Got Milk Jug? Granby Memorial Defeats Canton 21-19 in Rivalry Game

The Milk Jug Trophy has returned to Granby, thanks in large part to sophomore Dominic Pagano.

Indeed, Pagano rushed for 135 yards and three touchdowns on offense and had a key second-half interception on defense to lead the Granby Memorial High football team to a 21-19 come-from-behind victory over Canton in the annual rivalry game in Granby on Wednesday evening.

Pagano didn’t just gain a lot of yards. He punished Canton defenders by churning his legs and refusing to go down after initial contact. It was one of the best performances in the short 4-year history of Granby Memorial varsity football.

“I have never had a game as great as this one,” Pagano said. “My one goal was to win this game and I was willing to do whatever I had to to do that.”

Granby head coach Rich Gadoury agreed.

“Pagano is a sophomore and he just became a true varsity player,” Gadoury said. “He’s got another two years of varsity football in Granby football ahead of him and it’s going to be a great two years.”

Things looked pretty bleak for the Bears in the early going.

In a cold, steady rain, Canton methodically drove down the field on its first possession, capping its 53-yard drive with a 13-yard touchdown run by Cam Daley to take a 7-0 lead.

The Warriors took a 13-0 lead with 2:28 left in the first half when quarterback Eric Scott hooked up with receiver Jake Wood on a 25-yard touchdown pass. The extra point, however, was no good.

Perhaps worse than the 13-point deficit was Granby’s inability to get anything going on offense. Quarterback Curt Field (7 of 17, 78 yards) had a hard time connecting with receivers in the inclement weather, and the Bears were struggling to gain a rhythm in the running game.

Gadoury, for his part, was not worried.

“[I said], we’ve got to get our game plan going,” he said. “We had to get to our game plan. We knew we could run this ball today. We believed we could.”

But with 2:19 left in the half, Field, Pagano and the rest of the Bears’ offense drove 68 yards on 12 plays to pull within 13-7.

Field connected with receivers Connor Field and Ian Downey for 15 and 19 yards, respectively, while Pagano gained 21 yards on the drive, including a 3-yard touchdown plunge on fourth and goal as time expired in the half.

“The biggest thing was getting a touchdown right as time expired,” Gadoury said. “We had every bit of momentum going into halftime. I told the boys at halftime, ‘They went inside at halftime [to warm up], we stayed outside, we’re going to get that ball back and going up 14-13.’”

Which is exactly what the Bears did.

Pagano, who gained 80 yards on the ground in the second half, finished a seven-play, 64-yard drive to open the second half with a 9-yard touchdown scamper to put the Bears up 14-13 with 7:49 left in the first half.

Canton, however, was not finished.

On their next possession, the Warriors went 56 yards on eight plays to make it 19-13 with 3:34 left in the third quarter. Daley scored his second touchdown of the game on a 3-yard run. The 2-point conversion, however, failed.

Granby Memorial appeared to be on the ropes when, on the following possession, quarterback Curt Field was intercepted by Daley, who returned the ball to the Canton 46-yard line.

The Granby defense held, however, and the Bears were poised to regain the ball deep in their own territory at the very end of the third quarter.

But Canton, facing a 4th-and-4 on the Granby 48-yard line, tried a fake punt, which Granby defenders sniffed out and stuffed for no gain.

Pagano capped a 52-yard drive with an 11-yard touchdown run to give the Bears a 21-19 lead, which they did not relinquish.

Canton drove down to the Granby 26, but a run and three consecutive incomplete passes ended the Warriors’ terrific season with a loss. Canton finished the year at 7-4; the seven victories are the most by a Warriors team since the program was revived as a varsity team in 2007.

“A bad game doesn’t erase everything they have done,” Canton head coach Paul Philippon said. “They’ve had a great year and had back to back great years. They played their hearts out. They didn’t play their best game [tonight]. Granby did outplay us. … They did a good job of moving us around. They certainly earned it. We’ve been able to run the ball most of the year. We weren’t real balanced. We didn’t make any stops on defense. We didn’t earn it.”

The difference, it can be argued, was in the extra points. Granby kicker Matthew Holmes hit all three of his, while Canton failed to convert a PAT and a two-point conversion.

Regardless, in the end, the Bears had a season full of firsts, including its first winning record at 6-5. Pagano also became the first varsity running back in Granby history to rush for more than 1,000 yards in a season (1,005).

“I’m so proud of these boys,” Gadoury said. “I tell these guys every day, ‘If you believe in yourselves, good things will happen.’”

Curt Field, a senior who played during some rough seasons, said he was proud to be a part of a team that fought so hard to accomplish its goal of finishing above .500.

“It was unbelievable to go out like this,” Field said. “We battled. We’ve been down a lot of games in the past. … This team is unbelievable and I will never forget it. I’m just so proud to go out as a Granby Bear. ...