Printer Friendly Version - T-Birds’ Football Loses Late to Morgan; Field Hockey Clinches States Berth

Dylan Nowak recorded a sack of Morgan’s Madden Ward and also picked him off, but the Thunderbirds lost a heartbreaker, 20-13, in the final seconds to drop to 1-2 this year.Photo by Kelley Fryer/The Sound

The North Branford football team played Pequot Conference foe Morgan tough last week, but came up just shy in the end and lost 20-13 at the Peters Complex on Sept. 30. Morgan’s Madden Ward threw a touchdown pass to Harry White with 15 seconds remaining to propel the Huskies to victory over the Thunderbirds, who dropped to 1-2 for the season.

Quarterback Jeff Jablonski completed 11-of-20 passes for 150 yards with one touchdown and one interception for North Branford. The touchdown went to Jason Alaska, who caught four passes for 41 yards in the game. Dylan Blake led all receivers with five receptions for 96 yards and converted a short touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

Defensively, Matt Sibley made 20 tackles, while Mancini recorded 18 and Justin Augur finished with 14. Augur, Dylan Nowak, and Muhammad Younes each had one sack, plus Nowak also recorded an interception.

North Branford has this week off and then faces another Pequot opponent with a game against Valley Regional-Old Lyme (3-1) in Deep River on Friday, Oct. 14. Kickoff is slated for 6:30 p.m.

The Thunderbirds won one and tied one last week to improve to 6-1-2 overall and clinch a spot in the State Tournament.

On Sept. 26, North Branford tied Sacred Heart Academy 1-1 in a non-conference matchup at home. Sydney Hogan scored North Branford’s goal on an assist from Emmy Norton and MacKenzie Kaiser recorded eight saves in goal.

On Sept. 29, the T-Birds won at Valley by a 3-1 score to improve to 4-2 in Shoreline Conference play. Hogan scored a couple of goals and Norton chipped in with the third. Senior goalie Elissa Nuzzo was great in net, while teammate Danielle Ramada controlled the midfield, helping the T-Birds maintain possession throughout the game.

North Branford split its games last week with a 1-0 loss to Old Lyme on Sept. 26 and a 1-0 victory over Old Saybrook on Sept. 28 to move to 4-2-3 for the season.

Alexi Rosado netted the lone goal of the Old Saybrook game in the first half on an assist from Allie Augur to provide all that was needed for the T-Birds in victory. Augur made three saves to record the shutout.

The Thunderbirds lost three conference matches by 3-0 finals to drop to 1-9 this fall. On Sept. 26, they lost at Coginchaug. On Sept. 28, North Branford lost at home versus Valley Regional. The T-Birds were then defeated by East Hampton on Sept. 30.

In the loss to Valley, Patience Wilson finished with nine service points and three digs, plus Emy Stakaj had six service points and three blocks for North Branford.

On Sept. 24, the Thunderbirds participated in the Winding Trails Invitational in Farmington and finished in ninth place out of 11 teams. The top finisher for the boys’ team was Michael Madoule, who took 29th with a time of 17:49. Others running for the T-Birds were Parker Nadeau (40th, 18:42); Jared Jamieson (52nd, 19:16); Zachary Jamieson (61st, 19:35); Patrick Miconi (78th, 21:36); and Michael Rabuffo (79th, 21:42).

At the Winding Trails Invitational in Farmington on Sept. 24, the lone runner for the Thunderbirds was Jillian Damiani, who placed 56th with a time of 24:36.