On the heels of a remarkable regular season in which it met every one of its goals, the Valley Regional/Old Lyme football squad now sets its sights on the biggest prize of all as it gears up for the excitement of the postseason.

The Warriors had already solidified a bid in the Class S Large Division State Playoffs and clinched at least a share of their division title entering the regular season finale versus Haddam-Killingworth, yet there were still a few key achievements that hung in the balance for Tim King’s club. For one, Valley wanted to win the Pequot Sassacus Division crown outright and post an 11-0 regular season record for the second straight year, thereby guaranteeing the Warriors the No. 1 seed in the state bracket. Then of course, there was the simple matter of playing for pride versus the Cougars in the 37th edition of the teams’ annual rivalry game that decides who takes home the coveted Principal’s Cup. Behind three touchdown passes from Chris Jean-Pierre and three TDs scored by fellow senior Evan Smith, Valley/Old Lyme was able to mark off every box on its regular season checklist by routing Haddam-Killingworth 49-7 in Deep River on Nov. 25.

With the victory, the Warriors ran their regular season win streak to 24 straight games, made the playoffs and won their division for the fourth time in five years, and increased their advantage in the Principal’s Cup series to 28-9.

“These kids have worked hard to get to this point in time and we’re right where we want to be,” said Coach King. “We’re always hoping we can go undefeated, make the playoffs, and then take that next step. We’ve been in the semis and now we want to get to the last step. Our goal is to get to the state championship and win the state title and we will do everything in our power to get there. We’ve closed the chapter of the regular season and now a new one is open that hopefully leads us to two more games.”

Like the other three classes, Class S is divided into Large and Small divisions this season with four teams in each and the two victors will not play each other—meaning Valley will need one victory to reach its first state final and two triumphs to capture its initial state championship. The first obstacle for the top-seeded Warriors is No. 4 Bullard Havens Tech out of Bridgeport, which squeaked into the playoffs by winning its last eight games to go 9-2 while also seeing some other results go its way during Thanksgiving week. Valley hosts the Tigers in the semifinals at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 6. With a victory, the Warriors would face the winner of No. 2 Ansonia (10-1) and No. 3 Windham (9-1) for the state title at either Friday, Dec. 12 or Saturday, Dec. 13 at one of three sites—Willowbrook Park in New Britain, Arute Field at Central Connecticut State University, or West Haven High School.

“Bullard Havens has a very good running back and they are a spread team similar to us,” said King. “Their quarterback throws a nice ball and they have a lot of good athletes so it should be a good matchup.”

For its matchup versus Haddam-Killingworth that was moved up a day due to inclement weather, Valley/Old Lyme scored three touchdowns in both the second and third quarters en route to the 42-point triumph that put the Warriors at 11-0 overall and 9-0 in the Sassascus Division. Evan Smith started the evening by scoring on a 16-yard TD rush just 18 seconds into the second period and Valley led 7-0. The Cougars (4-7, 3-6) responded shortly thereafter on Alex Segaline’s 35-yard strike to Hunter Czaja that had the game tied at 7, however, that was the final time H-K would find the end zone as the Warriors scored the game’s final 42 points. Valley began the barrage on Smith’s 28-yard scoring scamper midway through the frame and then senior Tajhay Marshall took one in from five yards out with 2:25 to play before halftime to have the Warriors ahead 21-7 at the break.

Jean-Pierre then fired a trio of touchdown tosses to blow open the game in the third—finding senior Andrew Tuscano for scores of 32 and 34 yards, followed by a 47-yard TD pass to Smith that made it 42-7 with two minutes left in the frame. Senior Justin Cheverier got in on the act by scoring on a 7-yard TD rush just a minute later and, following junior Jared Roche’s seventh extra point kick in as many attempts, the damage was done with the Warriors holding an insurmountable 49-7 command.

“Evan Smith was a huge key to the game. Getting the ball is his hands for the jet sweep was huge for us and loosened them up a bit,” King said. “H-K played a tough game. They were emotional, fired up, and came to play. But Evan opened things up with the sweep and then we ran play action off of it and that helped get the ball rolling with a few big TD strikes in the third quarter.”

Smith ran for 109 yards on just six carries and two touchdowns to complement his two catches for 50 yards and a receiving score. Cheverier had seven rushes for 48 yards. Jean-Pierre only ran seven times for 18 yards, but still went over the 1,000-yard mark for the season and additionally threw for 122 yards with three of his five completions going to the house. Tuscano caught two of those TDs and had three total receptions for 72 yards to go with three runs for 31 yards.

On defense, the Warriors’ leading tacklers were Cheverier (18 with 2 for a loss), Marshall (13), senior Tyler Cheverier (12 with 2 for a loss), Jean-Pierre (12), senior Dan Figuenick (9), and senior Christain Marroquin (6). Tyler Cheverier had one sack and joined forces with his brother Justin for another. Also collecting sacks were Marshall, Roche, and senior Justin Burgess. Figuenick had an interception that he returned 28 yards, Justin Cheverier forced and recovered a fumble, and Marshall and Marroquin also scooped up fumbles for Valley. Smith, Tuscano, and Jean-Pierre each had two pass deflections.

In addition to all these quality performances from his team, Coach King additionally complimented the solid showing of junior Matt Robertson for “holding down the fort” on both sides of the line in helping the Warriors tune up for the postseason by claiming the Principal’s Cup for the third year in a row and 28th time overall.

“It’s always nice to win the Principal’s Cup. It’s a goal each year and H-K gave us their money’s worth in the first half,” said King. “You always have a battle in the last game of the year. We had everything in the world to play for and they didn’t have a lot, but they still played their hearts out.”