Senior White: Guilford was victorious for a second week in a row this past Sunday with a win Branford Branford was forced to punt after taking the opening kick off three and out. Guilford Struck first with a Eric Passay 60 yard punt return for a Touchdown Mike Knapp PAT was unsuccessful missed left. 6 -0 Guilford. A defensive struggle ensued each team had their opportunities, but turnovers proved very costly for both offensives as each team struggled to move the ball. Three Minutes left in the first half Guilford mounted what look like to be a 55 yard scoring drive only to fumble the ball away on the 6 yard line recovered by Branford to end the first half.
Back and forth these two team went. Guilford had a couple of opportunities in the second half to score in the red zone only to be denied by costly turnovers. Branford tried to get something going and went to the air. Guilford's Kyle Mahoney Intercepted a Branford pass and on Guilford's next play from scrimmage Mike Knapp went 20 yards around the right side and in for a touchdown. The extra point kick made the final score 14-0, Guilford.
JUNIOR DIVISION:
Junior Green: Guilford Junior Green started the game off with a bang scoring on a 65 yard Paul Distasio kickoff retun. Eric Zergebiel drove hard for the PAT attempt but was cut short and had to leave the game with the first in a series of injuries on the day. The green D stopped East Haven’s first assualt and the O quickly converted for a second TD on another long Distasio run set up by a devastating lead block from fullback Mike Serra, this time for 68 yards. Joey Nault ran a reverse in for the PAT and a 13-0 lead.
East Haven was able to score on their next drive but failed the PAT attempt. Tyler Nelson took control behind a hard fighting O-Line marching Green 10 plays and 55 yards for the third TD, finishing it with a 10 yard pass to Pat Cantrell. Nelson then topped it off with another pass, this time to Serra, for the PAT and a 20-6 lead.
Nate Wilson must have thought the Green defense wasn’t ready so he left the Eastie kick returner on the field looking for his wallet when he stole the ball on the ensuing kickoff to give the O another shot from the East Haven 30 yard line. Five plays later Nelson hit Zack Soffer in the end zone for Guilford’s final score and a 26-6 lead to close the half.
East Haven controlled the third quarter and scored twice more converting both PAT attempts for a total of 20 points. With three more starters down with injuries, the second half was an exercise in substitutions and improvisation. Charlie Molloy stepped up to take over at right guard and inside linebacker, and Josh Cash and Adam Gelo split time at all four defensive line positions. Cash even stood up for some linebacking duties with Pat Cantrell who, with Mike Serra, eliminated East Haven’s inside running game. Steve Lavoie flopped between defensive end and outside linebacker and somewhere along the way came up with another fumble recovery adding to his tally this year.
Though it was a full team effort with everyone contributing his best, MVP honors go to Joey Nault. He answered the call whenever and wherever needed proving to be a triple threat on offense: running, throwing, and catching the ball while on defense his three game saving solo tackles from the corner kept East Haven stuck at 20 points.
Duke Knapp’s fourth quarter running kept the ball out of East Haven hands and a target on his back that set up two Nelson first down bootlegs on the final drive to run out the clock with Guilford on top for the 26-20 win.
Junior White: "Football is an incredible game, sometimes so incredible, it's unbelievable". Retired Coach Tom Landry, Dallas Cowboys.
The battle in Woodbridge. Guilford A Juniors came to play football.
On offense, Tyler (T.D.) Desisto punished the defense with his aggressive running style, breaking tackles and having many long runs along the way. Quarterback K.C. Horton, ran the spread and proved very elusive throughout the game w/ 2nd effort spins to gain additional yardage. Cory Larkin's and Ryan Hart were unstoppable on the outside w/ big gains as well. Incredible blocking in the trenches by Alex Pia, Colton Schilling, John Paecht, Freddy Trotta and Dylan Mitchell.
Tyler Desisto scored on a 10 yard run off tackle. Ryan Hart ran and scored the one point after attempt.
Ryan Hart and Tyler Desisto had an interception on Defense. Matt (trashcan) Horton had a fumble recovery. The defense was lead by Ford Linell w/ many tackles behind the line of scrimmage , Jake Lundberg and John J.P. Peters who was a dominate force at the DE position. Tristan Park , Jesse Nugent, Aaron Cowee and Ryan Carofeno shored up the middle of our D-line. Alex Braddock and Nick Napolitano worked hard to keep a very fast Amity running back contained to the middle of the field. At safety and cornerback, Connor McGuire and Jacob Krasnow held their passing game to two completions for minimal yards. This tough, hard working, gang tackling defense held a 3 win Amity team to one first down and 6 points .
The team has faced the toughest of teams in the first five games. They never, never gave up and became winners. They did it! It was a truly a team effort by the entire team.
YOUTH DIVISION:
Youth Green: Guilford Youth A lost 32-0 to an undefeated Clinton squad on Sunday. Guilford's offense was simply outmatched against the solid defense of Clinton. Leading the defense in tackling for Guilford were Derek Vandebovenkamp, Thomas Stokes, Tyler Stokes, Nate Tepley, Frank Ranfone and Ben Fazzina.
