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09/10/2017 12:00 AMFootball
The Guilford football team kicked off a new era with first-year Head Coach Anthony Avallone by posting a convincing 35-14 home win over SCC Tier 3 rival Branford on Sept. 8. Quarterback Jack Strand finished the evening with four total touchdowns by converting three through the air to go with an 11-yard scoring rush.
“It was nice to get that win for the program. I thought that Branford was a solid team, and their new sophomore quarterback played well,” said Avallone. “From the Guilford side of things, I think our offense started slowly, probably because we were amped up and a bit nervous. However, we settled down and began to execute the game-plan.”
Guilford took a 7-0 lead on a 22-yard touchdown connection from Strand to Miles Gabriel in the second quarter. Strand then ran it in on his own to the end zone during the third quarter to make it 14-0 for the home side. Corey Sondak later found paydirt thanks to a 68-yard bomb from Strand for a 21-0 Indians’ command, after which Sean Russell made it 28-6 by scampering home on a 16-yard TD reception. Guilford tacked on one more TD by AJ Moscato for good measure to complete the Opening Night victory.
“Offensively, we started very slow, but made a few adjustments, and quickly settled down and started to sustain drives, which resulted in touchdowns. We had one drive to the goal line that resulted in no points. We hurt our lives with a fumble that we recovered and then a bad snap. We need to clean that up for future,” Avallone said. “Eventually, our playmakers made plays. We had five different guys score, and our offensive line began to wear them down. That, combined with AJ Moscato pounding the ball for hard long runs, it became a tough combo to stop. Strand continued to be a duel threat both passing and running effectively.”
Guilford’s leading tacklers on defense were AJ Moscato with six, while Anthony Avallone, Jack Gabriel, and Tanner Small all had five apiece. Tom Spinner added two sacks for the Indians.
“Our defense was solid and made some big plays. We made a few coverage adjustments and began to take away a bit of their passing game. It allowed our D-line and backers to really key on their run game,” Coach Avallone said. “We tried to eliminate big plays and did a good job until a few breakdowns in third and fourth quarters. Strong, aggressive, flying-to-the-football defense was the plan, and we did a decent job accomplishing that. Need to clean up some open-field tackling, however.”
After a bye week, the Indians will face Creed-Career-Whitney Tech (0-1) for another SCC Tier 3 showdown at home on Friday, Sept. 22.
Girls’ Soccer
Guilford started the 2017 season with a game against a familiar foe last week. The Indians began the year by facing rival Hand and earned a 1-0 victory over the Tigers on Sept. 9.
Field Hockey
The Indians faced off against Sacred Heart Academy for their season opener and prevailed by a 3-1 final on Sept. 9.
Hannah Tillier netted a pair of scores (at 28:25 and 3:05 of the first half) for her first varsity goals, while Maddie Constantino notched a goal at the 24:13 mark of the opening half for Guilford. Constantino also had an assist, plus Celia Mariconda added a pair of helpers for the Indians, who saw Nicolette Spotlow make four saves in net.
Head Coach Kitty Palmer said that, “Ava Gladwin and the defense played a strong game, and the defense was led by Mallory Peters and Emily Torre.”
Girls’ Swimming and Diving
The Indians’ girls’ swimming and diving team had its first meet in program history on Sept. 8, when Guilford competed against Lyman Hall and Branford. Guilford took a 129-40 loss to the Trojans and lost to Branford 121-48.