It was an unusually warm night for late November with the threat of rain in the
air as the Hornets traveled to East Haven High School to play their last game of
the year. Branford won the toss and elected to receive. Curtis Sutherland took
the bounding kick and returned it through the middle for a 70+ yard touchdown.
Matt O'Neill kicked the extra point and very quickly Branford was on top, 7-0.
East Haven received the next kick and couldn't make a first
down so they had to punt. A couple of plays later, Sutherland found a hole and
the middle and took off for a 48 yard touchdown to open up a 13-0 Hornet lead.
The Yellow Jackets were determined to get back into this game and took the next
kick and moved into Branford territory, but fumbled it away at the Hornet 40. A
couple of nice runs by Sutherland moved the ball to East Haven's 44 as the first
quarter came to a close. As the second quarter began, DJ Ryan took a snap and
handed it to Sutherland who went left and handed it to Nick Linta who was coming
back around, and Linta fired a pass over the middle to a wide open Andrew Cohen
who took it 35 yards for a touchdown. O'Neill's second PAT made it 20-0
Branford. On the kickoff that followed, O'Neill miss-kicked the ball off the
side of his foot and after the ball rolled 10 yards, Jared Keck alertly dove and
covered it up along the sideline to retain possession for the Hornets. When it
got to be fourth and long, DJ Ryan took it around the left side and picked up a
first down with a nice run. Shortly after, Justin Blood ran in a 30 yard
touchdown and then Ryan threw to Keck for a 2 point conversion to make it 28-0
Branford.
Another East Haven punt led to good field position for the
Hornets and Blood took advantage with a 39-yard touchdown run and O'Neill made
his 3rd PAT kick to give Branford a 35-0 lead. East Haven had to punt again and
that gave the Hornets the ball once more with under an minute left in the half.
Branford moved backwards on a broken play and a penalty, but on the last play of
the half, Ryan dumped a short screen pass to Blood, and Blood cut and slashed
his way to the end zone for a 69-yard touchdown and Branford took a 41-0 lead
into the half.
The Yellow Jackets took the second half kickoff and moved
to midfield. But on the next play, Nick Pataky stripped the ball from East
Haven's carrier and then covered up the fumble and Branford took over. The
Hornets repeatedly fed the ball to Rob Manaco and Monaco delivered with some big
yards to help move the ball down inside East Haven's 5 yard line before Branford
turned the ball over on downs on the last play of the 3rd quarter. The Yellow
Jackets then marched 96 yards, taking up most of the fourth quarter and scored
very late in the game and added a 2 point conversion to make the final score
41-8.
With the win, the Hornets finished their season with a 6
game win streak to improve their overall record to 9-1. An impressive note, in
their last 5 games, Branford out scored their opponents 141-0 in the first 3
quarters of those games. This was a great season for
these boys, who have gained valuable experience and playing time as they move on
to JV next year!
Balanced Running Attack Leads Branford to 5th Straight Win
It was a cold windy night as the Hornets played their last home game of the year at
the James L. McVeigh Athletic Complex and took on the Foran Lions. The Lions won
the toss and elected to receive. After receiving the kick, Foran moved to mid
field and turned the ball over on downs. On the first play from scrimmage,
Curtis Sutherland took a handoff and broke through the middle, then slashed to
the sideline and was gone for a 50 yard touchdown. The PAT kick was no good, so
the score was 6-0.
Foran took the next kick and moved a little deeper into
Branford territory, but fumbled it away around the 30. The Hornets moved to
midfield before Sutherland took one around the left side and down the far
sideline for a 48 yard touchdown and a 12-0 lead. After another stalled Lion
drive in Hornet territory, Branford used a steady ground game to drive into the
Lions' side of the field. With less than a minute to play, DJ Ryan dropped a
pass over the line to Andrew Cohen and Cohen made it inside the 20 before a
Foran player punched the ball out from behind. The ball rolled forward into the
endzone and a pile of players ended up on top of it. After peeling the players
off one at a time, Matt O'Neill came out from underneath with the ball and another
6 points for the Hornets. O'Neill also kicked the extra point to give Branford a 19-0 lead
at halftime.
The Hornets took the second half kickoff and moved right
down and scored. After noticing a flaw in the Lion defense, Branford repeatedly
had DJ Ryan Ryan take direct snaps into the line for several short gains before
he broke one loose through the left side for a 40+ yard run down to the goal
line. On the next play, Ryan lofted a short pass to Cohen in the right
side of the end zone for the touchdown. O'Neill made the PAT kick to increase
the lead to 26-0.
The Lions took the next kickoff, and continued to flounder
and could not make a first down so they had to punt. After a penalty backed the
Hornets up to midfield, Ryan dumped a short screen pass to Justin Blood and
Blood cut and slashed his way to a 50-yard touchdown run to put Branford up by a
32-0 score.
In addition to many 4th down stops made by Branford's
defense, Billy Glynn and Andrew Cohen had interceptions and Chris Rice and Matt
O'Neill had fumble recoveries to thwart attempts by the Lion's offense to score.
But late in the fourth quarter when the Hornets turned the ball over in their
own end on downs, Foran capitalized with a 30-yard pass into the left corner for
a touchdown. A pass to the right side was successful for a 2 point conversion,
to make the final score 32-8.
With the win, the Hornets improved their record to 8-1
with one game remaining next week in East Haven versus the arch rival Yellow
Jackets.
The Hornets traveled to John J. Riccitelli Field in Wallingford to face a very
good 5-2 Sheehan High School Freshmen team in a game picked up after the
Jonathan Law cancellation that was originally on the schedule. The Titans won
the coin toss so Branford kicked off. Sheehan moved across midfield but their
drive stalled and the ball turned over on downs after an incomplete 4th down
pass. The Hornets took over and moved in close with runs by Curtis Sutherland
and a clutch 4th down catch by Jared Keck. Once inside the 5 yard line the drive
ended when a fumble gave the ball over to Sheehan. But shortly after, an unclean
Titan handoff in the endzone resulted in a fumble which Sheehan recovered for a
safety and provided Branford with a 2-0 lead.
The Hornets took the following free kick and moved right
down and scored on the first play of the second quarter on a pitch to Andrew
Cohen who took it around the right side and in for a 7-yard touchdown. Matt
O'Neill kicked the PAT to make it 9-0.
Sheehan took the next kickoff and moved to midfield, but
then fumbled it away and Branford took over. The Hornets again moved right down
to the goal line, but when Keck couldn't haul in a slant pass on the goal line
it went to 4th down. DJ Ryan took the next snap and rolled left, but was
intercepted by Sheehan in the end zone, and the Titans took it back 40 yards.
But the Titans couldn't capitalize and they ultimately turned the ball over on
downs and Branford was content to take a 9 point lead into halftime.
The Hornets took the second half kickoff but could not gain
10 yards so Andy Klarman punted it away. The Titans seemed to be gaining
momentum as they drove across midfield, but Justin Blood intercepted a pass at
the goal line and Branford took over on their own 10. The Hornets then put
together a 90 yard drive which consumed the rest of the 3rd quarter and
consisted mainly of screen passes to Sutherland and another downfield catch by
Keck to move across midfield before they had to punt it away. But Sheehan muffed
catching the kick and Sutherland recovered it on the Titan 21. Branford scored a
few plays later on a short run by Sutherland to open up a 15-0 lead.
It seemed at this point the Hornet defense was tiring as
Sheehan scored twice the fourth quarter on consecutive possessions. The first
touchdown included a 2-point conversion that was successful when the Titan QB
made it around the right side and into the end zone to cut the lead to 15-8. The
second one came on a screen pass from about 40 yards out and included several
missed and broken tackles. In between, the Hornets had another nice drive which
culminated with a 10 yard screen pass that Sutherland grabbed and took around
the left side and in for a touchdown. O'Neill's kick was good and it put
Branford up by a score of 22-8.
Sheehan's second touchdown in the fourth quarter narrowed
the lead to only 8 points, but there was a little under 3 minutes left to play.
After Klarman covered up an onside kick attempt, the Hornets moved across
midfield and down inside the Titan 10 yard line with a heavy dose of Sutherland
and the zig zags of Justin Blood. With under a minute left, Ryan took a series
of "knees" to end this game.
The 22-14 final score is misleading because the Hornets
really dominated both sides of the ball - limiting the Titans to only 2
sustained drives all game while controlling the ball for more than 75% of the
clock. Considering the 3 turnovers inside Sheehan's 10 yard line and the series
of "knees" inside the 10 at the end of the game, the score should have been much
higher.
With the win, the Hornets' improved their record to 7-1
with two games remaining. Next week will be the last home game of the year and
the opponent will be Foran Lions, who also run a pass orientated shot gun style
offense.
The Hornets traveled to recently reopened Guilford High School for what we all
thought would be one of their more competitive games of the year. However, in
one of the shortest High School games ever played, the Hornets dominated the
Indians - scoring early and often to win easily 31-0. Led on offense by Justin
Blood and Andrew Cohen who each had big nights racking up a pair of pair of
touchdowns each and some big yardage. Curtis Sutherland also racked up the
yardage and scored a touchdown.
The Hornets had only 5 possessions but they scored on all five - completing four
12 minute quarters in an hour and twenty five minutes. The staunch
defense shut down Guilford's offense and forced the Indians to punt 3 times
after they couldn't even make one first down in their first 3 possessions.
Branford won the toss and elected to receive. They cut
right through the Indians line like butter, moving right down with the bulk of
the running being performed by Sutherland, but it was Cohen that carried it in
for the short touchdown. Matt O'Neill's PAT kick clanked off the
right upright, so the Hornet lead stayed at 6-0.
After the first Indian punt, Branford completed a long
drive very quickly. A couple of short runs moved the ball to the Hornet 30
before Blood broke loose for a 47 yard run down the far left sideline to the 23.
Sutherland then crashed through the line for 13 and then scored a touchdown from
7 yards out a couple plays later. O'Neill's PAT was good to open a 13-0 lead.
On the last play of the quarter, Guilford covered up
O'Neill's bounding kickoff. The two teams then switched sides, but the results
were still the same. Another Indian punt and another Hornet touchdown. This
time, it was Cohen again, breaking through the left side, bowling over tacklers
for about a 20 yard run to open up a 19-0 lead. As the half was coming to a
close, Branford's fourth drive was highlighted by a nice run by Sutherland
around the left side and then a pass from DJ Ryan to Cohen to the right side for
about 15. Justin Blood busted up the middle for a
touchdown to increase the lead to 25-0 at the break.
After a 5 minute halftime, the Hornets kicked off to
Guilford, and the Indians finally put together a drive and moved down inside
Branford's 10 yard line. After converting on a short 4th down, Guilford looked
poised to score, but Andy Klarman's interception thwarted those dreams. The
drive used up all the time in the third quarter, so the teams switched sides and
Branford went to work again. Another long Hornet drive mixed the running of
Cohen, Blood and Sutherland as Blood would be the one to score around the right
side for a 31-0 lead.
Guilford tried to get things going to earn some respect as
they moved across midfield. Time was running out. Two plays after Nick Pataky's
sack, Alex Borkowski recovered an Indian fumble in the red zone to preserve the
shutout as the Hornets ran out the
clock to finish this one off. With the win, Branford improved their record to
6-1 and will play at Sheehan High School in a makeup game next Thursday at
3:45pm.
It was an unusually warm fall day as these Freshmen Hornets returned to the
friendly confines of James L. McVeigh Athletic Complex after playing last week's
game in Hamden in the snow. Branford won the toss and elected to receive. The
Trojan's kick sailed over the middle and the ball was covered up at the 30. The
Hornets went right to work scoring on a 70-yard drive which culminated with when
Curtis Sutherland took it around left side and in from about 10 yards out. Matt
O'Neill kicked the PAT for a 7-0 Branford lead.
After Lyman Hall's first drive came to and end, the Trojans punted the ball
back. On the first play, DJ Ryan rolled to his right and threw on the run across
midfield to Jared Keck for 32 yards. Some nice runs and a catch by Andrew Cohen
were followed up with some nice runs by Justin Blood, who carried it through the
middle for another short touchdown. O'Neill followed with another PAT kick to
put the Hornets up 14-0 at the end of the first.
The two teams changed sides before the kickoff opened the
second quarter. On the first play, Justin Perlazza came through the line
unblocked and hit the QB who was attempting to hand it off. The ensuing fumble
was recovered by Andy Klarman the Trojan 21. On Branford's first play, DJ Ryan
was picked off at the 2 yard line when the Trojan defender stepped in front of
the receiver and grabbed it. After narrowly avoiding a safety, Lyman Hall could
not make a first down and had to punt it back to the Hornets who took over near
the 30. A couple of nice runs by Blood highlighted a short drive which
culminated with Blood's 2nd TD run and a 21-0 lead.
Lyman Hall took the next kick and moved into Branford's red
zone by completing several passes, but ultimately turned the ball over on downs
after a couple of wide open receivers dropped balls. Branford took over and ran
out the half.
In the third quarter, neither team could mount a serious
scoring threat, but rather than punt being down by three scores, the Trojans
went for it three times and were denied on each. The last of these times
afforded the Hornets a short field and Justin Blood used it to his advantage to
score his 3rd touchdown. The score was now 28-0 as the 3rd quarter came to a
close.
In the fourth quarter, Blood went spinning through the
line, breaking tackles on his way to a 50 yard run for his fourth touchdown.
Matt O'Neill's attempt at a 5th straight PAT kick clanked off the left upright,
so the Hornet lead was 34-0.
As the game was coming to a close, and the defense left an
opening up the middle, the Trojans scored on an 83 yard touchdown run, but their
PAT kick was blocked, so the final score was 34-6.
With the win, Branford improves to 5-1 as they prepare to
take on a tough Indian team from Guilford next week.
It was a cold, dreary day at Hamden High School and the
rain drops turned to ice pellets and then snow as this one got underway.
Branford received the opening kickoff and went right down and scored as Justin
Blood tore off some large gains around both ends before Andrew Cohen bowled into
the end zone from short range for a touchdown. On the ensuing PAT, a bad snap
was scooped up by kicker Matt O'Neill, who alertly threw to Alex Borkowski at
the 1 and Alex powered into the end zone through a Dragon tackler for 2 points
and an 8-0 Branford lead.
Hamden took the kickoff and after a fumble moved them
backwards 5 yards, the Dragon QB, #15, took a high snap in the shotgun, and then
broke through the left side and scored a long touchdown leaving several broken
and missed tackles in his wake. #15 took another direct snap out of the shotgun
and barreled through the right side for an additional two points to tie the
score at 8.
The Hornets next drive moved across the timeline and
sputtered somewhat, so a rested Curtis Sutherland was called upon off the bench
to pick up an important first down. After moving inside Hamden's red zone,
Sutherland took a pitch and followed Nick Pataky's perfectly executed block of
the Dragon's end around the left side and into the end zone for a touchdown. The
PAT kick was blocked, so Branford's lead was 14-8.
Hamden's next drive came up a little over 5 yards short of
a first down deep in their own end. After lining up for a punt, a 5 yard
encroachment penalty on Branford made it 4th and less than a yard, so the
Dragons tried to get something going and went for it, but were stuffed for a
loss. Branford took over on downs and scored quickly as Sutherland broke through
the right side for a touchdown. The pass attempt for 2 points failed so the
score was 20-8 at the half.
The second half was played much quicker than the first as
conditions continued to deteriorate. Branford controlled the ball for most of
the second half as well, but either came up short on downs or had to punt.
Hamden continued to not mount any sort of threat in this half either, but after
one of Andy Klarman's punts pinned the Dragons in on their 15, a broken play saw
big #15 go on another romp through the line and as many would be tacklers either
missed or were pushed aside, Hamden scored on another long run to cut into the
lead. The run that followed was stuffed so the score was 20-14 as the 3rd
quarter ended.
Branford took the next kick to open the fourth quarter and
ate up a good chunk of time by making several first downs before turning it over
on downs on Hamden's 35. The Dragons moved out to midfield before fumbling it
away and the Hornets ran out the clock to win 20-14 and improve their record to
4-1.
There is not too much to write about here. Xavier was just
bigger, faster and had triple the roster size.
The Falcons won the toss and deferred their choice to the
second half. The Hornets received the opening kick, but had to punt it right
back. On their first offensive play, Xavier's #21 took the handoff and sprinted
through the line and was gone for a 60+ yard touchdown. The PAT kick was
blocked, so the Falcons had a 6-0 lead. Xavier scored a touchdown on the first
play of the second quarter to open a 12-0 lead and went on to tack on another 15
before the end of the first half.
Branford kicked off to open the second half, and the
Falcons went right down and scored and added the PAT for a 34-0 lead.
Andy Klarman had a good workout punting the ball in this
game as Hornet first downs were hard to come bye. But, in the fourth quarter,
Branford finally put together a drive after receiving the ball near midfield
following a Xavier punt. The Hornets moved the ball down the field behind some
nice runs by Curtis Sutherland up the middle and direct snaps to Justin Blood.
They scored on the game's last play on a pass from DJ Ryan to Chris Rice in the
right corner. The officials would not allow the PAT to even be attempted,
so the final score was 34-6.
Another Huge Effort from Sutherland Leads Hornets Past
Academics
It was the first home game for these Hornets as Branford High School Freshmen
and the team came out pumped up. Hillhouse won the toss and elected to receive.
But when their first drive came up against fourth down, the Hornets D stepped
up and stopped them cold to take over on downs. A short first drive ended with
Sutherland's first rushing TD, around the left end for about 20 yards. D.J. Ryan
threw to Sutherland for the 2 point conversion and an 8-0 lead.
Branford's next drive could not net a first down, and when the snap for the
ensuing punt sailed over Andy Klarman's head, Klarman recovered it, and threw to
an open space down field but was called for intentional grounding. The penalty
gave Hillhouse the ball on Branford's 20, but the Academics turned the
ball over on downs on Branford's 10. On the first play that followed, Sutherland
took the hand off, broke through the line and took off for a 90 yard touchdown run down
the left sideline. Another pass from Ryan to Sutherland made the score 16-0.
Later in the second, Alex Borkowski blocked a Hillhouse punt and then recovered
it in the end zone for a touchdown. This time Ryan threw to Justin Blood for 2
points to make the score 24-0 Branford at halftime.
In the third quarter, Sutherland ran for his third touchdown and the pass that
followed this time was not caught, so Branford's lead was now 30-0.
In the fourth quarter, the Academics spoiled the shutout when
they scooped up a Hornet fumble near midfield and took it back for a touchdown
to make the score 30-6. The kickoff that followed was taken back 83 yards by
Sutherland for his apparent 4th touchdown of the night, but a block in the back penalty nullified the runback. After
a couple of Hornets' rushing plays made a
first down, Ryan took successive kneel downs to end the game and the win improved
Branford's record to 3-0.
Hornets Late Start Sees Sutherland Run for Three TDs in Win
It was an overcast, warm fall afternoon as Branford's Freshman Hornets took to the gridiron at
Platt Tech High School in Milford to face the upstart Panthers. Platt won
the toss, and deferred their choice to the second half, so Branford chose to receive the
opening kickoff. The Hornets first drive pushed across midfield with runs up the
middle by Curtis Sutherland and Andrew Cohen. It ultimately stalled around Platt
Tech's 40 when it was 4th and one and the Hornets couldn't get that last yard
and turned the ball over on downs. Platt took over and moved down to Branford's
goal line surprising the Hornets by mixing the pass effectively with the run as
the first quarter came to an end. But Branford's D stood tough when they had to
and kept the Panthers out of the end zone and got the ball back on downs at
their own 5. When the first half was nearing its end, Branford mounted a nice
drive highlighted when DJ Ryan zipped a short pass to Sutherland, who turned it
into a 20 yard gain inside the Panther red zone. A couple short runs later,
Sutherland broke into the end zone and Branford was on the board. The kick that
followed was blocked, so the score was 6-0.
With just a little under a minute in the half, Platt took the short kickoff and
the Panther QB passed and scrambled his way down close but time expired and the
6-0 score stood up at half time.
It was Platt's call in the second half, and they decided to
kickoff again. Branford thanked the Panthers for the generosity by adding two
more touchdowns in the third quarter as Curtis Sutherland ran for a 30 yarder
and DJ Ryan threw to Jared Keck for a short one and then also threw for the 2
point conversion to give the Hornets a 20-0 lead.
In the fourth quarter, Platt was finally back sniffing the goal
line but Andy Klarman intercepted a fourth down pass and Branford took over on
their own 20. On the ensuing play, Curtis Sutherland broke through the line and
ran untouched for his third touchdown of the day. Matt O'Neill added the PAT and
Branford closed this one out 27-0 to improve to 2-0.
Hornets Defeat the Elements and North Haven in Opener
The rain seemed to know when this game was going to be played today as it started right at game time
and disapated as the game came to close. The conditions worsened as the field began to take on more water.
Neither team could mount any sort of drive as they traded possessions with punts into the second quarter before
Chris Rice broke up the middle untouched and blocked a punt to set up the Hornets first score as they took
over inside the Indians' 20. Curtis Sutherland carried it in for Branford to put them up 6-0.
On North Haven's next drive, Shaun Donahue took the snap and faked a handoff as he rolled to the outside, but he overthrew
his intended receiver and Curtis Sutherland picked it off along the sideline near midfield. The Hornets moved into
the North Haven red zone on some nice runs by Sutherland and Justin Blood before the drive culminated with a touchdown
pass from DJ Ryan. The kick after was no good, so Branford took a 12-0 lead into the half.
North Haven kicked off to open the second half but Branford graciously gave the ball back on Andrew Cohen's fumble. The Indians
couldn't do much with it so they punted it back. Shortly thereafter DJ Ryan's screen pass tipped off Sutherland's
outstretched hands and it was intercepted by Jalon White and taken the other way to the house for a
North Haven touchdown.
The point after attempt was blocked making the score 12-6.
With the field now completely saturated, and each team slipping all over the place, neither team could do much as the clock
kept ticking. Jalon White took over for the Indians with about four minutes to go and made some great runs to move the
ball down to the Hornets' goal line. But when it became 4th and goal from the 1, Branford stuffed the rush and took over on downs.
After narrowly avoiding a safety on the first play, Hornets QB DJ Ryan fired a
pass from deep in his end zone which Jared Keck caught while backpedaling over
the middle out near the 35 yard line. From there Branford repeatedly fed the
ball to Curtis Sutherland who moved it into Indian territory while chewing up the clock. Branford turned the ball over on
downs inside the North Haven 35, but the Indians watched helplessly as the clocked ran out and Branford walked away with a rain
soaked 12-6 win.
