11/30: Reprinted from the New Haven Register - By Ray Curren, Special to the Register
MADISON - Underdog North Haven stood toe-to-toe with Southern Connecticut Conference rival Hand for most of the first half Tuesday night in the quarterfinals of the CIAC Class L football playoffs.
Then a haymaker in the form of a long touchdown from out of the blue put the Indians down and eventually out, 19-7, at the Surf Club.
Second-seeded Hand advances to meet No. 6 New Canaan in a rematch of a 2007 title game Saturday.
With the game scoreless midway through the second quarter, Zach Miller's long pass found Leif Colberg for an 81-yard touchdown. Hand (10-1) - which had only 26 yards of offense before its first score - went on to post all 19 points in a 4:28 span before the end of the half.
"We got behind them once, and obviously that was a big moment in the game," Hand coach Steve Filippone said. "We were able to bang in a couple of other ones before halftime, and that was pretty much it. They played great defense for most of the game."
Not surprisingly, the wind played a factor in the proceedings at the Surf Club. North Haven (9-2) had the wind in the first quarter, and had the ball in Hand territory three times - including recovering an unintentional onside kick on the opening kickoff - but got no points.
After the Miller to Colberg connection, North Haven tried a quick kick on third down, and while it surprised the Tigers, it was no match for the wind, going only 24 yards to the Hand 38. Two plays later, Miller hit Alec Pacelli for an 8-yard score. After North Haven botched a punt snap on its next possession, it took Hand only three plays - its longest scoring drive of the night - to score again, this time Kevin Frey's 10-yard run put the Tigers up 19-0 with 2:06 left in the half.
The rest of the game belonged to the Hand defense. Twice in the third quarter, the Indians and their single-wing offense got inside the Tiger 10-yard line, and twice they were stopped cold, including once after a Nate Alleyne interception set his team up at the Hand 9.
"We try to get 11 hats to the ball on every play, and I think we did a good job of that tonight," Hand senior linebacker A.J. Hill - whose hat was in on a lot of big tackles - said.
North Haven finally got into the end zone on an 11-play drive when Joe Schwab scored on a 5-yard run with 6:55 left, but Hand never gave the ball back, countering with a 12-play drive of its own that sealed its berth in the semifinals.
"Our defense played tremendous," Filippone said. "They were on the field the whole game it seemed like. We had lousy position the whole game, but our defense did the job."
Miller, in tough conditions, was 13-of-20 for 238 yards, as North Haven held Hand to just 97 rushing yards. Meanwhile, the Indians - who had won nine straight coming in - were led by Alleyne's 61 yards on 10 carries. Three North Haven players combined to go just 4-of-14 passing for 43 yards.
"They were a little more physical than us, and that's a big part of our game," North Haven coach Anthony Sagnella said. "They deserved to win, but I'm proud of my team. They had a great season and lost to a great team."
Week 10/11 Game Schedule
11/18/10: Amity Freshmen 25, North Haven Freshmen 20
11/25/10: North Haven Varsity 40,
Amity Varsity 24
11/25:
Senior Brandon McLane had the game of his life, catching two touchdown passes, running for a third and throwing
a pair of halfback option touchdowns to lead the Indians to victory.
North Haven kicked off and on Amity's first play from scrimmage, Nate Alleyne picked off a pass to
give the Indians great field possession. Two plays later, Joe Schwab connected with
a wide open McLane for a
28 yard TD pass and Mark Zurlis kicked the extra point for a 7-0 lead. Amity kicked a field goal
to cut the lead to 7-3 before McLane ran in a 8 yard touchdown to make the score 13-3 at the end
of the first quarter.
Joe Schwab busted in from 3 yards out on a QB keeper to open up a 19-3 lead in the second as the two
point conversion was unsuccessful. After an Amity turnover near midfield, Schwab connected with
McLane for a 26 yard TD pass and Alleyne carried in a 2-point conversion to make the score 27-3 at
the half.
North Haven received the second half kickoff but had to punt it away. The Spartans responded with
a drive which culminated with a 7 yard pass for a touchdown to cut the lead to 27-10. On the next
Indian possession, McLane took a pitch and rolled right and fired a long pass to Eddie Glenn, who
knocked over tacklers - falling backwards into the end zone to complete a 64 yard touchdown play and
open up a 33-10 lead.
In the fourth quarter, Amity scored another touchdown to cut the lead to 33-16, but the Indians
came right back again scoring as Schwab handed off to McLane, and then went down field to catch a
pass back for an 11 yard score. John Scafariello drilled the extra point to make it 40-16. Amity
added a late score and a 2 point pass for conversion to make the final score 40-24.
North
Haven's defense was stifling as Brian Maratea added a 2nd quarter interception
and Chris Matteis had a fumble recovery and the Indians held Amity's 1000 yard
rusher Kyle Kalanta to only 35 yards.
The win was North Haven's 9th straight after an opening week loss to Hillhouse and set the school
regular season mark with a 9-1 record. The Indians have advanced to this year's Class L
State Football playoffs and will play Daniel Hand (9-1) at the Surf Club on Tuesday, November 30th
at 6:30pm in the quarter finals.
Week 9 Game Schedule
11/11/10: North Haven Freshmen 45, Lyman Hall Freshmen 14
11/12/10: North Haven Varsity 24, Lyman Hall Varsity 13
11/13/10: North Haven JV 26, Lyman Hall JV 22
11/11: North Haven won the toss deferred to the 2nd half. The Indians kicked off and got the ball right back
when Lyman Hall fumbled. On the first play, Christian Black took off around the left side for a 20+ yard
touchdown. Freddy Sanchez's kick was good to put North Haven up 7-0. After a bad Trojan punt gave North Haven great field position, Ethan Suraci faked an end around left and took it around
the right side for a 35 yard TD run to make it 13-0. Before the
first period could end, Lyman Hall had to punt for a second time, but after the snap sailed over the punter's head, North Haven started off just outside the 20. Shortly thereafter,
Patrick Mikos ran a touchdown in through the right side to make it 20-0.
In the second quarter, the Trojans finally put together a drive and scored to cut the lead to 20-6,
but then Michael Siwek took a direct snap and busted through the middle and took off for a 64 yard run. Sanchez followed
with the kick to make it 27-6 at the half. In the third, Michael Halloran had a pair of touchdown runs
to extend the lead to 39-6 before the Trojans scored on a series of pass plays and also made a 2 point
conversion with a pass to cut the lead to 39-14. Chris Brockett capped the scoring in the fourth when he returned an interception 55 yards for a touchdown to make the final 45-14.
11/12: North Haven's Varsity defeated Lyman Hall for their
8th consecutive win. The Trojans won the toss and elected to
receive. After the teams traded punts, the Indians gained
favorable field position and scored the game's first points
when Nate Alleyne came around back on an end around and took
it 25 yards for a touchdown and a 6-0 lead. Early in the
second quarter, North Haven increased their lead to 12-0
when Bryan Maratea hauled in an interception which led to Jalon White's 5 yard run around the left end for a touchdown. Lyman Hall scored right before the end of the
quarter and squeaked a kick through the bottom right corner of the uprights to make it 12-7 at
halftime. The Indians took the 2nd half kickoff and
sustained a turnover in their own end before a long drive
was capped by White's second rushing touchdown from in close
to open up an 18-7 lead. The Trojans responded quickly as
everyone went left and the QB threw back the other way and
the receiver took off for a 73 yard score to cut the lead to
18-13. North Haven took over from there and scored on a time
consuming fourth quarter drive culminated by a short
touchdown from Chris Matteis to make the final 24-13. Jalon White finished the night with 21 carries for 106 yards and two touchdowns and Chris Matteis was 21 for 141 with one TD.
11/13: The North Haven JV came from behind to win a close
game with Lyman Hall today. The Trojans won the toss and
took the opening kickoff and went right down and scored with
a series of pass plays and passed for a 2 point conversion
to take an 8-0 lead. The Indians had only one formidable
first half drive, but ultimately turned the ball over at the
Trojans 10. Additionally, some sloppy play by North Haven
gave Lyman Hall several opportunities that they just
couldn't cash in so the 8-0 lead stood up until halftime.
The Indians climbed right back into this game in the second
half as Joe Burr took the opening kickoff all the way back
for a 70 yard touchdown. But the run attempt for conversion
was stopped so the score was 8-6. North Haven took their
first lead of the game on their next possession when Burr
broke free for a 47 yard TD run and then JP Deveglia carried
in the 2 point conversion to make the score 14-8. The
Trojans came right back and scored, however, on the
last play of the 3rd quarter after a series of passes, the
QB took a direct snap and ran it inside the far left pylon.
The pass for two that followed failed so the score remained
14-14 through 3. Starting the fourth quarter, Kellan Brennan
covered up an onside kick at the 47 yard line and then North
Haven scored with a nice drive culminating with a short run
by Deveglia to make it 20-14. John Spencer ended Lyman
Hall's next drive with an interception and then Chris Burr
broke free for a 66 yard touchdown run to make it 26-14.
Lyman Hall used the remaining couple of minutes to pass
their way up the field and score at the end and passed for a
2 point conversion to make the final score 26-22.
Week 8 Game Schedule
11/5/10: North Haven Freshmen 18, Foran Freshmen 0
11/5/10: North Haven Varsity 48, Foran Varsity 20
11/6/10: North Haven JV 37, Foran 12
10/28: The North Haven Varsity traveled to Milford to play
the Foran Lions tonight. Chris Matteis had touchdown runs of
53, 40 and 5 yards and Jalon White scored 2 others to lead
the offense. Joe Schwab threw a touchdown pass to Brandon
Devlin and ran for a touchdown of his own as the Indians
went on to win 48-20.
Week 7 Game Schedule
10/28/10: North Haven Freshmen 27, Trinity Catholic Freshmen 14
10/29/10: North Haven Varsity 39, Trinity Catholic Varsity 28
10/30/10: North Haven JV 30, Trinity Catholic JV 13
10/28: The North Haven Freshmen had to travel all the way
down to Stamford to play the Crusaders from Trinity
Catholic. Ethan Suraci put the Indians out in front with a 6
yard first quarter touchdown run, but the Crusaders scored
quickly on a long pass play to cut the score to 7-6. Michael
Halloran went on a 66 yard dash for a touchdown to close out
the 1st quarter with a 14-6 North Haven lead. In the second
quarter, Nick McInnis followed a crushing block laid by
Suraci to come back around on a reverse to score an 11 yard
touchdown on fourth and goal and the Indians took a 20-6
lead into the half. Halloran ran for a 33 yard touchdown
around the left side on the last play of the 3rd quarter to
expand the lead to 27-6. But the kickoff that led off the
4th was returned for a long TD and then the Crusaders added
a two point run to closed out the scoring in a 27-14 game.
Freddy Sanchez made 3 of 4 extra point kicks as the one in
the second quarter was blocked.
10/29: The Varsity won their 6th in a row tonight defeating Trinity Catholic in a crossover FCIAC game. In the first quarter, North Haven converted
a Crusader fumble into a 1 yard TD run by Joe Schwab. Later in the first, Brandon McLane rumbled 34 yards for another TD to put the Indians up 14-0. The second quarter
belonged to Trinity Catholic, however, as North Haven's offense sputtered and turned the ball over allowing the Crusaders to cut the lead to 14-13 by the half.
In the third quarter, Chris Matteis took off for a 36 yard run for a touchdown
to give the home team a 21-13 lead. But TC would not go away. After the Indians fumbled
the ball away, the Crusaders scored a touchdown of their own and added a 2 point conversion to tie. But before the quarter could end on a sour note, Schwab connected
with Ed Glenn with 34 yard touchdown pass to end the 3rd with a 27-21 lead.
In the fourth, the Crusaders gambled and turned the ball over on downs inside their own 40 and
North Haven made them pay as Schwab scored his 2nd TD with a 5 yard run and the score was 33-21. Trinity Catholic scored quickly with a series of passes to close within
33-28, but after the Indians covered up an onside kick attempt at midfield, Schwab scored with a 25 yard run to close out the scoring in a 39-28 game.
Week 6 Game Schedule
10/21/10: Notre Dame Freshmen 12, North Haven Freshmen 7
10/22/10: North Haven Varsity 20, Notre Dame Varsity 17
10/23/10: Notre Dame JV 14, North Haven JV 6
10/21: The Freshmen Indians lost their first game of the year today as they not only had to battle the Green Knights, but also the poor officiating. After a scoreless first quarter, North Haven fumbled twice in the second quarter and Notre Dame cashed the second one in with a 66 yard touchdown run. The run for a two point conversion was stopped and Indians limited their deficit to 6-0. Evan Manameit returned an interception over 50 yards inside the red zone with 11 seconds left in the half and Michael Halloran carried it in on the next play for a touchdown. Freddy Sanchez kicked the extra point and the Indians took a 7-6 lead into halftime. Notre Dame scored in the 4th quarter and then held off a couple of North Haven drives to win 12-7.
10/22: The Varsity Indians recorderd a
thrilling victory over Notre Dame Friday night. The Green
Knights took the opening kickoff and on first play from
scrimmage scored a 66 yard touchdown with a pass over the
middle and a long run for a 7-0 lead. Notre Dame expanded
their lead to 10-0 by halftime with 30 yard field goal
before North Haven scored a TD with a 19 yard pass from Joe
Schwab to Brandon McLane to cut the lead to 10-6 in the
third. Shortly after, Sean Goldrich squeezed through the
middle and ran 54 yards for a touchdown to push the Knights
lead up to 17-6. Jalon White carried it in from 2 yards out
and Schwab busted in through the left side for a 2 point
conversion to make it 17-14 at the end of the third. Nate
Alleyne hauled in Goldrich's 3rd interception of the game to
give North Haven excellent field position, and White scord a
6 yard touchdown on 4th and 1 with a little under 5 minutes
to play to put the Indians up 20-17. Notre Dame drove down
to the North Haven 32 before Goldrich's 4th interception
deflected into Chris Matteis' hands with 59 seconds to play.
The Indians ran out the clock to win and improve to 5-1.
10/23: The JV Indians played a tight game with Notre Dame and lost by a score of 14-6. A 0-0 deadlock was broken in
the second quarter when the Green Knights returned an interception 40+ yards for a 6-0 lead. Shortly thereafter, a pass in and out of
the intended receiver's hands was again intercepted and converted into a Notre Dame touchdown. A pass was completed for a 2 point conversion
and the Indians were down by 14 at half. In the third, North Haven put together a nice drive and scored on a 4th down play
on a 6 yard run by Joe Burr. Neither team could put together any sort of threat after this and they played a scoreless 4th quarter.
Week 5 Game Schedule
10/13/10: North Haven Freshmen 26, East Haven Freshmen 6
10/15/10: North Haven Varsity 46, East Haven Varsity 14
10/16/10: North Haven JV 39, East Haven JV 0
10/13: Michael Halloran tied the game at 6 in
the second quarter for the Freshmen Indians with a long run
around the left end his first of 3 rushing touchdowns. The
game remained deadlocked until the last 5 minutes when North
Haven scored 3 times. Evan Manemeit returned a punt to the
Eat Haven 6 then Halloran carried it in for a 13-6 lead.
After an interception, Halloran scored his third TD with a
20+ yard romp and a 20-6 lead. On their next possession,
East Haven turned the ball over on downs deep in their own
end. On the first play, Carlos Martinez ran for a 20+ yard
touchdown to make the final score 26-6.
10/15: Chris Matteis scored a first quarter touchdown from in close to give the Varsity Indians a 7-0 lead. In the second quarter, Jalon White rushed for 3 TDs - on of them for 75 yards - and Joe Schwab threw a touchdown pass to Brandon Devlin
and North Haven took a 33-6 lead into halftime. Matteis went on to score his second TD of the game in the 3rd to help widen the lead to 40-6 before East Haven scored early in
the 4th on a 74 yard run. North Haven added a late TD to make the final 46-13.
10/16: The JV Indians shutout East Haven as Eric Calafiore and JP Deveglia rushed for touchdowns and Frank Daniele threw to Tim Castelli for a third TD to
give North Haven a 19-0 lead after one quarter. Ryan McLane had a long touchdown run and Joe Lopez had another rushing TD to make the score 32-0 at the half. Deveglia ran in his 2nd TD
in the 3rd quarter to make the final 39-0.
Week 4 Game Schedule
10/7/10: North Haven Freshmen 38, Sheehan Freshmen 6
10/8/10: North Haven Varsity 46, Sheehan Varsity 14
10/9/10: North Haven JV 27, Sheehan JV 0
10/7: The Freshmen Indians spotted Sheehan a first quarter score and then went on to score 38 unanswered points to
win handily 38-6. Nick McInnnis tied the game in the
second when he ran around the right end on a double reverse for a 20+ yard TD. Mike Halloran ran back the opening kickoff of the second half for a
70 yard touchdown and
North Haven took the lead for good at 13-6. Ethan Suraci forced a fumble inside the Titan 10 and
two plays later Suraci busted in through the right
side to up the score to 19-6. In the
fourth quarter, the Indians scored three TDs to blow the game open with an 8 yd run by Christian Black, a 35 yard interception return by McInnis and a 40 yd TD run by
Freddy Sanchez.
10/8: The Varsity Indians easily defeated Sheehan as Jalon White ran for 2 short touchdowns and threw a 32 yard TD pass to Ed Glynn to put the Indians up by a score of 21-0 at the
end of the first period. That lead ballooned to 40-0 by halftime. White threw another TD pass - an
9 yarder to Nate Alleyne and Chris Matteis added three rushing touchdowns for North Haven - two from a yard out and the last in the 3rd quarter from 42 yards out. The Titans scored a pair of second half touchdowns
against the Indians JV team to make the final score 46-14.
Week 3 Game Schedule
10/1/10: North Haven Varsity 27, Branford Varsity 12
10/2/10: Branford JV 12, North Haven JV 2
10/2/10: North Haven Freshmen 31, Branford Freshmen 8
10/1: Joe Schwab rushed for three first half touchdowns as the Varsity Indians opened up a 20-0 lead. The Hornets scored on the last play of the half to close the score to 20-6.
After a scoreless third quarter, Branford closed the gap to 20-12 with a touchdown, but Jalon White took several direct snaps to move the ball in close and eat up the clock. Chris Matteis
scored from a yard out with about a minute to play to make the final 27-12.
10/2: The JV Indians were shut out offensively by the Hornets while dropping a 12-2 contest in Branford. The only points North Haven earned were in the second period when Branford long
snapped over the head of their punter and out the back of the end zone.
Week 2 Game Schedule
9/22/10: North Haven Freshmen 26, Hamden Freshmen 0
9/24/10: North Haven Varsity 13, Hamden Varsity 2
9/25/10: Hamden JV 21, North Haven JV 20
9/22: The Freshmen Indians defeated Hamden by the score of 26-0. North Haven scored a touchdown in each quarter, starting in the first as Christian Black ran one in and then tried a fake on the extra point kick that came up just short.
Ethan Suraci scored a TD in the 2nd and 3rd quarters and Michael Halloran scored in the 4th. Freddy Sanchez was 2-3 on extra point kicks to round out the scoring. The Indians' D held Hamden without a first down in the game.
9/24: Jalen White blocked a punt and
recovered it in Hamden's end zone for a first quarter
touchdown and Chris Matteis dove in for short second quarter
touchdown as the Varsity Indians beat the Green Dragons
13-2. Hamden's only score came late in the first when they
tackled the Indians' punter in the end zone following a bad
snap.
Week 1 Game Schedule
9/15/10: North Haven Freshmen 13, Hillhouse Freshmen 6
9/16/10: Hillhouse Varsity 12, North Haven Varsity 0
9/17/10: Hillhouse JV vs. North Haven JV (cancelled)
9/15: The Freshmen Indians
travelled to Bowen Field in New Haven to play the Academics
in what actually was deemed a scrimmage. North Haven
dominated the less experienced Hillhouse team, but based on
the 10 consecutive play rules imposed by a scrimmage, only
scored two TDs and converted one extra point for 13 points.
Hillhouse scored once on a long play for their only 6.
9/16: The Varsity Indians
hosted Hillhouse on opening night and a defensive struggle
broke out. As the rains came late in the second quarter,
Hillhouse scored a pair of TDs to take a 12-0 lead into
halftime and the game was suspended. The second half was
uneventful. Each team had trips down into the other's red
zone, but neither could score. The final score was the same
as it was at the half, Hillhouse 12, North Haven 0.
