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10/02/2015 12:00 AMThe North Haven Youth Football program claimed victory in two of its four contests for Week 4 play with the 8th-graders edging Cheshire 24-23 and the 6th-graders beating Guilford 20-6, while the 7th-grade team lost to North Branford 34-0 and the 5th-grade squad also lost to the Thunderbirds by the score of 20-6.
The 8th-graders trailed Cheshire 8-0 after one quarter, but got their offense going behind two touchdowns from Justin White and another from Jeff Williston. The hero of game turned out to be Alphonse Piscitelli, who kicked the game-winning extra point in the fourth quarter for the one-point win. North Haven was led on defense by its front line, including Joe Ranciato, Dom Borelli, Matt Mullen, and Brian Keo. Outside linebackers Jack Priebe and Williston helped maintain control of the edge. White, Jaden Watson, and Joey Urtel were tough in the secondary, plus Noah Perillie, Kyle Rollier, and Joe Vitale provided toughness up the middle.
For the 7th-grade club, Ryan Ziaks had a fumble recovery and Jake Ferraro, Nick Cardona, and Alex Dejesus played well defensively.
The 6th-graders moved to 2-1 by besting Guilford. After falling behind 6-0, North Haven scored the final 20 points of the game on touchdowns by Spencer Mulligan (32-yard run), Matt Dodge (1-yard run), and Grant Curtis (9-yard run).
For the 5th-grade team, North Haven couldn’t establish its hard-pounding ground attack and the Indians’ defense was unable to keep North Branford out of the end zone.
In Week 5 action, North Haven’s 8th-graders won another close one by topping Glastonbury 22-20, the 7th-graders lost to Newtown 22-0, the 6th-grade team took a 33-20 defeat against Shelton, the 5th-graders defeated Bristol 29-6, and the 4th-grade squad was a 20-0 winner over East Haven.
The Indians’ 8th-graders raised their record to 3-2 by defeating Glastonbury by two. After getting turned away at the opposition’s 3-yard line early, North Haven took an 8-0 lead in the second quarter when Emadi Okwuosa tossed a TD to Donny McInnis, after which Piscitelli converted the extra point. Then in the third, Okwuosa broke free for a scoring scamper behind the blocking brigade of White, Ranciato, Max Rivera, and Luke Maruca. It was 16-0 after Piscitelli booted home another. North Haven then allowed a pair of touchdowns, but retook the lead on Williston’s 10-yard TD rush and held on for the victory. Keo played well for the Indians on defense, as did Perrillie, Matt Mullen, Dom Borelli, Watson, and Priebe.
For the 7th-grade team, Hayden Tomlin played an outstanding game, making several key tackles, and David Pace added an interception. Offensively, Dylan Vanoss made two excellent catches on Gino Schiavo passes.
The North Haven 6th-graders dropped to 2-2 losing in Shelton. North Haven had touchdowns from Michael Bachmann, Jake Langner, and Dodge. The Langner touchdown made the score 21-20 in the Indians’ favor in the final quarter, but Shelton scored the last two touchdowns to close out the scoring.
The 5th-grade Indians bounced right back from their prior loss to beat Bristol by 23 in a near-perfect performance. North Haven’s Mateo Raiano hit paydirt with a 44-yard TD scamper. One of Bristol’s offensive drives was halted when defensive end Drew Grillo stripped the ball and North Haven recovered the fumble. Touchdown runs by Jeffrey Karavas, Nick Magro, and a long kickoff return from Declan Finkle sealed the win. Sal Demaio was 4-for-5 throwing the ball, Finkle made three extra point kicks, and Michael Masto, Nawaar Akil, Michael Bolduc, and Daniel-Mark Thomas all had strong games for the Indians.
The North Haven 4th-grade team blanked East Haven to improve to 3-1. Matt Bosticco scored his first touchdown of the year on a long run to put the club up 7-0. Adam Pandolfi and Brendan Ryan had the other touchdowns. The offensive line, anchored by Jacob Diagle, Tyler Sullivan, and Nick Harkins, pushed East Haven around all day. The defense held East Haven to just two first downs with great play by Jason Chapman, AJ Signore, and Dustin Arsich.
Information courtesy of Ed Tantorski