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11/27/2016 11:00 PMThe North Branford football team stormed back from a 22-point deficit to earn a 28-22 overtime victory at Coginchaug in the inaugural Battle of Rt. 17 in Durham on Thanksgiving. After facing Hyde in the Harvest Bowl in recent years, the Thunderbirds began a new series against Pequot Conference foe Coginchaug during Thanksgiving week this season. North Branford won the game when Dillon Blake rushed for a touchdown in overtime.
“This didn’t feel any different than the other one,” said Head Coach Mark Basil. “We started something new, but Coginchaug has always been a rival, and it makes it a more natural fit for a Thanksgiving Day game.”
The Thunderbirds went through a rebuilding season this year, but were determined to finish the campaign with a winning record, and they did just that by winning five of their final six games to go 6-4. North Branford also finished in second place at 2-1 in the Pequot Conference Sassacus North Division by beating divisional foe Coginchaug (1-9, 0-3).
“This was one of the most challenging seasons I’ve had. We only dressed 28 kids to play a varsity game, which is unheard of. In the past, if we dressed 40, that was low. We had to play with who we had and, when there were injuries, they took their toll,” Basil said. “I was really pleased with the effort, determination, and fight the kids had, especially after [a 22-21 overtime win versus Ellington on Nov. 11]. When we stole that one, we thought we had a chance to finish above .500. Going up against Coginchaug, that’s always been a rivalry, and we’ve had exciting games in the past. This one was just like the past.”
Coginchaug controlled the early portion of the game against the T-Birds. Ben Choplick-Ward scored on runs of four and 54 yards in the first quarter and then Justin Faiella connected with Bryan Shields on a 14-yard touchdown pass to give the Blue Devils a 22-0 lead.
“They totally controlled the first quarter and the first half,” Coach Basil said. “We gave the ball back to them in our territory and they went down and scored first. They did a number of onside kicks on us that we didn’t handle properly. We were taken advantage of and it created a lot of momentum for them.”
Just when things were looking grim for North Branford, freshman running back Charles Walcott broke through for his first touchdown of the game by rushing one in from five yards out to make it 22-6 at halftime.
“We managed to put a score on the board right before the half,” Basil said. “After the break, we scored right away, which put our guys in a better frame of mind for the remainder of the game.”
In the second quarter, senior captain Blake took over at quarterback for starter Jeff Jablonski, who got hurt. Blake finished the game 13-of-17 for 204 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. His touchdown passes went to Walcott for 18 and 11 yards. The first one trimmed Coginchaug’s lead to 22-14 at the end of three quarters. The 11-yard TD made it a 22-20 game in the fourth, after which North Branford tied it on Blake’s 2-point conversion pass to senior Matt Sibley.
“Dillon did a great job throwing the ball and tucking and running when needed. It made a big difference because the passing game was opened up and having a big guy running is tough to handle,” Coach Basil said. “He got a lot of reps as the backup the last few years, so I had plenty of confidence in him. When the kid was brought up through the system as a quarterback and pulled away to play on defense, to bring him back to that role and be able to have the game he did was a great way for him to go out.”
Blake went out by running home a 10-yard touchdown in overtime to give North Branford the 28-22 victory. The TD came after the T-Birds’ defense made a stop when RJ Sobask strip-sacked Coginchaug’s quarterback on the Blue Devils’ possession. Blake then scored on North Branford’s first play to win it.
Nick Mancini was all over the field for North Branford as he had 72 receiving yards, 70 rushing yards, and recorded a team-best 11 tackles on defense. Senior captain Justin Augur had 10 tackles, while Sobask, Augur, and Jack Thornburn each had a sack with Sibley snagging an interception.