Seymour’s Charles Ritchell (53), Bobby Melms (6) and Jake Bleau (8), tackle Woodland’s Coby Vaccarelli during Seymour’s 53-7 win over Woodland Wednesday. Catherine Avalaone/Register
Seymour captain Jake Bleau catches a 38-yard pass during the third period as Woodland’s John Scirpo defends, Catherine Avalone/Register
SEYMOUR >> Mike Burns and the rest of the Seymour seniors finally earned a long-awaited victory over rival Woodland.
That wasn’t the only reward for the Wildcats.
Seymour clinched a Class S state playoff berth after a convincing 53-7 victory over the visiting Hawks Wednesday at DeBarber Field.
It’s the first postseason appearance for the Wildcats since 2008. Seymour (9-1) also stopped Woodland’s six-game winning streak in the series, which is now tied at 7.
PHOTOS: SEYMOUR VS. WOODLAND FOOTBALL
“It’s great, it’s really great,” Burns said. “We haven’t been there in a long time. “It’s amazing.”
After a Hawks touchdown in the first quarter, Burns returned the ensuing kickoff 62 yards to the Woodland 18. That set up Bobby Melms’ 12-yard touchdown run as the Wildcats scored 53 unanswered points to claim victory.
“That was huge for us, it really swung the momentum,” Seymour coach Tom Lennon said about Burns’ kickoff return. “But that’s a position we’ve been in before. Derby scored first on us; Wolcott scored first on us right away. We’ve been tested and they’ve responded, which is nice. We weren’t worried. We reminded them ‘hey, we’ve been here before.’ We know we have a potent offense, so we’ll be fine. And we were.”
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Senior Jake Bleau’s 1-yard touchdown run gave the Wildcats the lead for good in the second quarter. Jaylen Kelly (1-yard run) and a Kelly-to- Burns 17-yard touchdown pass later in the quarter gave Seymour a 25-7 lead at halftime.
“They’re both excellent players,” Kelley said about Bleau and Burns. “They just open up our offense that much more.”
Kelley added touchdown runs of 6, 9 and 4 yards in the second half. Kelley completed 7 of 8 passes for 136 yards and rushed 29 times for 176 yards and four touchdowns.
“It (reaching the playoffs) means a whole lot,” Kelley said. “We knew we had the talent to do it; we had the talent last year (7-4) to do it, things just didn’t fall in place. But, it feels good to make it to the playoffs.”
CIAC realtime state playoff standings:
CLASS LL | CLASS L | CLASS M | CLASS S
Here's Jaylen Kelley's TD pass to Mike Burns for a 25-7 Seymour lead at half over Woodland #cthsfb pic.twitter.com/2gyxbsNVZM
— Sean Patrick Bowley (@SPBowley) November 26, 2015
Lucas Bowen had a 1-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter for the Wildcats. Burns and Bleau each made interceptions that led to touchdowns. Woodland (7-3) was also in the hunt for a berth in the Class S field but has now been eliminated from contention. The Hawks had won six straight games entering Wednesday.
“They’re a really good football team, but I am really proud of my kids,” Woodland coach Chris Anderson said. “We haven’t lost a game since September. We battled hard. At times we might have been undermanned, but we weren’t out-hearted. Ever.”
Senior Sean McAllen rushed 22 times for 90 yards for the Hawks. McAllen was held to just 14 yards in the second half.
He caught a 12-yard touchdown from freshman Zach Bedryczuk. Melms, Charles Ritchell and C.J. Falcioni each made a sack for Seymour, which will likely earn the No. 6 seed and travel to No. 3 Granby for Tuesday’s quarterfinals.
Playoff pairings will become official on Friday.
“It’s great,” Lennon said. “It’s been a long time coming, but it’s a lot of hard work. These guys have put in the hard work, not to diminish the work of the guys before them. It’s been a grind. It’s always the same here, they’re working year round. I’m happy for them, proud of them, and excited to see where we can go with this.”
Seymour 53, Woodland 7
Here’s Seymour celebrating its first win over Woodland and first playoff berth since 2008 #cthsfb pic.twitter.com/WWsV6ZqjVL
— Sean Patrick Bowley (@SPBowley) November 26, 2015
(at Seymour)
Woodland 7 0 0 0 — 7
Seymour 6 19 14 14 — 53
First quarter
W–Sean McAllen 12 pass from Zach Bedryczuk (Bedryczuk kick))
S–Bobby Melms 12 run (pass failed)
Second quarter
S–Jake Bleau 1 run (run failed)
S–Jaylen Kelley 1 run (run failed)
S–Mike Burns 17 pass from Kelley (Rocco Vertuccio kick)
Third quarter
S–Kelley 6 run (Vertuccio kick)
S–Kelley 9 run (Vertuccio kick)
Fourth quarter
S–Kelley 4 run (Vertuccio kick)
S–Lucas Bowen 1 run (Vertuccio kick)