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10/27/2019 12:00 AMThe North Branford football team earned its fourth win in its last five games by claiming a 35-28 home victory versus Valley Regional-Old Lyme (VR-OL) in a Pequot Conference Sassacus Division game at Colafati Field on Oct. 26. North Branford led from wire to wire and held off a late Warriors’ rally in order to emerge victorious. The Thunderbirds improved their overall record to 4-2 and are in first place in the Sassacus with a mark of 4-0 in divisional play.
Junior Tyler DiNapoli led the North Branford offense by scoring three touchdowns in the team’s victory over VR-OL (2-4, 2-2). The T-Birds had things working on the offensive end from the start and held a 14-0 lead after the first quarter. DiNapoli scored on a 7-yard touchdown rush and then ran in the 2-point conversion to put North Branford up 8-0 early. Later in the quarter, junior Alex Clinton corralled a 19-yard TD pass from junior quarterback Brandon Fratta for a 14-0 advantage.
The second quarter was action packed as North Branford and the Warriors combined to score 36 points. The T-Birds put the first score of the period on the board when senior Cameron Afanador rushed for a 13-yard touchdown. DiNapoli kicked the extra point to push North Branford’s lead to 21-0.
Following that score, VR-OL responded with a pair of touchdowns to cut the deficit to 21-14. Colby Andrews scored on a 2-yard TD plunge, after which DiAngelo Jean-Pierre caught a 13-yard touchdown pass from Jack Cox to get the Warriors back in the game.
On the next possession, the Thunderbirds worked the ball down field and saw Fratta link up with DiNapoli for a 39-yard touchdown strike. On the 2-point try, Fratta found senior Aiden Ferrucci in the end zone to make the score 29-14 in favor of North Branford. VR-OL answered right back when Andrews took the ensuing kickoff 70 yards to the house to bring the Warriors within 29-21 at halftime.
Following a scoreless third quarter, North Branford increased its lead to 35-21 when DiNapoli ran for a 12-yard touchdown in the fourth. VR-OL made it a one-score game on Cox’s 26-yard touchdown toss to Andrews, but North Branford kept the Warriors out of the end zone through the rest of the game, and walked off the field with their fourth win of the year.
Fratta completed 14-of-20 passes for 169 yards and two touchdowns without throwing an interception in the game. DiNapoli ran the ball 17 times for 89 yards and a pair of TDs to go with five receptions for 80 yards and a score. Cintron had three catches for 40 yards and a touchdown, junior Trevor Holzer caught three passes for 30 yards, and senior Nate Raymond had two catches for 27 yards.
On the defensive end, junior Luke Campagna and sophomore Ryan Vaspasiano recorded one sack apiece for North Branford. Raymond had interception, and Clinton scooped up a fumble in the victory.
After winning its last two games at home, North Branford will hit the road to square off against Ellington (3-3) at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 2.