Wilton Youth Football
Wilton 6-Blue Puts Down Darien 6-White, 26-14
On a sweltering midday Saturday, Sept. 10, the Warriors traveled to Darien to play their second game of the season. Darien started with the ball and was forced to punt after big tackles by Jamie Cristini, Xander Petrides and Quinn Stengrim. Wilton took the ball and then methodically marched down the field on an eight play drive to score their first touchdown of the day on an off tackle run by Christopher Capone with Andrew Acosta-Rua adding the point after. Solid runs by Spencer Liston, Charlie Guglielmo and Charlie Rath put Wilton in scoring position.
Wilton’s offensive line of William Drew, Luke Totten, Griffin Turner, Alexander Dempster, Jamie Cristini, Andrew Kress, and Christian Kaczynski executed solidly and provided nice running lanes. Wilton again held Darien to a three-and-out, this time with tackles from the defensive line of Jake MacIntyre, Bobby DiPalma, Nicholas Walden, James Flynn and William Soojian. Wilton’s second offensive series was a 10-play drive ending with a seven-yard touchdown run by Liston. Tackles by Guglielmo, Kaczynski and Colin Randol again held Darien to a three-and-out. A 70-yard run by Liston and a 25-yard pass from Acosta-Rua to Caleb Rath added two more Wilton touchdowns for the half.
In the second half Wilton was able to control the ball and run off the clock on what was a brutally hot day.
Article main photo: Wilton 6-Blue’s William Soojian (#82) executes an open field tackle in the teams win at Darien on Saturday.
Wilton 7-Blue Beats Westport, 20-8
The Wilton 7th grade blue football team beat Westport 20-8 at PJ Romano field on Saturday, Sept. 10. After being down 8-0 with the first drive of game the Warriors scored 20 straight points with a ground-and-pound effort, timely passes, and a control-the-clock strategy.
The Warriors made their move on the last drive of the first half with power runs by Jake Sommer and Matt Claps. With 24 seconds to go, Kevin Hyzy hit Craig Hyzy on a 20-yard pass to the one yard line. Wilton spiked the ball for one last play with three seconds left and Kevin Hyzy hit Sean Wisemen at the goal line to end the half at 8-7, Westport.
The aggressive and stout defense of the Warriors, led by Eddie Keller, George DiRocco, Craig Hyzy, Michael Whitman, Ben Calabrese, Michael Breen, Joe Schiavone, Somer, Claps, Nevin Belanger and Connor Robertson, thwarted Westport’s high power attack to very limited yards in the entire second half. Wilton’s ground-and-pound attack led to the last two scores with drives of over eight minutes each.
The Buffalo-like offensive line, powered by Dylan Smith, Robertson, Breen, Whitman, Keller, Schiavone, Michael Munrow, Daniel Doran and Ciara Garcia, created holes for the downhill running by Claps, Sommer, Wisemen, Calabrese and Hyzy. Somer scored on a six-yard run to take the lead 14-8 before another long drive, which was capped off by a Hyzy-to-Matthew Giller pass in the end zone on fourth down to make it 20-8. An interception by DiRocco with three minutes to go sealed the victory for the Warriors.
Wilton 8-White Routs Darien Blue, 30-7
One week earlier, on the road against Aspetuck, Wilton 8-White rolled to a 30-8 victory. This past Sunday, Sept. 11, the setting was different, but the result was nearly identical as the Wilton White 8th graders routed Darien Blue, 30-7, at Fujitani Field.
Michael Coffey set the tone early with a thunderous tackle for a loss on the first play from scrimmage. Darien was helpless against the Warriors’ defense, with Coffey, Howie Long, Quinn O’Connor, Evan Kauh, Nolan Graham and E.J. Fasano helping stuff drive after drive.
While the defense held Darien to minus-7 yards in the first half, the Wilton offense stormed down the field repeatedly, taking full advantage of the openings created by Michael Burton, Matt Gulbin and the offensive line. Trevor Martines started the scoring by returning a punt 45 yards for a touchdown, and Sean Sullivan established the ground game on the Warriors’ first drive, scampering for runs of 17- and 10 yards before scoring from six yards out.
With a 16-0 lead, quarterback John Stanley–who rushed for 44 yards in all–broke through for a 15-yard keeper. Then Mack Kepner got loose for a 20-yard burst, setting up the Warriors’ next touchdown, a 15-yard catch by the sure-handed Jimmy McKiernan.
It was 23-0 at halftime, and a third-quarter interception by Ryan Van Heyst–who also converted four extra points as the kicker–stifled a Darien drive. Consistent pressure by Gulbin, Stanley, Will Rath and Max Greenberg kept Darien scoreless until late in the third quarter, when the Wave finally converted a long passing play for a touchdown. That ended a run of 53 unanswered points by the Warriors, going back to the opener last Sunday.
In Wilton’s fourth-quarter scoring drive, Martines rushed for 47 yards to set up an eight-yard touchdown rumble by Kepner. The swarming Wilton defense took care of the rest, giving the Warriors a 2-0 record as they hit the road to face the Darien (White) team at Royle School on Saturday morning.
Wilton 7-White Rolls Over Weston, 20-0
Wilton 7 White stormed out to a 20-0 halftime lead and never looked back. Wilton was led by a lightning quick Eli Ackerman, who paved the way for Joe deGrasse’s 13-yard touchdown run, with a 30-yard punt return on Wilton’s second possession. Wilton’s defense, which was led all night by Kieran O’Neill, Tyler Hough, Ryan Jackson, Jimmy Luce, Max Silva and Charlie Fischer, quickly forced Weston to punt for a second time with even better results for Ackerman, who returned the punt 59 yards for a touchdown. Grant Masterson kicked both extra points.
The Warrior defense remained stout and forced a turnover on downs after four plays. On the very next play, Masterson ran the ball for a 35-yard touchdown behind the great blocking of Brennan MacGregor, Cole Boniface, Chris McCann, Luce, O’Neill, Will Ryan, Ackerman and deGrasse.
The second half saw Wilton’s defense come up with a number of big plays, including interceptions by linebacker Wade Steffens and defensive end Boniface. Jackson Luther contributed a picture-perfect open field tackle. Wilton saw a handful of ball carriers in the second half, including Fischer, Ryan Keenan, Will Ryan and Jackson. Ryan Farrar played well at offensive tackle, with Ben Pond, Andrew Pellicano and Chris Calderone helping open holes for Wilton’s offense. Wilton improved to 1-1 on the season.
Wilton 4-Blue Suffers First defeat vs New Canaan Red, 6-25
New Canaan Red came ready to play on an incredibly hot Saturday afternoon, and Wilton 4-Blue couldn’t catch up. New Canaan scored touchdowns on their first two possessions and added a defensive touchdown on Wilton’s second drive, to put New Canaan up 0-19 early in the second quarter.
Wilton’s defense stiffened for the rest of the game, but there was too much ground to make up. Sound tackling by Cole Siegel, Ryan Luchetta, Liam Murphy, Maja Driscoll, Nate Jackson, Ray Ferranti, Cole Galante, Jack Schwartz, Liam McKiernan, Will Cristini, Ryan Stocker, Cael Dexter and Liam Snyder held New Canaan to just six points over the final three quarters of the game.
Wilton’s offense got moving behind great running by Charlie Keller, Schwartz and Luchetta. The Warrior offense finally broke through with a 53-yard touchdown run by Luke Ginsburg, behind blocking from Connor Boland, Jack Huntley, Ryan Meenan, Henry Soojian, Jaxon Thomas, and CJ Young, to make the final score 6-25 New Canaan.
Wilton 8 Blue Steamrolled by Fairfield Black, 0-21
Fairfield Black’s enormous size advantage allowed them to completely dominate Sunday morning’s contest with Wilton 8-Blue as Fairfield rolled to an easy 21-0 victory over the Warriors.
Fairfield was in control from the outset as they marched 70 yards on 12 plays to take a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter.
On Wilton’s first play from scrimmage, Fairfield forced and recovered a fumble at the Warrior 30-yard-line, putting a weary Warrior defense back on the field. Defensive end Ryan McDougall gave the defense a spark as he foiled a statue of liberty play, tackling the Fairfield runner for a five-yard loss. On third down, the swarming Wilton defense pressured the quarterback and Matt Goldstein was there to pick off the pass and end the threat.
Outweighed on the line by at least 40 pounds on average (Fairfield’s largest lineman weighed in at 256 pounds), the Warrior offense struggled to move the ball and was forced to punt.
Despite some highlights, including Kiel Polito’s over-the-shoulder, 26-yard reception, the Warrior offense could not move the ball, causing Wilton to punt three more times during the game. The Warriors gained precious few yards on the ground and not much more through the air as Fairfield’s defensive line was dominant.
Fairfield scored twice more before halftime and coasted to the 21-0 victory.
Wilton Girls’ Soccer
Wilton Girls 2002/2003 Blue Tie Rival Weston, 1-1
Wilton’s Girls 2002/2003 Blue Team faced off in an early season battle with one of their key rivals, Weston, over the weekend. Wilton played a 4-1-3-2 formation, with Alessia Cawley and Kira Howard applying lots of pressure up top, and Piper Chase and Rachel Slater, spelled by Catalina King, owning the midfield. Maureen Campbell, Ashley Carbonier, Hailey Smith and Lilly Barnes were fast on the wings, and a nice cross by Slater led to Carbonier putting one in from the left side just before the half.
In the second half, Alexis Castaldi, Maggie Rowe, Lindsay Grandolfo, Peyton Gildersleeve, Riley Milhoua and Sam Nichols on defense had their hands full with a re-invigorated Weston attack, and got some great saves by Grace Cahill to stand firm. Ultimately, after a back and forth battle, the game ended in an exciting 1-1 tie.
Wilton Girls 2006 Blue Falls to Bridgeport
The Wilton Warriors Girls 2006 Blue started the season against a very physical Bridgeport team. The first half of the game was evenly matched with Morgan Breakey, Cosette Lepore, Jane Hughes and Kaitlyn Sullivan on defense keeping Bridgeport at bay. Goalies Addison Patillo and Brooke Aleksiejczyk blocked many solid shots to keep Wilton in the game. Midfielders Alexa Furst, Molly Kaeyer and Fiona Gibbons‘ fine footwork pushed the ball to strikers Isabel Barbieri, Kaitlyn Zizzadoro and Riley Fitzgerald who had multiple shots on goal. The game tying goal came later in the half on a beautiful assist from Hughes to Patillo who rocketed the ball into the back of the net. The half ended with a 1-1 score.
In the second half Bridgeport came out strong scoring several goals quickly despite the valiant defensive efforts of Sullivan, Fitzgerald, Lepore and Barbieri. The midfield line of Kaeyer, Furst and Gibbons worked furiously to try and get the ball in scoring position. Aleksiejczyk, Zizzadoro and Patillo made numerous attempts on goal to try and settle the score. Hughes battled an onslaught of attempts on goal and blocked many.
In the end Wilton lost their season opener to Bridgeport but look forward to their rematch in November.
Wilton Girls 10-White Triumphs over Newtown, 3-2
On a beautiful late summer day the Wilton GU10 White soccer team persevered 3-2 over a talented Newtown GU10 Blue squad. After Newtown struck first, Wilton’s Mia Sommer sent a blazing shot to the back of Newtown’s goal, tying the game up. Fellow forwards Elizabeth Drew and Abby Phelan greatly aided in setting up this goal. On the defensive end a virtual stone wall was erected by the tenacious “D” of Elizabeth Crocitto, Chloe Flatt and Quincey Burke. In the Warrior goal, Sofia Partola stopped several difficult shots with deft hand and footwork.
Wilton took a 2-1 lead off a Grace Ratcliffe rocket that soared pass Newtown’s net-minder. She was assisted by a crisp Ashley O’Donnell pass. Following another Newtown tally to tie the score at 2-2, Wilton answered again. The offensive pressure applied by Caroline Cronin and Julia Munro set up Sommer for some dazzling dribbling freeing her to score a second time. The Wilton kickers were up for good at 3-2.