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09/28/2015 12:00 AMFootball
Valley won its first game of the season with a 34-14 victory over non-conference opponent Enfield at home. The Warriors (1-2) had yet to score on the year, but took care of that quickly on Sept. 25. After returning the opening kickoff to its 35-yard line, Valley drove 65 yards in 10 plays to take a 7-0 lead on quarterback Matt Sapere’s 2-yard touchdown run and extra point by Jared Roche. The key play of the drive was a completion on 3rd-down-and-8 from Sapere (10-for-15, 149 yards, 1 TD passing, 1 TD rushing) to Ernest Jean-Pierre to keep the chains moving. Enfield returned the favor by scoring on a 5-yard run on its first drive and passed for the 2-point conversion to pull ahead 8-7. In the second quarter, Valley regained the lead on a Daniel Stetcher 5-yard carry. Valley Head Coach Tim King elected to go for two and the decision was rewarded when Sapere found Jean-Pierre (6 receptions, 77 yards) to put Valley up 15-8. Late in the first half, Enfield closed within one when it returned an interception for a touchdown. The 2-point conversion pass fell incomplete and the Warriors went in at the half with a slim 15-14 advantage. Valley came out firing in the third quarter as Sapere hit freshman Jason O’Brien (2 catches, 57 yards) for a 40-yard score. The kick was no good, but Valley extended its lead to 21-14. The Warriors looked set to have a battle on their hands, yet the tide of the game turned with two huge coaching decisions. On 4th-and-8 from Enfield’s 35, Coach King elected to quick kick and Jean-Pierre hit a beauty that rolled to a stop on the Raiders’ three. From there, the Warriors’ defense held on third down to force a 4th-and-inches. Enfield made two pivotal decisions on the next play that changed the entire complexion of the game. First, the Raiders decided to go for the first down from their own 13 and, second, the offense ran at Warriors’ 6-foot-5, 314-pound nose tackle Jack Gianconia, who stuffed the play to give the ball back to Valley.
“That was a huge turning point in the game,” Coach King said. “It was a great play by our defense. Jack did a really good job of penetrating and the rest of the guys swarmed on the play.”
Valley punched it in three plays later when Stetcher (15 carries, 56 yards) scored his second TD on a 2-yard run and Roche’s extra point made it 28-14. Valley would add a fourth quarter score on Roche’s 1-yard plunge for the final margin of 34-14. Giaconia had a QB sack to go along with the game-changing stop, Will Elliot and Luke Williams each had a sack, as well, and Stetcher recovered a fumble on defense, On offense, Roche led the team with 86 yards rushing on seven carries and had one touchdown. Up next for Valley is a matchup at Pequot Conference South Division opponent North Branford (2-1) on Friday, Oct. 2 at 6:30 p.m.
Field Hockey
Valley improved to 4-1 by defeating Morgan 7-0 on Sept. 25 at home. Francesca Daniels led the way with three goals and two assists as the Warriors vanquished their Shoreline Conference foe to move to 2-1 in the division.
Earlier in the week, the Warriors’ traveled to Suffield and came out victorious 2-0.
Girls’ Soccer
Valley continued its hot start to the season with a rout of Hale-Ray, 8-1, at home on Sept. 21. The Warriors spread the wealth on the day as six different players scored goals in Ashley Sherman (2), Maleena Frazier (2), Jen Roberts, Isabel Hosley, Mikki Rutan, and Libby Spitzschuh. Morgan Bakoledis and Gabby Giangrande combined for five saves in net.
Next, Valley went on the road to defeat Old Saybrook 2-1 on Sept. 25. Sherman and Frazier did the damage again with a goal apiece. Bakoledis and Giangrande shared time in goal again and stopped eight of nine shots by the Rams.
Then on Sept. 26, Valley faced Haddam-Killingworth at home and ended its week with a 0-0 tie to move to 4-0-1 on the season.
Boys’ Soccer
On Sept. 24, Valley earned a decisive road win over Hale-Ray by the margin of 6-1. The Warriors came storming out of the gate with three goals in the game’s first 20 minutes and led 4-0 at the break. In the second half, they tacked on two more to quiet the Noises. Jason Simoneau had three goals, Victor Cartagena finished with two scores, and Kelvin Peterson added one more to cap the barrage.
“We came out strong early with the three goals to get on top of them, which was a very positive start,” Head Coach Mick Fearon said. “In the second half, with the lead, we were able to get everyone in and get some of the younger guys some playing time and game experience and that was nice.”
Valley then faced Old Saybrook on Sept. 26 and was downed 3-0 in a tightly fought match that was 1-0 at half. In the second frame, the Rams added two goals to take the victory. On the season, Valley has a record of 2-1-2.