidy also made a 33-yard field goal in the first half.

The Connecticut defense set a Governor’s Cup record by holding Rhode Island to six points. It was also the first time a team didn’t score a touchdown in the contest. Rhode Island scored on two Chad Bacon field goals.

Defensive lineman Wille Maxen (Pomperaug) was named Connecticut’s defensive MVP. Maxen, who will play at Central Connecticut State next season, made three tackles behind the line of scrimmage.

Murphy said although his team had a slim lead at halftime, he had plenty of confidence entering the third quarter.

“I watched this defense for two weeks so I knew how good we were,” he said. “I knew they weren’t going to score a lot of points on that defense.”

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