Kelly Nominated for Player of the Week

Senior Brian Kelly capped off his dazzling regular season for the Brookfield football team with perhaps his best game of the year in the Bobcats' Thanksgiving Day over Bethel. His four-touchdown performance, strong defensive effort and solid special teams play has earned him a "Player Of The Week" nomination from the Eyewitness News team at WFSB Connecticut.

Kelly is among three players in the state nominated and fans are encouraged to vote for who they believe is the top player.  To cast your vote you can go to the high school football section on the WFSB website and click on Kelly's name in the Your 3 Cents section.

Kelly was up to his old tricks in the all-important rivalry game, as he did just about everything on the field to help earn Brookfield a No. 3 seed and a first round home game in the Class M State Playoffs against No. 6 Lyman Hall tonight at 6:30.

"Mr. Versatile" caught five passes for 134 yards as he hauled in three touchdown catches. He also rushed the ball four times for 40 yards and ran the ball into the end zone for another score.

Defensively, Kelly had an interception, his ninth of the year, and was tied for second on the team with seven tackles.  On special teams he had three kickoff returns for 102 yards including a crucial 54-yard return in the fourth quarter.

Kelly's first score was a 24-yard reception that came with the Bobcats trailing 13-0 early in the second quarter. He caught a second touchdown pass just before the end of the second that gave Brookfield a lead they would not give up.  On fourth down Kelly went up between two Bethel defenders to come down with an 18-yard reception in the back of the end zone.

Kelly kept the scoring going for Brookfield with a 16-yard run early in the third quarter that gave Brookfield a 10-point lead.

To begin the fourth quarter Kelly came up with the games two biggest plays.  Following a Bethel score that had cut the lead to 29-26, Kelly broke off a 54-yard kickoff return as he got to the edge and raced down the sideline. That set up his fourth touchdown as he got behind the Wildcat defense and caught a 41-yard TD pass on a post-play down the middle of the field that put Brookfield back in front by 10 points.

To cap off his big day, Kelly picked off a Bethel pass deep in Bobcat territory to secure the win.

Kelly finishes the season with 400 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns.  He has 594 receiving yards, 10 touchdown catches and a 31.3 yards per catch average that is No. 1 in the state. Kelly also has 61 tackles, two sacks, nine interceptions — 4 returned for touchdowns — and 2 fumble recoveries.

"What else can you say about Brian Kelly," Brookfield head coach Rich Angarano said of his all-purpose player.

If you are a fan of Kelly's help him get recognized player of the week by voting for him before Friday evening's newscast.