| North Haven Seniors |
6 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
- |
12 |
| Branford Seniors |
6 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
- |
6 |
698 Photos
North Haven won the toss and took over on their own 36 after Josh DiMassa's
bouncing kickoff could not be fielded cleanly. Branford's D held North Haven to
only 9 yards, and then Tommy DeLucia and Alex Borkowski stuffed North Haven's
Eric Calafiore, who was attempting the rush on 4th down, and Branford took over
on downs in Indians' territory. The Hornets worked their way down inside the
Indian 30 before Justin Blood busted around the left end and scored the game's
first touchdown on a 20+ yard run. North Haven's next drive saw the Indians work
their way into Hornet territory, and just when the drive seemed to have ended
when the Indians fumbled the ball, one of the North Haven players came out of
the heap with it and ran it down inside Branford's 10. A couple of plays later,
the Indians fumbled it away again and this time the Hornets recovered. But
Branford couldn't move the ball and ultimately had to punt it away. Anthony Ponzio took the
kick from Andy Klarman and ran it back for a 40+ yard TD. The extra point kick
was blocked and the score was tied at 6.
Branford's next drive stalled deep in
their own end, but when North Haven was flagged for roughing the punter, the
Hornets got a reprieve. But after a quick first down, the Hornets were punting
again. But it was a fake, and Andy Klarman took the snap and ran with it, but
came up short when he was tackled hard by the Indians' Max Wielher. The Indians
had less than 2 minutes left in the half, and tried to get some offense going,
but shortly after Eric Calafiore took a direct snap and tried to zip zag through
traffic, he was stripped of the ball by DJ Ryan. Tommy Delucia covered it up and
then the Hornets ran out the half.
In the second half, neither team could mount any sort of drive and the ball
traded ends several times before Sean Donahue broke a few tackles at the line
and scampered 54 yards for a the go ahead score for the Indians in the fourth
quarter. The extra point kick was again blocked, but North Haven led this game
12-6 with just under 3 minutes to play. Branford had one last opportunity to
score, but as soon as they took a step forward, they'd take 2 back as penalties
and sacks combined with ground gainers as the Hornets awkwardly worked their way
into Indian territory in the waning moments of the game. A sack and two
incomplete passes put and end to any sort of Hornet comeback and North Haven
took a couple of knees to end this game.
Branford was afforded numerous opportunities to win this game as North Haven
fumbled the ball 7 times, and Branford recovered 4 or 5 of them. The Hornets'
Nick Linta also blocked a punt, but Branford's offense just could not convert...
