This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
09/12/2016 12:00 AMFootball
The Branford football team was a winner in its first game of the year as the Hornets recorded a 27-12 victory at fellow SCC Tier 3 squad Lyman Hall at Fitzgerald Field on Sept. 9. Branford held a 13-0 lead after the first quarter and made it 20-0 early in the second. The Trojans rallied for a pair of scores and cut it to 20-12 midway through the fourth quarter, but Branford promptly added an insurance touchdown and went on to claim the victory.
Senior captain quarterback Griffin Lynch threw two touchdowns, while sophomore Jackson Seward ran for a pair to lead the attack for Head Coach John Limone’s squad.
“We ran the ball effectively at times, which opened up our play action passing game, and were able to make defensive stops toward the end when we absolutely needed to,” Limone said. “It was a sloppy win. We weren’t crisp in terms of penalties—we had 135 yards of penalties—but the kids played hard, gutted it out, and got it done in the end.”
Seward scored the game’s first touchdown on a 1-yard rush with 7:29 left in the first quarter. Senior captain Jay Dering kicked the extra point and Branford led 7-0. After Lyman Hall lost a fumble, the Hornets were set up with a short field and took advantage of it as Lynch found senior captain Spencer Berty on a 5-yard TD toss that made it 13-0. Early in the second quarter, Lynch connected with Berty for a 10-yard scoring strike and Branford extended its advantage to 20-0. The Trojans later rushed for a touchdown and were down 20-6 at halftime.
Following a scoreless third quarter, Lyman Hall scored on a touchdown pass to draw within 20-12 with 6:14 remaining in the game. However, Branford came right back with a drive that culminated on an 7-yard scoring scamper by Seward to make it 27-12 with 4:53 to play as the Hornets came away with the victory. Junior Dalton Carden had a few big runs on the Hornets’ game-sealing drive.
Lynch completed eight passes for 96 yards and the two touchdowns for the Hornets. In the ground game, Carden had a huge night by rushing 20 times for 120 yards, while Seward totaled 54 yards with two TDs and junior Chico Greene added 46 yards. Senior Brian Nichols caught two passes for 48 yards.
On defense, Seward made 11 tackles and had a sack, Dering had eight tackles, William Ryder had a sack with seven tackles, including three that went for a loss; and Berty and Neil Clyne each added seven tackles. Dering also had an interception and Berty recovered a fumble for Branford.
Next up, the Hornets will play another SCC Tier 3 team with a game in Guilford at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 16.
Girls’ Soccer
The Hornets began their season by recording a 2-0 victory in North Haven on Sept. 9. The two teams were Oronoque Division rivals for years, but the SCC has realigned its division for this season, and so now Branford is in the Hammonasset with Guilford, Mercy, West Haven, and Foran. The Hornets, who are coached by Jen Kohut, had a record of 5-9-2 last season.
Boys’ Soccer
Branford’s first contest of the 2016 season saw the Hornets blank East Haven by a 6-0 final in a home game at Flax Mill Field. Head Coach Paul Hunter said his team played with intensity and purpose from start to finish and converted the chances they created. He credited the Hornets for putting together a total team effort on both sides of the ball and was pleased to see his substitutes get a decent amount of playing time.
Hazem Salem and Ethan Boileau scored a minute apart in the first half with Marzio Mastroianni assisting both goals as Branford took an early 2-0 lead. In the 32nd minute, Trey Duval scored from Marvin Hernandez and, a minute later, Mastroianni found the back of the net on Hernandez’s helper to put Hornets up 4-0 at halftime. Kadir Sahin scored from Boileau and Hernandez scored from Darsh Patel to account for the Hornets’ two second-half goals. Duval is one of Branford’s senior captains this year, along with John Tratnyek and goalie Nick Cordero.
Branford is no longer in the Oronoque Division this year. Instead, the team is competing in the Housatonic Division with Hand, Sheehan, Amity, and Law. Last year, Hunter’s club posted a record of 3-9-4.
Field Hockey
The Hornets jumped out to a strong start to the fall season by edging SCC foe Lauralton Hall 2-1 in overtime in a road game on Sept. 9. Cathy McGuirk enters her 40th season as head coach of the Hornets following a 2015 campaign that saw the team go 11-5-2-1. Branford’s senior captains this year are Alanna Grimm and Keira Integlia.
Against Lauralton Hall, Branford scored the game’s first goal on a corner with 6:10 to play in the opening half. Senior Carol Frye netted the goal for the Hornets with assists coming from Autumn McHenry, Sabrina Torcellini, and LanLe Crotty, who are all juniors. The Crusaders came back to tie it with 15:43 left in the second half and the game went to an extra session. With 5:30 to play in the overtime period, junior Britney Bunbanlu scored the winning goal for Branford on assists from freshman Molly Zaffino and McHenry. McHenry had a free hit just outside the circle and made a strong pass to Zaffino, who passed to Bunbanlu for the score. Integlia had seven saves in the cage for the Hornets.
“This was the team’s first game and it was truly a strong team effort. Kiersten Bjork had a few great moves down the field, Alanna and Sabrina played super-strong defense, Carly Shea was steady also on D with good passes, freshman Molly Zaffino was all over the field, good play from freshmen Brianna Shaw and Karly King and sophomore Liante Claude,” Coach McGuirk said. “Senior Emily Sachs made her usual low strong stops, Carol made hard drives, Keira had seven saves and made some strong clears. The team bench was super supportive. It was an intense game and a great way to start the season with a truly total team effort and support for each other up and down the field.”
Boys’ Cross Country
Branford ran at the Windham Invitational on Sept. 10 and placed 15th out of 34 teams.
Head Coach Kevin Connell’s squad was led by Andrew Byrne, who took 48th place with a time of 18:04. Byrne was followed by Spencer Mariotti (62nd, 18:24); Harry Troidle (109th, 19:21); Matt Daley (121st, 19:36); Ryan McCarthy (138th, 19:52); and Andrew DeBenedictis (192nd, 21:00).
John Perrotti, Byrne, and Mariotti are the senior captains for Branford this year. The Hornets are coming off a campaign in which they went 5-4 overall and finished in second place in the Oronoque Division.
Girls’ Cross Country
The Hornets saw three athletes cross the finish line at last week’s Windham Invitational.
Sophie Spencer posted a 98th-place finish with a time of 24:31 for Branford. Emily Borst was 113th (25:36) and Omaima Nasry placed 152nd (29:12) for the Hornets.
Courtney Cosgrove is the lone senior captain for Head Coach Kevin Connell’s club this fall. Last year, Branford went 6-3 overall and posted an unblemished record in the Oronoque Division to win the title for the 10th-straight year.