Printer Friendly Version - Seward Rushes for 200 as Branford Football Beats Law; Field Hockey, Boys’ Soccer Make States

Jackson Seward ran for 200 yards and scored three touchdowns when the Branford football team recorded a 45-21 home blowout over Law on Oct. 6. The win marked the Hornets’ first victory of the season. Photo by Kelley Fryer/The Sound

The Hornets’ football squad hosted Law for a SCC Tier 3 matchup at Branford High School on Oct. 6. Branford posted a 45-21 blowout over the Lawmen to move to 1-4 on the season with a record of 1-2 in Tier 3 play.

Senior Jackson Seward ran for 200 yards and three touchdowns on 22 carries for Branford, which came back from a 21-17 halftime deficit by outscoring the Lawmen 28-0 in the latter stanza. Branford intercepted Law’s quarterback four times with Parker Landsbach picking off a pair of passes.

Seward scored the game’s first TD on a 1-yard run midway through the first quarter, but Law (2-3, 1-2) returned the ensuing kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown to make it 7-7. With 1:55 to play in the first, Teddy Gionteris booted a 27-yard field goal to give the Hornets a 10-7 edge after one.

The second half was a back-and-forth affair as Law took the lead on a long TD pass, Branford got it back on a 1-yard rush from Seward, and then the Lawmen scored on a 16-yard run to take a 21-17 advantage into halftime.

The Hornets came out of the locker room for the second half and scored three touchdowns in the third quarter. First, Sean Kelly threw a 22-yard TD pass to Danny Thomas to put Branford up 24-21. Shortly thereafter, Seward broke free for a 22-yard touchdown run. Kelly’s 1-yard scoring rush with 39 seconds left in the frame made it 38-21 heading into the fourth.

Branford put the game away with Rob Lionetti returned an interception 33 yards for a touchdown midway through the final quarter. Gionteris kicked his sixth extra point is as many attempts for the 45-21 score.

In addition to Seward’s big night on the ground, Chico Greene ran eight times for 60 yards for Branford. Thomas had a huge game by reeling in seven receptions for 132 yards and a score. Kelly completed 10-of-19 for 179 yards and a TD.

Additionally on defense, Will Ryder had an interception, Seward recorded a sack, and Matt Davis recovered a fumble for Branford. Seward had 11 tackles, and Landsbach made eight tackles.

Branford’s next game is a non-conference home contest against Fitch. The game kicks off at 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 13.

Branford took on three SCC opponents last week and claimed wins against each one of them to improve to 7-1-0-1 and seal a spot in the Class M State Tournament. The Hornets defeated Hamden (4-1), Cheshire (1-0 in overtime), and Lauralton Hall (3-0) in last week’s action, and they are also 6-0 in games that count toward the SCC standings.

The Hornets kicked off their busy week with a game at Hamden, where Branford prevailed 4-1 on Oct. 2. Branford scored three goals in the first half, starting when Molly Zaffino scored off Sabrina Torcellini’s assist just 4:11 into the game. The Hornets held their 1-0 lead until there was 3:11 remaining in the first half, when LanLe Crotty scored from Torcellini for a two-goal advantage. Then with just 50 seconds left, Crotty netted her second goal on Zaffino’s assist to make it 3-0 at halftime. Torcellini scored from Crotty 6:36 into the second half for a 4-0 lead. Erica Klarman made seven saves in goal for the Hornets.

Two days after that win, Branford hosted fellow SCC heavyweight Cheshire and defeated the Rams 1-0 on a goal by Crotty with 5:30 to play in overtime. On a corner play, Zaffino passed out the ball to Torcellini, who took a shot that was stopped by the defense, after which Crotty got the ball, pulled to her left, and reversed it past Cheshire’s keeper for the game-winning goal. Klarman had six saves for Branford. The Hornets had taken a 2-1 loss to Cheshire earlier this year after defeating the Rams in last year’s SCC Tournament final.

In addition to everyone already mentioned, Head Coach Cathy McGuirk complimented the strong play of Leah Pendl-Robinson, Carly Shea, Britney Bunbanlu, Maggie Martin, Autumn McHenry, Madison Acquarulo, Brianna Shaw, Karly King, and Caitlin Baker in the victory. McGuirk noted the strong support from the Hornets’ bench, as well as the solid job that Reilly Girard did of videotaping the game.

On Oct. 6, the Hornets closed out their week with a 3-0 victory at Lauralton Hall to complete a season sweep of the Crusaders. Branford scored all three of its goals in the second half. King scored from Bunbanlu, Crotty scored from Torcellini, and then Crotty found the back of the cage again on Bunbanlu’s helper. Klarman recorded her second shutout of the week.

The Hornets picked up two victories at home last week, while qualifying for the Class L State Tournament in the process. Branford defeated both East Haven and Lyman Hall for the second time this year to move to 7-1-1 on the campaign.

Branford began last week by posting a 6-1 victory versus East Haven on Oct. 2. Then on Oct. 6, the Hornets hosted Lyman Hall and netted a 5-2 win over the Trojans.

Branford stands at 3-5-2 after splitting a pair of matchups last week. The Hornets recorded a 3-0 shutout at North Haven on Oct. 2 before taking a 1-0 loss at Sheehan on Oct. 7. Branford and North Haven had played to a 2-2 tie earlier in the season.

Branford was victorious in two of its three of its matches last week to stand one win shy of a berth in the Class L State Tournament. The Hornets notched wins versus Shelton and East Haven before taking a 3-0 loss against Lauralton Hall to move to 6-6 on the season.

Branford began last week with a road contest in Shelton and scored a 3-1 win against the Gaels. The victory avenged Branford’s 3-1 defeat to Shelton earlier in the year.

Two days later, the Hornets had a home match versus East Haven and rallied for a 3-2 (21-25, 25-20, 14-25, 25-20, 15-13) victory, avenging a prior to 3-0 loss to the Yellowjackets.

The Hornets wrapped up the week by hosting SCC Quinnipiac Division opponent Lauralton Hall and lost a 3-0 contest to move to 3-2 in divisional play.

Branford finished in 20th place out of 59 squads in the unseeded varsity race at the Wickham Park Invitational on Oct. 7.

Senior Ryan McCarthy turned in the Hornets’ best showing by running a time of 18 minutes and 58 seconds to finish 67th out of 413 runners. Fellow senior Harry Troidle came in 127th place behind a mark of 19:44. Also competing for Branford were Andrew Debenedictis (209th, 20:31), Andrew Betzig (223rd, 20:41), Christian Bjork (321st, 22:05), and Christopher Borst (322nd, 22:05).

The Hornets had two athletes compete in the seeded varsity race at last week’s Wickham Park Invitational.

Sophie Spencer posted a time of 26:46 to finish in 177th place at the meet. Fellow senior Caroline Erickson finished in 187th place with a time of 28:47.

LanLe Crotty netted the winning goal in overtime when the Hornets’ field hockey squad edged Cheshire 1-0 last week. Branford also defeated Hamden and Lauralton Hall and are on their way to states with a record of 7-1-1. Photo by Kelley Fryer/The Sound