ROCKY HILL - Watching Anthony Abarno and Chase Bouchard connect time after time on a cloudy and rainy Friday night, it's hard believe that the Plainville High School football program went winless the year before the current group of seniors arrived on the scene.
Abarno and Bouchard connected on touchdowns of 48 and 24 yards in the first quarter to lead the Blue Devils to a 43-6 victory over Rocky Hill.
Abarno would throw for 346 yards while Bouchard had 10 catches for 156 yards and the two touchdowns as Plainville improved to 5-0 on a night featuring a 50-minute weather delay.
"We've been playing with each other our whole life," Bouchard said. "We have signals, he just knows, he has the look in his eye that I am throwing it all the time. It is the same with me, Billy (Putnam) and Christian (Hairston), we are best friends and we all know when we are going to run something."
That was evident early on as three of Abarno's first six passes went for touchdowns. He would throw five touchdowns in the victory, with Hairston breaking free for a 62-yard TD in the first quarter and Putnam adding two TD grabs in the second half.
Plainville coach Tim Shea, who coached record-breaking quarterback Tanner Kingsley when he was at Woodland, joked that, "I am not exactly nice to him."
The tough love has resulted in a dynamic passing attack for the Blue Devils. Abarno likes being held to a high standard.
"He is amazing, he just allows me to just play free," Abarno said of Shea. "We have great communication on and off the field. It just allows us to ball."
When the teams returned to the field after an abbreviated halftime, the teams combined to turn it over in four of the first five possessions. That ended when Abarno connected with Billy Putnam for a 19-yard touchdown pass.
Dylan Feitt, who had nine tackles and three sacks, made one of his three tackles for loss in the end zone for a safety. Putnam added a 5-yard TD catch. Matteo Kukuc capped the scoring with a 4-yard run.
It was a night to remember and not just for the delay caused by thunder and lightning. Before the ominous clouds darkened and ultimately brought a stop to the game, the other thing filling the sky was Abarno's deep passes to a host of talented receivers.
"It is pretty nice having a three-year starter at quarterback and we are pretty dynamic at the skill (position) guys too," Shea said. "I am lucky to have him. A lot of it is pick your poison. In the first half, we do a lot of seeing how they are going to line up on us, try to do our homework that way and take what they give us. That part is fun to see and fun to watch.
"Ant is tall, lanky and a gunslinger. He is not afraid, he has a very good football mind, football brain. I look forward to seeing what he does in college."
Rocky Hill (2-3), which saw multiple players get injured during the game, got a 3-yard scoring run from Mason Margiotta in the first quarter. Margiotta ran for 108 yards before leaving the game. Terence Morris added 82 yards on just four carries.
Player of the Game
Plainville quarterback Anthony Abarno was 20 of 29 for 346 passing yards and five touchdowns.
Quotable
"We've all been playing with each other so we were saying that this is our year, we want to make it the best that we can. We are close, we are all best friends out of school." - Plainville receiver Chase Bouchard
Plainville 43, Rocky Hill 6
PLAINVILLE 21 7 8 7 - 43
ROCKY HILL 6 0 0 0 - 6
P-Chase Bouchard 48 pass from Anthony Abarno (William Putnam kick)
P-Christian Hairston 62 pass from Abarno (Putnam kick)
RH-Mason Margiotta 3 run (pass failed)
P-Bouchard 24 pass from Abarno (Putnam kick)
P-Putnam 19 pass from Abarno (Putnam kick)
P-Safety
P-Putnam 5 pass from Abarno (run failed)
P-Matteo Kukec (Putnam kick)
Records: Plainville 4-0, Rocky Hill 2-3
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This article originally published at Anthony Abarno throws 5 TDs as Plainville improves to 5-0 with win over Rocky Hill.