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10/21/2019 12:00 AMThe North Haven football team notched its second victory of the season when the Indians routed non-conference opponent Staples by the final score of 53-20 at Vanacore Field on Oct. 18. North Haven scored the first five touchdowns of the game and was up 34-0 in the second quarter on its way to the convincing win against the Wreckers. The Indians improved to 2-3 and will gear up for up for another non-conference contest at Pomperaug this week.
North Haven’s offense had a huge night on the ground by rushing for 374 yards and seven touchdowns against Staples. Senior Corey Hooks ran the ball 16 times for 186 yards and two touchdowns for the Indians. Fellow senior Jaden Watson had 14 rushes for 117 yards and scored five touchdowns on the night. Senior Justin White threw a touchdown pass to senior captain Joe Vitale to finish off the victory.
North Haven took an early lead when Watson ran for a 39-yard touchdown just 2:43 into the game. Junior Chase DiCarlo kicked the extra point to make it 7-0. With 5:55 left in the first quarter, Hooks scored on an 8-yard touchdown run to give the Indians a 13-0 lead. Just 51 seconds later, Watson rushed in a 15-yard TD to put the Indians up 19-0 after the first quarter.
North Haven’s offense kept rolling in the second quarter. Watson scored on a 9-yard touchdown run and then Hooks ran for the 2-point conversion to make it 27-0 with 6:55 remaining until halftime. With 2:59 to play, Watson scored his fourth touchdown of the half on a 21-yard run. DiCarlo’s extra point gave the Indians a 34-0 lead. Staples recorded its first score of the game when Jackson Zager threw a 12-yard TD pass to Jake Shaw to make it 34-7 with 28 seconds left in the half.
Staples cut the deficit to 34-14 on Zager’s 6-yard touchdown pass to AJ Konstanty with 8:24 to go in the third quarter. North Haven came right back with a scoring drive that culminated on an 18-yard touchdown rush from Hooks to make it 40-14 with 7:57 remaining. Staples used a 4-yard TD run by Henry Beck to cut it to 40-20 through three quarters.
North Haven put the game away by scoring a pair of touchdowns in the final period. First, Watson scored on a 1-yard run for his fifth TD of the night and a 46-20 North Haven advantage with 10:09 to go. With 4:30 left in the game, White found Vitale on a 24-yard touchdown pass to put North Haven in the end zone for the eighth time on the evening. DiCarlo kicked the extra point to finish off the 53-20 victory for the Indians.
Senior Max Augustine aided North Haven’s ground game by gaining 40 yards on seven carries in the win. White went 2-of-2 passing for 52 yards with a touchdown, and Hooks completed a pass for 28 yards. Vitale was on the receiving end of all three completions as he finished the game with three catches for 80 yards and a score.
White also had a big game in the secondary by recording five pass deflections. Fellow senior Kyle Rollier had a pair of pass deflections for North Haven. Augustine and sophomore MJ DeVilliers, Jr., both had an interception in the victory. Senior Kyle Maruca recorded a sack on defense.
Next up, North Haven will travel to Southbury to take on non-conference squad Pomperaug at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 25. Pomperaug, which plays in the South-West Conference, comes into the game with a mark of 1-4.