Madison Tigers Too Much for Branford Seniors

In this first SYFC game of the year, Branford's Seniors had to go back to the site where many players played their last game of the 2007 season and were eliminated from the playoffs at Daniel Hand High School in Madison. The Hornets won the coin toss and elected to receive. After a nice return by Justin Blood, Curtis Sutherland opened the 2008 campaign for Branford by ripping off a 10 yard run into Tiger territory to gain a first down. 3 plays later on 4th and short, Branford went for it and made another first down inside the Tiger 35 on a pass from DJ Ryan to Curtis Sutherland. But then the drive stalled, and the Hornets turned the ball over on downs. The Tigers marched down the field, handing off to huge number 62 over and over until they scored the game's first touchdown on a 30 yard power sweep around the right end and then kicked the extra points for an 8-0 lead. Charlie Boyd took the next kickoff for Branford and worked his way back into Madison territory for great field position. A first down pushed the ball to the Tiger 35 before this drive also stalled and Madison took over on downs. As the teams changed sides, Madison worked their way down the field again and scored another TD. A botched extra point kick was thrown into the end zone and caught to make the score 15-0. Another stalled Branford drive culminated with a punt, which gave the Tigers the ball back, but this time the Hornet defense contained them until it got to be 3rd and 1. Branford's D crowded the line, and after Madison handed it off - a couple broken tackles later it was a 60 yard TD run and a 23-0 Madison lead at the half. The second half was more evenly played as both sides tried different things. A 4th Tiger TD in the 3rd quarter made the score 29-0. Branford had an opportunity to score late in the 4th, but fumbled it away inside Madison's 10 yard line...