Each week, GOOD Morning Wilton will run news of weekend sports results from Wilton Youth Teams. Please send all stories and updates to editor@goodmorningwilton.com.
Wilton 5-Blue 20, Westport 0
Wilton 5-Blue returned home this past Sunday, Oct. 4 to play its best game of the season in a 20-0 win against Westport.
Wilton’s defense set the tone early with big defensive plays by Garcia, Petrides and Kress forcing Westport into surrendering good field position. Wilton’s offense quickly went to work with runs by Stengrim, Capone and Liston and a pass from Acosta-Rua to Stengrim making the score 7-0.
Two plays into Westport’s second offensive series a Capone interception and 25-yard return put Wilton on the Westport 13-yd. line. Wilton’s offensive line of Burke, Totten, Turner, Enman, Cristini and Randol allowed Wilton to drive the ball straight up the middle and score on a Petrides power run. Liston added the point after to bring the score to 14-0.
Two plays later and another Wilton interception, this time by Guglielmo, Wilton again started with great field position. After solid runs by Capone and Petrides and a blast up the middle by Liston set up by a great Walden block, Wilton scored its third touchdown of the half.
For the remainder of the game Wilton’s defense, anchored by solid defensive line play from Montanaro, Colavecchio, Garcia, Totten, Snyder and Walden, held Westport to minimal yardage while Wilton’s offense chewed up clock.
(Main image: Quinn Stengrim, #55, runs up the middle in Wilton 5-Blue’s 20-0 victory Sunday, Oct. 4)
Wilton U9 Blue 5, Shelton 2
Wilton U9 Blue continued their undefeated record against their toughest competition yet this season. Mason Andrews set the tone with the first goal within the first five minutes, followed up by an amazing play by Evan Lalor stealing a pass from the opposition goalie and then quickly sending the ball into Shelton’s net. Grady Kaliski, Maddox Backman, and William Soucy were unrelenting on defense shutting down Shelton’s dogged efforts to score. After giving up one goal to Shelton, the first half ended with a perfectly placed cross to center by Luke Perna allowing James Cameron to drive it into the opposition’s net.
Going into the second half it became clear that Shelton was not going down easy, putting up a valiant effort to stop Wilton. Wilton however, was not going to let that happen, this time with Soucy in goal, making some very impressive saves.
Fancy footwork and some beautiful soccer moves by Matthew DeMasi delivered the assist to Curt Brichkowski who brought home the fourth goal for Wilton in a well-placed kick past the goalie. Daniel Aravena kept the pressure on before Stefano Cross delivered the final goal solidifying the win for the U9 Blue team.
The Wilton U9 Blue team is a very special team with a lot of talent and passion for the game of soccer. It is an exciting team to watch and will represent Wilton well in the years to come.
Wilton 7-Blue 22, Darien Blue 0
While it took some time for Wilton 7-Blue’s offense to gain traction, its defense was spectacular from the start, leading the team to a 22-0 victory over Darien Blue on Sunday morning, Oct. 4 at Fujitani Field.
On offense first, the Warriors did move the ball, but Wooder Thoby’s long touchdown run was called back due to a penalty. The drive then stalled, forcing a punt and giving the ball to Darien at their own 35-yd. line. However, the Wilton defense immediately set the tone as Brian Cipri and Kyle Jordan came up big with consecutive stops against the run.
Taking over after a punt with good field position at their own 45, the Warrior run game began to click. Running backs Thoby, Kiel Polito and Jermaine Vincent, and quarterback Everett Andersen, running behind the offensive line of Will Jarvie, Cipri, Trey Dexter, Jack Carroll, E.J. Fasano and Jordan, ate up yards on the ground, but the Warriors came up just short, giving the ball over on downs at the Blue Wave 4-yd. line.
With Darien pinned at their own goal line, the Warrior defense smelled blood. Tackles for no gain by Ryan MacDougall and Max Mannino, and a fierce rush by Polito that caused an incompletion, forced another punt that only traveled to the 24-yd. line.
This time the offense would not be denied. A short drive ended in a 5-yd touchdown run by Thoby. Andersen then scrambled for the two point conversion to put the Warriors up 8-0.
Having had no luck against the run, Darien took to the air, but to no avail as Vincent picked off an errant throw at the Darien 40 with 1:06 left in the half. Time ran out before the Warriors could do more damage.
On Wilton’s second offensive play of the half, Thoby ripped off a 53-yd. touchdown run. The point after was no good, so Wilton led 14-0.
The fearsome Warrior defense was stout again, as Quinn O’Connor nearly intercepted a pass, forcing a three-and-out, giving the offense good field position again at the Wilton 47, where they began their march for another score.
On the first play of the next series, a keeper by Andersen went for 19 yards to the Darien 34. Two plays later, on third and long, Andersen rolled right and hit Jimmy McKiernan deep down field for a 39-yd gain to the Darien 1. Thoby’s off tackle dive made the score 20-0. The two point conversion was good as MacDougall released from his tight end position to make a diving catch of an Andersen pass in the end zone.
The Warrior defense continued to lock down Darien the rest of the way to preserve the shutout. With the win Wilton 7-Blue moved to 3-1 on the season and into first place in the NFC division.
Wilton 7-White 6, Fairfield Black 0
Wilton’s 7-White team continued their 2015 campaign on Saturday night, Oct. 3 with a critical matchup against the 3-1 Fairfield Black team. Facing a team with a 32-man roster, the 17-player strong Wilton team (less an injured Brian Curley) needed a great team effort to build on their unbeaten start of the season.
With a stiff breeze blowing and sub-50 degree temperatures, offense on this night would be a challenge for both teams. The first half was dominated by the Wilton defense with Fairfield only picking up seven total yards and turning the ball over on a critical fumble caused by a huge hit by Trevor Martines and Michael Burton. The dislodged ball was picked up covered by Matthew Gulbin and August “Animal” Theoharides. This was the opening Wilton was waiting for.
In a drive that lasted almost 10 minutes, Wilton used their ground-and-pound strategy to drive the ball down the field. The “Hogs” in the trenches, including Connor Quinn, “Howie” Long, Evan Kauh, Michael Coffey, Gulbin and Burton, were able to open huge holes for John Stanley, Sean Sullivan and Martines. Longer runs were supported by strong second level blocking from Connor Healey, Davis Cote and Brendan Quinn. Facing a fourth-and-goal from the 11, Coach Burton opted to take advantage of a Fairfield team focused on the run. On a perfect throw from Martines, Coffey was able to keep his feet inbounds for the touchdown reception. Wilton had a 6-0 lead going into the half.
With Martines on the sidelines after a late first-half injury, the Wilton team needed a huge effort to keep their unbeaten record intact. The defense continued their first-half momentum stopping Fairfield on their first two drives of the half. Key tackles by Ryan van Heyst, Matthew Goldstein and Simon Alexander snuffed promising Fairfield drives. Wilton continued to run the clock on offense on strong runs by Stanley and Sullivan.
Fairfield finally crossed the Wilton 50 late in the 4th quarter. Facing a fourth-and-one at the Wilton 29-yd. line, Fairfield opted to take advantage of their size and strength to run the ball straight into the Wilton defense. Wilton would have none of that. Using a formation “borrowed” from the 1986 Penn State National Championship team, Coach Gulbin made the perfect call. Kauh, Coffey and Theoharides gang-tackled the runner for a 2-yd. loss, ending the most promising Fairfield drive of the day.
Wilton was able to build on the momentum of this key defensive stop to preserve their lead. Stanley iced the victory with a late forth quarter interception. This moved the Wilton record on the year to 2-0-2. A great effort by both teams and an important win for the Warriors.
Wilton 3-Blue 6, Darien 6
It was a defensive struggle all afternoon, but the Wilton 3-Blue Warriors managed to hold on to their undefeated record against a tough Darien team.
Darien got on the board first with an interception return for a touchdown, midway through the first quarter. Wilton’s defense answered holding Darien without a first down in the first half, behind great play from Jack Huntley, Liam Murphy, Phineas Wayland, Ray Ferranti, Liam McKiernan, Jaxon Thomas and Austin White. Liam Snyder, Jack Schwartz and Cole Siegel combined for six sacks in the half.
Wilton started to chip away at the Darien defense early in the third quarter, with strong running by Ryan Luchetta, Luke Perna and Charlie Keller. That drive stalled, but the defense quickly put the ball back in the hands of the Wilton offense.
The offensive line of Maja Driscoll, Connor Boland, Will Cristini, Ryan Stocker, Cole Johnson, and Nate Jackson started to take control, opening up running room for big gains by Jake Burns, Connor Burns, and Luke Ginsberg. Facing fourth down, Cael Dexter completed a critical 15-yard pass to Cole Galante keeping the drive alive. Three plays later, Schwartz punched it in from the 1-yd. line for the touchdown, evening the score at 6-6.
Wilton 8-Blue 34, Weston 12
The Wilton 8-Blue offense piled up five touchdowns on Sunday afternoon, Oct. 4 while the defense laid siege to the Weston Trojans, resulting in a dominant 34-12 victory for the Warriors in the bright sunshine at Weston Trojan stadium.
The Warriors took the opening possession and employed a ground-and-pound attack to march 70 yds. for a touchdown on 15 consecutive running plays. Maden Herve, Jack Savarese, Dominick Polito, Jack Lenz, Steven Tuin, Jimmy O’Brien and Hunter Parks manhandled Weston’s huge defensive line, paving the way for Austin Andersen, Kyle Hyzy, Andrew Smith and Reilly Sullivan to churn out the yards. The drive was punctuated by Hyzy’s one yard off-tackle TD run. Herve drilled the PAT for a 7-0 lead.
Efficiently mixing runs and passes, the Trojans put together a long drive of their own, eventually scoring on a 15-yd. pass. While Hyzy clearly intercepted the pass in the end zone the referee inexplicably ruled a touchdown for Weston. Their extra point attempt failed, leaving the Warriors with a 7-6 lead.
A fired up Warrior offense answered right back as Hyzy’s pass hit O’Brien in stride on a beautiful down, out and up route for a 57-yd. score. The extra point by Herve was good for a 14-6 lead.
A swarming Warrior defense, anchored by a freshly-Bar Mitzvahed Noah Levi, shut the Trojans down on their next possession, forcing a punt, which resulted in great field position for Wilton at the 50.
Following the lead blocks of Andersen, Sullivan and Hyzy slashed through the Trojan defense finally hitting pay dirt on a 10-yd. run by Hyzy. Again, Herve’s extra point was good, leaving the score 21-6 at the half.
The Warrior defense came back onto the field after halftime and resumed the siege of Troy. Wilton’s Trojan horse came in the form of Andersen, O’Brien and Lenz, who infiltrated the backfield and together buried the ball carrier for a big loss. Down two scores, the Trojans attempted to convert on fourth down, but Hyzy and O’Brien sniffed out the screen pass and dumped the receiver for a loss, handing the Warriors the ball at their opponents’ 30.
On the ensuing drive, Hyzy’s perfect spiral was hauled in by Polito at the one. The Warriors were pushed back by penalty to the 16, where a pass attempt was intercepted by the Trojan safety, ending the drive.
The defense held firm forcing Weston to punt. Polito, who was stopped a yard shy on the previous possession, would not be denied this time, scoring on a 10-yd. run with the help of blocks by Ryan Healy and Sullivan for a 28-6 lead.
On Weston’s next possession the defense came up big again as Healy picked off a pass at the goal line and returned the ball to the 14. Eight plays later, Mathew Antonios ripped off a nifty 53-yd. touchdown scamper to balloon the score to 34-6.
Continued second-half play was strong with stellar help from Cole Stephenson, Daniel Incao, Tate Falta, Jake Fernandes, Dean Griffin and Spencer Reyes, holding off Weston until the game’s last play when the Trojans narrowed the final score to 34-12.