St. Paul football improved to 1-1 on Friday afternoon with a 38-0 rout of Wilby at Ray Snyder Sr. Field in Waterbury. The Wildcats dropped to 0-2.
It was a matter of which team could do a better job getting its playmaker involved, and the Falcons came out on top.
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| A long touchdown run for Ben Pryor, one of his three TDs on the day. |
Ben Pryor had a big day running the ball for St. Paul. A 6-foot, 190-pound running back, Pryor showed good speed on some big runs for the Falcons and ended the day with three touchdowns. Both Sam McPhee and Kyle DeForge added touchdown runs for St. Paul, which led 30-0 at the half.
Here’s more on each team:
ST. PAUL
The Falcons were able to rebound from a difficult 12-8 loss at Derby in Week 1. St. Paul did so by controlling the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. The Falcons have some big kids, highlighted by 6-foot-3, 325-pound senior Alex Gentile and 6-foot, 265-pound sophomore Dominic Aiello.
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| St. Paul’s big guys were able to control the line of scrimmage and the game. |
St. Paul has reverted to the wishbone offense that head coach Jude Kelly used with much success at East Catholic. The Falcons look to pound away with the run and eat the clock.
“There were some changes with our personnel,” Kelly said. “I feel that the type of kids we have and the strengths they have, if we can be disciplined and be simple with it, we can be successful.”
The wishbone offense takes a lot of patience and everyone must do their job in order for the offense to run well. That happened for St. Paul on Friday, and the result was a nice bounceback win.
“When the offensive and defensive lines control the line of scrimmage, a lot of good things happen from that,” Kelly said.
Up front, it was guys like Gentile, Aiello, Devon Dawson (5-11, 235), Matt Gray (5-8, 230), Dylan Gagnon (5-11, 220) and tight end Chadd Richardson (6-3, 195) who helped lead the way. Sam McPhee (5-10, 250) led the way at fullback as both a runner and blocker.
Wilby may be down, but St. Paul has to like what it saw Friday. Looking ahead, the Falcons have a large group of freshmen which they hope to mold into the future of the program.
“Probably the largest freshmen group since I’ve been here at St. Paul, and that’s 11 years,” Kelly said.
It was all good for St. Paul on Friday. The Falcons will be in Bristol next Friday at 7 p.m. for their home opener against the Seymour Wildcats (2-0).
Wilby
It’s a long way uphill for the Wildcats under first-year head coach Lamar Kennedy.
Wilby has lost its first two games of the season by a combined score of 80-6. The Wildcats used multiple formations against the Falcons, including the pistol, but were unable to generate much offense.
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| Darrien Bell throws a deep pass for Wilby during Friday’s game. |
Darrien Bell, a 6-foot, 175-pound senior quarterback, is a great athlete with some skill. Wilby tried to get Bell the ball multiple ways, whether it was via direct snap at quarterback or on screen passes as a wide receiver. The Wildcats didn’t have much success and weren’t able to move the ball.
On defense, Wilby had trouble stopping St. Paul’s wishbone offense.
Overall, there’s a lot to work on at Wilby for Kennedy, who is trying to turn things around after a tumultuous offseason off the field.
Wilby is a work in progress, and it will take time for the Wildcats to get better on the field. Wilby hosts Kennedy at Ray Snyder Sr. Field next Friday at 6 p.m.
