The NHS football Indians scored both of their touchdowns in the first 36 seconds of Tuesday night’s state semifinal against Staples-Westport, then were held scoreless by the Wreckers’ defense for the final 47 minutes, 24 seconds of the game, as the Staples offense chipped away and eventually took the lead and won, 21-14. Drat.

Newington’s last gasp ended when Pagan gained 1 yard on fourth-and-3 from the Staples 25 with just under 3 minutes remaining. O’Shea had ended Newington’s previous possession with an interception near the goal line.

What a heartbreaker. The New Britain Herald and the Stamford Advocate have more.

On the bright side, at least now I don’t have to fret about whether to use my plane ticket home this weekend. I obviously need to stay here and study, what with just nine days until my first final exam (AAAHHH!!!), but flying home would have been almost irresistable if Newington had made it to the state championship game. It would have been an awfully wrenching decision to pass that up. Now it’s an easy call. I’ll cancel the ticket and get Southwest Airlines credit, good for some other crazy, whirlwind adventure sometime in the future. :)