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09/22/2019 12:00 AMThe East Haven football team received some bad news prior to its home opener against Brookfield on Sept. 20. Senior captain quarterback Tanner DiVito was ruled out for the season with an injury, meaning that the Yellowjackets will turn to junior Trey Garea at QB for the rest of the season. DiVito had suffered his injury during East Haven’s season-opening victory against Foran the previous week.
“It was a lot worse than we originally thought,” Head Coach Scott Benoit said. “It’s a shame, because he’s such a great kid and he worked incredibly hard to get himself bigger and stronger. I hate to see it happen.”
The loss of DiVito fueled the Easties’ fire to go out and defeat Brookfield in the non-conference matchup at Crisafi Field. East Haven used a balanced attack to blow out the Bobcats by the final score of 56-16 and improve its record to 2-0 on the season.
Garea threw two touchdown passes and also ran for a score in the victory. Junior Eric Araujo rushed for three touchdowns, and senior Mike Castellano added two TDs on the ground.
East Haven started quick by forcing a Brookfield into a three-and-out on its first possession. On the Yellowjackets’ first offensive play of the game, Garea threw a screen pass to senior captain tight end Jake Marquardt, who weaved through the defense on his way to pay dirt for a 49-yard touchdown reception. Junior Eric Araujo drilled the first of his eight extra points on the night to give East Haven a 7-0 lead.
Brookfield’s second possession resulted in another three-and-out. Araujo capped off the Yellowjackets’ next drive with a 17-yard touchdown run to give them a 14-0 advantage midway through the first quarter. East Haven’s defense made a stop on Brookfield’s ensuing possession, leading to another punt.
“[The defense] played very well last week and very well this week. [Assistant coach Nick [Gargano] always gets them in the right position to play,” said Benoit. “Preseason is a little bit different, because we don’t have a lot of guys to practice against, so the defense doesn’t get the live look they need. But they’ll be fine. Our tackling has been excellent, our guys are very physical, and I think our defensive backs make plays.”
Brookfield’s punt was returned 75 yards for a touchdown by senior captain Mike Caruso, but it was wiped off the board due to a penalty for a block in the back. However, that didn’t slow down East Haven’s offense as Araujo scored on a 14-yard run to push the lead to 21-0.
After Brookfield scored a TD at the end of the first quarter, the Yellowjackets answered on the first play of the second quarter with a 59-yard touchdown run by senior Mike Castellano to make it 28-7.
Brookfield started to make things interesting after that possession. The Bobcats scored on a safety when an errant snap went over the head of East Haven’s punter and out of the end zone. Brookfield followed by scoring a touchdown on its next possession to cut the deficit to 28-16.
East Haven saw another touchdown called back due to a penalty on its next drive, but the Yellowjackets got the ball right back thanks to an interception by senior Nate Santos. The Easties made Brookfield pay for that mistake when Garea hit Marquardt for a 33-yard TD to make it a 35-16 game at halftime.
Even though his team went to the locker room with a 19-point lead, Coach Benoit felt that East Haven could have played better in the first half.
“I wasn’t pleased with the first half at all. I thought we were incredibly sloppy,” Benoit said. “Too many penalties. We had two touchdowns called back, four blocks in the back. A lot of it is kids playing hard, but they have to play a little bit smarter.”
The Yellowjackets kept their foot on the gas pedal by scoring on their first possession of the second half. Araujo ran home a 19-yard touchdown to increase the lead to 42-16. Later in the frame, Garea scored on a 10-yard TD run to make it 49-16. After that, Castellano punched home his second rushing touchdown of the game on a 9-yard rush to give East Haven a 56-16 advantage.
“Our team did fantastic rushing the ball on offense. The backs did a great job,” Garea said. “I wasn’t worried about me scoring, but I knew when my time came, I’d do it.”
Coach Benoit was impressed with how his offensive linemen played in the game. The Easties’ O-line is led senior captain Calvin Nelson and includes seniors Jack Izzo and Shawn Nugent, along with junior Gunner Horton and Kristjan Fonacier.
“They are outstanding. We have some good backs, too. Our backs don’t need a lot,” said Benoit. “The guys on the line are much bigger than a year ago. They did a great job in the offseason in the weight room.”
Garea led the Yellowjackets with 100 yards on the ground, while Castellano finished with 84 yards and Araujo gained 73 yards. Garea also connected on three passes for 95 yards, including the two touchdown tosses to Marquardt that accounted for 82 of those yards.
Benoit feels thankful that he gave Garea as many reps as he did during the preseason. Benoit knows that those reps helped Garea get prepared for the long road ahead under center this year.
“I had never given a backup quarterback that many reps in the preseason. Tanner was a three-year starter and had a very good grasp of the offense, and I wanted to get Trey up to speed,” Benoit said. “He was phenomenal tonight. He played great. He’s a talented athlete, and I think he’ll continue to get better.”
Santos finished the game with two interceptions on defense for the Yellowjackets, who forced Brookfield into committing three turnovers, including a fumble recovery in the fourth quarter.
Next up, East Haven will hit the road to square off with Rocky Hill in another non-conference matchup at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 27.
From the Sidelines
The East Haven football program’s roster features senior captains Tanner DiVito, Jake Marquardt, Mike Caruso, and Calvin Nelson; fellow seniors Nathan Santos, Alec DiVito, Mike Castellano, Kaymond Quattlebaum, Jacob Araujo, Vincent Maida, Jack Izzo, Joe Consiglio, Shawn Nugent, and Ethan Kowalczik; juniors Trey Garea, Alex Duarte, Larry Mingione, Dave Amatruda, Frank Piscitelli, Alec Madureira, Eric Araujo, Ryan Mikolajcak, Kristjan Fonacier, Tyler Kruse, Gunner Horton, Robert Cofrancesco, and Justin Gutierrez; sophomores Shea Carasone, Nathan Dombrowski, Dylan Tavares, Andrew Diotaiuto, James Trudden, Jake Ortiz, Justin Hernandez, Michael Gagliardi, Michael Kosiorek, Michael Pagan, and Timothy Case; and freshmen Allan Schroer, Joseph Armino, Giovanni Caputo, Mateo Caputo, Jesus Contreras, Noah Franchi, John-Paul Garea, Michael Gatavaski, William Hay, Mikhs Morrison, Nick Pacelli, Dominic Salato, Tanyon Simmons, Jason Toth, and Gavin Wheeler.
Head Coach Scott Benoit is in his second season with the Yellowjackets. His assistant coaches are Jon Byrd, Chris Cuomo, Frank DeGennaro, Ron Marshall, Elliot Hastings, Lance Horton, Anthony Perrotti, Ricardo Araujo, and Nick Gargano.
The Yellowjackets have outscored their opposition 70-23 through their first two games this season.