Championships

11/18: The 5th Grade Indians dominated Cheshire to win the Shoreline Youth Championship by the score of 24-7 and complete a perfect 11-0 season. This is their second consecutive Championship game appearance after being the runner up last year.

Ethan Okwuosa returned the opening kickoff 73 yards for a touchdown to give North Haven an early 6-0 lead. Joe Wenzel then ran 51 yards for a touchdown to put the Indians in front 12-0 through one quarter. After each score, the conversion rush that followed failed. North Haven had a time consuming long drive in the second that culminated with and Okwuosa 3 yard touchdown run for and 18-0 lead after the conversion kick was blocked. On the last play of the half, Okwuosa ran a sweep around the left side and ran for a 44 yard touchdown (pictured above) to put the game out of reach at 24-0. Another rush attempt for the conversion that followed failed. The Rams scored with about 3 minutes left in the game on a 33 yard pass and then converted a rush that followed to cap the scoring at 24-7.

11/18: The 7th Grade Indians avenged an earlier season 6-0 loss to Madison by crushing the previously undefeated Tigers 30-0 to win the Shoreline Championship and complete a 10-1 season. This is the second consecutive Championship for Coach Stober's young men.

The Indians kicked off and then recovered the ball on the Tigers' 33 after Madison took their time trying to field it. On 4th and goal from the 7, however, their first attempt to score ended with a turn over on downs following an incomplete pass. Early in the 2nd quarter, North Haven again turned the ball over on downs, this time on the Tigers' 8 yard line. For some unknown reason, when Madison came up against a 4th down from their own 12, they went for it and did not make it, thus giving the ball back to North Haven with excellent field position. Following a 5 yard Indian penalty, Julien Martinez ran in a 17 yard touchdown and then Ricky Stober kicked the 2-point conversion for an 8-0 lead. Madison's next drive ended with a punt and North Haven's Mark Montano fielded it and took it to the house for a 45 yard touchdown. Stober's second kick was also true and the Indians took a 16-0 lead to halftime. In the 3rd quarter, Martinez took a handoff from Steven Erbe and fired a pass to a wide open Montano who took it the rest of the way for a 73 yard touchdown. Stober's third conversion kicked opened up a 24-0 lead for the Indians. Martinez scored a 3 yard touchdown in the 4th quarter to cap the scoring after Stober's kick hit the cross bar and fell short. So the final score was 30-0, North Haven over Madison.

Playoffs

11/11: The Eigth Grade Indians lost a heartbreaker to Madison today by the score of 14-11. The Tigers scored first on the last play of the first quarter from 2 yards out and converted the kick for an 8-0 lead. In the second, Billy Sgro, while punting, took the snap and ran for a first down deep in the Indians own end which sparked North Haven on to their first score as Jack Steinman connected with Max Sullivan with a 34 yard touchdown pass - also on 4th down. Colin Finkle kicked the 2 point conversion to tie the score at 8-8. Later in the quarter, Tommy Dodge intercepted a Madison pass which gave North Haven great field postion, which they cashed in when Finkle connected on a 27 yard field goal to give the Indians an 11-8 half time lead. In the third quarter, each team had drives stopped by interceptions, but it was North Haven with a big 4th down stop with a goal line stand to preserve the lead. Afer moving out from the shadow of their own goal line, the Indians punted and the Tigers used their good field position to score the go ahead touchdown to go up 14-11. North Haven responded with a nice drive and got all the way down to Madison's 22 yard line before they turned the ball over on downs with an incomplete pass in the end zone. Tommy Dodge has a pair of interceptions and North Haven was 4 for 4 on 4th down conversions in this game.

11/11: The Seventh Grade Indians scored quickly and took a 6-0 lead when Zach Orth ran for a 3 yard touchdown in the 1st quarter. Branford responded on the first play after the kickoff with a 59 yard pass play for a touchdown to tie the score at 6-6. In the second quarter, the Hornets took the lead after North Haven turned the ball over on downs 5 yards short of a second touchdown. Branford's QB rolled right and connected on a short pass which went for a 95 yard touchdown. The conversion run that followed was good which put Branford up 13-6. The score stayed that way until the fourth quarter when Jack Corniello recovered a Hornet fumble at midfield. The Indians put together a time consuming drive that culminated when Julien Martinez ran it in from a yard out for a touchdown. Ricky Stober kicked the 2 point conversion kick to put North Haven up 14-13 with just over a minute to play. Stober's kickoff that followed was just over the front line and the Indians beat the Hornets to the ball to retain possession. While running out the game's final minute, North Haven came up against a 4th and 1 from the 21 yard line. A first down would have sealed the game, but Martinez got that and more as he raced to the end zone for his 2nd touchdown of the game. Stober's second kick made the final score 22-13. North Haven advanced to next week's 7th Grade Championship in Cheshire in a rematch with Madison.

Playoffs

10/28: The sixth Graders' season came to an end today in Wallingford when they dropped 14-0 decision to the Vikings. Troubled by poor starting field position all day, the Indians' best opportunity to score came after they received the opening kickoff and moved to Wallingford's 27 yard line on a nice run by Noah Pastore. After turning the ball over on downs, North Haven traded possessions with Wallingford with stalled drives until the Vikings gained favorable field position and scored with 1:13 left in the half on a pass play. The 2 point conversion kick was good and the Indians went into halftime down 8-0. Wallingford scored another touchdown in the third after North Haven turned the ball over on downs in their own end. The Viking converted a 4th down inside the 5 yard line and then scored on a QB keeper. The extra point kick try was blocked making the final score 14-0.

Week 9

10/21: Joe Wenzel scored a pair of touchdowns in the first and second quarters as North Haven's 5th graders built up a 12-0 haltime advantage on Branford. Ethan Okwuosa scored a touchdown in the third quarter on a 51 yard sweep around the left end and Jeff Williston ran in the extra point after a failed kick attempt to open up a 19-0 lead. Jaden Watson scored a fourth North Haven touchdown shortly thereafter on a 34 yard touchdown around the left side and Williston again ran in a failed kick attempt to make it 26-0. Late in the fourth, Branford converted a fourth down down deep in their own end and then scored on an 85 yard touchdown run and converted the extra point to make the final score 26-7.

Week 8

10/14: Julien Martinez led the 7th Grade Indians to a 22-8 win over Guilford to make their final regular season record 7-1. Martinez scored touchdowns in the second and third periods and Ricky Stober made both conversion kicks to build up a 16-0 lead. Guilford cut the lead to 16-8 with a third quarter TD, but Martinez sealed the game with a 59 yard run after a broken play, he changed direction and came all the way back around the field and down the far sideline to make the final score 22-8.

10/14: The 6th Grade team played a back and forth competitive first half game with East Haven as they took a 26-22 lead into the break. Noah Pastore gave North Haven an early 6-0 lead with a 40+ yard TD run, but East Haven came back with a touchdown and 2-pt conversion kick to claim the lead at 8-6. Pastore would then score from 2 yards out and Alex Ciaburro ran in an extra point to put the Indians back out in front at 13-8. East Haven closed out the first with a 20 yard sweep to take a 14-13 lead. On the first play of the second, East Haven scored on a 30 yard sweep to the same right side to open up a 22-13 lead, but the Indians quickly closed within 22-20 when Ciaburro scored a short touchdown and ran in the extra point. Pastore scored a touchdown on the half's last play with a 78 yard run through traffic to make it 26-22. Neither team scored in the third as Ciaburro intercepted a pass and Kevin Anasoulis recovered a fumble to stop East Haven drives. The Easties would ultimately win this game in the 4th with three touchdowns captializing on some Indian mistakes to make the final score 44-26.

Week 6

9/30: The 4th Grade Indians held on to defeat Branford 19-12 on a goal line stand as time expired. Anthony Rapuano scored 3 touchdowns including ones from 40, 39 and 1 yard out as they built up a 19-6 lead on the Hornets and then held on for the win. Rapuano also threw a pass to Matteo Crisanti for an extra point after the second TD.

9/30: The 8th Grade Indians came oh so close, losing by 4 to East Haven. Jack Steinman threw a perfect pass to Michael Gagliardi in the corer of the end zone for a touchdown as the half expired and Colin Finkle drilled the 2 point kick to put the Indians up 8-6 over undefeated East Haven at the break. After East Haven scored a pair of touchdowns in the second half and built up a 20-8 lead, Steinman threw for a second TD pass, this one for 1 yard to Billy Sgro, in the fourth quarter. Finkle's second 2 point kick cut the score to 20-16, but time ran out and East Haven went on to win.

Week 5

9/23: The 7th Grade team built up a 3 touchdown lead and held on to beat Tri-Town 22-16. Steven Erbe got the Indians started when he stripped the Warriors ball carrier and took it the other way for a 55 yard touchdown. Ricky Stober added the 2 point kick for an 8-0 lead. In the second period, TriTown snapped one over their punter's head into the end zone, but he was able to bring it out to the 1, which is where Nick Perillie took it in from for a touchdown. Stober's second kick made it 16-0. In the third period, Perillie hit Joe Gargano with a 25 yard pass down the right sideline for a touchdown to up the score to 22-0. The Warriors used a bunch of trick plays to score a pair of late touchdowns to cut the final score to 22-16.

9/23: The 8th Grade Indians tied with Madison at 8-8. Bowen Brennan scored a second quarter touchdown and Colin Finkle kicked the two point kick to give the Indians an 8-0 lead which stood up until a broken play and a series of missed tackles allowed Madison to tie the score from 30+ yards out with under two minutes to play.

Pictured above is Billy Sgro who made a nice catch on a ball thrown by Jack Steinman and his run set up North Haven's only score. Pictured on left is Nick Perillie throwing a TD pass in the 3rd quarter for the 7th grade team.