The two 7th grade Wilton Youth Football teams both won their Saturday Nov. 15 games, earning co-Champion titles for both 7Blue and 7White.
Wilton 7Blue Defeats Westport North, 21-6
by James Andersen
Capping off a terrific 9-1 season during which their opponents were outscored 206-45, Wilton 7Blue rolled over Westport North 21-6 on Saturday, Nov. 15 in the FCFL semi-finals to earn a share of the league co-Championship along with Wilton 7White, which defeated Darien White 20-7 in the other semi-final game (see description below).
It’s hard to characterize Wilton Blue as an offensive or defensive team. The Warriors blanked their opponents in five of their ten games, surrendering by far the fewest points in the league. Their offensive output was just two points fewer than the league leader but would have been much higher but for the league’s unofficial “three touchdown lead” mercy rule that forced the starters to the bench early in most of this year’s games.
The victory over Westport was typical of the majority of this year’s games. Westport went on offense first, but in reverse. Dominick Polito and Jimmy O’Brien set the tone for the game as they shed would-be blockers and buried the ball carrier for a five yard loss on the game’s first play. Polito, who lived in the Wreckers backfield all day, made another tackle for loss on the next play, and so it went.
After a Westport punt to the Warrior 49, the offense immediately made a statement as well. The talented offensive line of Jack DiRocco, Sean Purdy, Jack Lenz, O’Brien, Jack Savarese, Nick Wert and Maden Herve opened a gaping hole for Austin Andersen who burst through the left side and raced 27 yards to the Westport 24. Four plays later Kyle Hyzy took a handoff from Ryan Healey and followed a lead block by Matt Dooley into the end zone. DiRocco, who was nearly perfect on kicks all season, drilled the PAT for a 7-0 lead with 3:57 to go in the first quarter.
The Warriors kept up the pressure on the Wreckers’ next possession. Consecutive stops for no gain by Polito and Nish Wangneo forced Westport to the air but Polito leveled the quarterback as he threw and Hyzy picked off the throw at the Westport 48.
Demonstrating incredible depth in the offensive backfield, the Warriors turned to DiRocco, who gained 10 yards and a first down on the next play while later in the drive O’Brien powered his way for 13 yards to the Westport 15. Two plays later Hyzy slashed his way for another touchdown and with DiRocco’s kick the Warriors had a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter.
After another punt gave the Warriors the ball at their own 38, the offense again ground out yards, with DiRocco and O’Brien carrying the pigskin. On fourth and short at the Warrior 47, Andersen smashed his way up the middle for 18 yards, breaking tackles and dragging defenders down the field, then later juked his way for a 19 yard gain to the Westport 15. To add insult to injury Hyzy then passed to DiRocco whose diving catch in the end zone, combined with another perfect kick, put the Warriors up 21-0 with two minutes to play in the half.
In a quirk of FCFL rules to level the playing field when a team has a three touchdown lead, Westport was able to force Andersen, Hyzy and Herve to sit out all offensive plays, yet Wilton still moved the ball at will in the second half.
Wilton’s defense continued to suffocate Westport throughout the third quarter. In the fourth quarter Westport invoked the defensive mercy rule forcing Andersen, Hyzy and O’Brien to the bench on defense as well, yet still could not move the ball consistently. The Wreckers did finally score on a long pass, their only completion of the game, to close the gap to 21-6, but it was far too little, too late.
2014 Wilton 7Blue was led by coaches Chris Hyzy, Carl Lenz, Joe Savarese, Steve Tuin, Gregg Healey, Craig Stephenson, Joe Polito and James Andersen. The 2014 Champion Warriors: Austin Andersen, Barrett Brown, Dominick Caratazzolo, Jack DiRocco, Matthew Dooley, Michael Gamboa, Ryan Healey, Maden Herve, Kyle Hyzy, Daniel Incao, Jack Lenz, Jimmy O’Brien, Dominick Polito, Sean Purdy, Jack Savarese, Cole Stephenson, Steven Tuin, Nishant Wangneo and Nicholas Wert.
Wilton 7White Defeats Darien White, 20-7
by Joe Burke
The top ranked Wilton 7White team remained the only undefeated Wilton team by dominating the Darien White team in a lopsided semi-final game. The two teams had met earlier in the season in a close game also won by the Warriors. Unlike Notre Dame’s defeat at the hands of Northwestern earlier in the day, this rematch could only be described as a blowout in which Wilton controlled the tempo and kept Darien scoreless until they finally got on the board with a meaningless touchdown in the waning seconds of the game.
Wilton dominated on both sides of the ball and proved too strong an adversary for Darien. After a sustained drive in the first quarter, Drew Phillips took the handoff on fourth down and ran over the Darien defense to put Wilton on the board. In the second quarter, after a pass to Reilly Sullivan for a Warrior first down, Phillips again got the ball on the Darien 20 yard line and outran the entirety of the Darien team for Wilton’s second score.
The half ended 14-0 after the scores by Phillips and the PATs from the sure-legged Tucker Walden. Wilton’s success was the result of a level of team play rarely seen at this age – offensively and defensively, “the line” consisting of Griffin Morris, Cole Snyder, Jack Santomero, Will Randolph, Stephen Kendra, Ciaran Smith, Dean Griffin, Patrick Burke, Rushil Jha, Erik Lebek and Spencer Reyes was outstanding. They owned the Darien line by opening gaping holes on offense and literally closing every gap defensively. The Wilton secondary, led by Arthur “R2” Dirocco, Sullivan, Niko Kouvaris, Jake Zeyher and James Wright shut down Darien’s attempts to attack via the air.
In the second half, Wilton stopped a Darien drive with an interception by Wilton’s Dirocco on Wilton’s two-yard line. On the very next play from scrimmage, QB Zeyher handed off to Phillips who ran the ball 95 yards for yet another Warrior touchdown. Missing from the game was Noah Levi, who was sidelined with an injury he sustained in a game against Westport several weeks ago.
A special thanks to the Wilton White coaches whose dedication and commitment to this team turned them into champions. Matt Zeyher, Artie Dirocco, Matt McGoldrick, Demetrious Whitfield and Vin Santomero.