STRATFORD -- It took longer than Joel Barlow could afford for its old-school triple option to produce points Saturday.

 

Even when the offense began to roll, scoring three third-quarter touchdowns to turn around a once-lopsided game, the Falcons still needed another boost. Second-seeded St. Joseph, which was coming off an 84-point explosion four days earlier in the M state quarterfinals, was just too big with too many options.

 

The Cadets, minus their leading rusher, thwarted a frantic second-half rally to down No. 3 Joel Barlow 62-34 in the state semifinals on Saturday at Bunnell.

 

Five different players recorded touchdowns for the Cadets (12-2), led by wide receiver Shane Miller, who had four scores. Three of Miller's touchdowns were on the ground -- 52, 22 and 63 yards, respectively -- and the other came on a 28-yard pass from Jordan Vazzano as the Cadets' physically imposing offensive line mauled the Falcons (10-3).

 

"Their offensive line play is fun to watch," Barlow coach Rob Tynan said. "You sort of walk out here and you're like, `I didn't know I was playing a college game.'"

 

Eyeing its first title since 2010, St. Joseph will face No. 5 Brookfield (11-3) in the state final on Saturday at 10 a.m. at Central Connecticut State's Arute Field in New Britain.

 

After the Cadets lost tailback Mufasha Abdul Basir (three carries, 47 yards) just 48 seconds in, Miller gained 190 yards on six carries off the jet sweep. Joe Civitella added 114 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries, helping the Cadets top 60 points for the third straight game. They also returned two kicks for touchdowns, a 90-yarder by Lars Pedersen and a 47-yarder by Marc Mrozek off an onside kick attempt.

 

"The receivers do a great job (blocking) outside, the line comes out. Once I see the hole, I just make the cut and run as fast as I can to the end zone," said Miller, who rushed for scores on St. Joseph's first two fourth-quarter possessions, making it 48-20.

 

Abdul Basir, who began the day third in the state in rushing (2,268 yards), was carried off on a stretcher and taken away in an ambulance after taking a blow to the helmet on the game's third play. St. Joseph coach Joe DellaVecchia said that it's believed that the junior, who returned to the sidelines wearing a sweatshirt and his uniform pants in the fourth quarter, suffered a stinger.

 

St. Joseph scored on its opening drive on Pedersen's 14-yard catch, making it 6-0. The lead grew to 14-0 after one quarter and 28-0 at halftime.

 

Barlow, which lost one fumble and tossed an interception in the first half, struggled to mount offense early. Quarterback Jack Shaban rushed for 50 yards on 12 first-half carries, but saw two drives stall on fourth down in the opponent's territory.

 

"Our kids just played really, really well," DellaVecchia said. "They played assignment football. I can't say enough. When you shut a team down like that for a half, it's unbelievable."

 

The Falcons finally cracked through on the second play of the second half on Bryan Gallaer's 43-yard run, making it 28-6. They scored twice more in the third quarter on Shaban's 75-yard kickoff return and Harry Wilson's 36-yard run, but still trailed 34-20 heading into the fourth.

 

"On defense we kind of fell apart at points," Shaban said, "but we just said we had to come out and execute in the second half. We did that a little better, but not to the extent we should've."

 

The 5-foot-9, 165-pound Shaban rushed 26 times for 153 yards out of the triple-option attack. He was 0-for-5 passing with two interceptions. Wilson rushed for an 11-yard touchdown in addition to the 36-yard score in the Falcons' 34-point second half.

 

dbonjour@ctpost.com; twitter.com/DougBonjour

 

Class M semifinal at Bunnell

 

BARLOW    0 0 20 14 -- 34

 

ST. JOSEPH    14 14 6 28 -- 62

 

SJ -- Lars Pedersen 14 pass Jordan Vazzano (kick failed)

 

SJ -- Shane Miller 52 run (Pedersen pass Vazzano)

 

SJ -- Vazzano 52 run (Marc Mrozek kick)

 

SJ -- Miller 28 pass Vazzano (Mrozek kick)

 

B -- Bryan Gallaer 43 run (kick failed)

 

SJ -- Pedersen 90 kickoff (kick failed)

 

B -- Jack Shaban 75 kick return (Juan Gomez kick)

 

B -- Harry Wilson 36 run (Gomez kick)

 

SJ -- Miller 22 run (Dylan Ryan pass Joe Prutting)

 

SJ -- Miller 63 run (kick failed)

 

B -- Stephen Miller 49 run (Gomez kick)

 

SJ -- Mrozek 47 kickoff (Mrozek kick)

 

SJ -- Joe Civitella 21 run (Mrozek kick)

 

B -- Wilson 11 run (Gomez kick)

 

Records: Barlow 10-3; St. Joseph 12-2.