The Milford Sports BLOG

MILFORD—The Jonathan Law football team has already locked up a berth in the upcoming state football playoffs.

The Lawmen, however, know they can’t take their foot of the gas and cruise into the postseason.

Too much is still at stake.

On Thanksgiving morning, Law (7-2) will cross town to face in-town rival Foran (4-5) in their annual clash for The Mayor’s Trophy. (Kick-off is 10:30 a.m. at the Vito DeVito Sports Complex).

As if the rivalry game wasn’t enough motivation to win, though, a victory would also give the Lawmen a chance to return home and host their Class SS quarterfinal playoff game the following week.

“We want to get our seniors one more home game,” Law first-year coach Ryan Pearson said. “So going into this game, that’s more so what it is. It’s not, oh, we got to beat Foran. It’s let’s go earn our seniors one more home game.”

Law has had a season to remember, piling up points while suffering just two losses to playoff-bound squads like Killingly and Fairfield Prep. Killingly is ranked second in the state with Prep coming in seventh, according to GameTimeCT.

Still the Lawmen own victories over Lyman Hall (7-2), Branford (6-3) and solid programs like Xavier and Shelton, as well.

Not a bad run for first-year coach, who has been with Law program as an assistant since the COVID season.

Previous head coach “Chris Haley, he kind of set the path, got the ship sailing and left the keys in the ignition for me,” Pearson said.

Under center, it is Law junior quarterback Matt Wittenman who starts the engine.

Unofficially, Witteman—who won the startering QB job as a freshman—is 110-for-175 this season for 1,787 yards. He has 18 touchdowns and just three interceptions.

He also leads the Lawmen in rushing yards with 700 on 104 carries with seven touchdowns.

“The kid’s a superstar,” Pearson said. “He’s the hardest worker. He’s the first one in, last one out. You hear those kind of things. But he truly does live that. He was one of the first kids— when we get the schedule and everyone wanted to feel bad for us—and he’s the first kid to come out and openly say what a privilege it is to play these kind of schedule and get these kind of opponents. You get battle tested before playoffs and it helps you out in the long run.”

The Lawmen feature another electric player in Brian Gonzalez, a senior wideout. He has caught 36 passes for 739 yards and four touchdowns.

Hunter Kendzierski has one more touchdown than Gonzalez, albeit it with lower yardage, but it just goes to show the Lawmen know how to get into the end zone.

It is actually sophomore Reid Moulton who leads the receiving corp in touchdowns with six, albeit on just 19 catches for 240 yards.

Running back Dylan Gaillard (564 rushing yards) has nine total touchdowns—seven rushing and two receiving, as well. Kendzierski also has five rushing scores, as well.

The offense is doing all this behind a line which will return four starters next year, as well. Senior Jack Lefevre leads that group.

“It’s a good spot in be in with this offense,” Pearson said. “A lot of them are coming back next year.”

Defensively, the Lawmen have worked hard to get better.

The last time Jonathan Law pitched a shutout defensively was last year’s 3-0 win over Foran at Lawmen Stadium.

This year, the young squad has only held opponents to single digits just once, but it did have a streak of four straight games where opponents scored two touchdowns or less.

Pearson said it’s the growth of players like linebackers Nicholas Cosmas and Seamus Fedigan and d-lineman like Emelio Garcia, Shane Hansen and Arthur Rossi that have helped the unit get better.

“We knew the box was going to be great,” Pearson said. “Those kids have all kind of stepped up and played with a lot of intensity.”

Against the Lions, Law will simply Law football.

“I think we just got to play our game,” Pearson said. “We don’t need to do anything crazy or do something different. I think we do what we do and we do it well. You hope you win with that.”

With a home playoff game an added motivation to The Mayor’s Trophy, the Lawmen will be playing for a little more on this turkey day.

(Editor’s Note—Cover photo courtesy of the Jonathan Law Instagram account)