619 Game Photos
59 Pictures of the Yale Bowl

It was a beautiful cloudless fall afternoon in New Haven as the Senior Hornets took to the Yale Bowl gridiron on Youth Day after witnessing Yale's thrilling double OT win over Holy Cross, 31-28.

Branford won the toss and asked for the ball. A nice first series saw the Hornets keep the ball on the ground, and drive deep into Ram territory before they turned it over on OSW's 28 with a fumble. The Ram's first drive sputtered and when it got to be 4th and 2 on their own 38, they gambled and went for it. But a tough Hornet D stepped up and stopped them in their tracks to get the ball back on downs. The Hornets couldn't convert this gift and ultimately turned it back over to OSW on downs. The Rams scored quickly thereafter with a pitch and a quick run around the right end and then a 68 yard sprint to the end zone for a TD. The 2 point kick was blocked, but OSW led 6-0.

The Hornets took the next kickoff and put together a nice drive, continuing to keep on the ground while they ate up the rest of the quarter and moved back onto OSW's half of the field. Curtis Sutherland ran at will and Justin Blood and Charlie Boyd added some nice gainers as well. But it was Alex Borkowski who broke through the line on 3rd and short, and after almost getting tripped up at the line of scrimmage by a low tackle attempt, kept his balance and ran 28 yards for the game tying TD. The teams traded possessions before Branford worked another drive into the OSW red zone, and it got to be 3rd and long with under a minute to play. DJ Ryan was chased out of the pocket, but was able to throw on the run, and he found Chris Rice inside the 10 for a first down with about 30 seconds left in the half. Alex Borkowski ripped off another 6 yards to move the Hornets down to the OSW goal line as the clock continued to tick. Curtis Sutherland took the next hand off and walked into the end zone for the go ahead score with 6 seconds left in the half.

The Rams took the third quarter kickoff and moved across midfield before a bad snap while in the shotgun went over the head of their QB, and ended up as a huge 12 yard loss. When it got to be 4th and 27, the Rams punted, but were given the ball back and an automatic first down when a roughing the kicker penalty was called. So the Rams continued their drive into Branford's red zone with a series of short passes, pitches to big #7 and QB keepers, and they ultimately ate up the entire 3rd quarter. Shortly after the 4th quarter started, it got to be 4th and 1 from the 4 and the Rams gambled again and lost big time as the Hornets D swarmed in and pushed them back a yard, to take back possession on downs.

Branford kept the ball on the ground with several nice gains by Curtis Sutherland, making first downs and eating up most of the 4th quarter before a fumble gave OSW the ball back near midfield with a little over 3 minutes to play. But the Rams couldn't do anything with it, as they tried a bizarre formation of some sort of split line shotgun. When it got to be 3rd and long, Nick Pataky broke in and sacked the QB setting up the Rams final play on 4th down. Nick Linta batted down a lofted pass and Branford took possession. DJ Ryan took a series of "knees" and this one ended in Branford's favor, 12-6.