Wolcott football has been through a bunch of turmoil this season, but there is still a chance at a postseason berth.
Three weeks ago, some Eagle football players damaged the locker room at St. Paul Catholic High School before a game against the Falcons. Wolcott suspended the coaches who in the locker room for a game, and because no more than two players came forward about the incident, Superintendent of Schools Tony Gasper and the Wolcott administration forced the Eagles to forfeit their game against the Sacred Heart/Kaynor Tech co-op on Nov. 9. Head coach Matt Hove will resign at the end of the season, according to a story in the Waterbury Republican-American. His resignation was accepted by the Wolcott Board of Education at its meeting on Nov. 13.
On the football field, the Eagles are 6-3 and ranked eighth in the Class M state playoff standings. Wolcott owns a tiebreaker via the won/loss record of its opponents. The Eagles have one game left, and its their Thanksgiving morning rivalry against Holy Cross (6-3) at Alumni Field in Waterbury at 10 o’clock. Wolcott can help its own cause with a win over Holy Cross, and it has 20 guaranteed points from the Torrington-Watertown and Oxford-St. Paul games. The Eagles can also obtain 20 points if Seymour beats Woodland and WCA tops Gilbert/Northwestern.
Wolcott has been led by the running of Anthony Ligi and Jake Sforza. Ligi has rushed 138 times for 1,270 yards and 19 touchdowns while Sforza has carried 120 times for 822 yards and 13 touchdowns. On defense, Justin Pawlak leads Wolcott with 65 total tackles and two sacks. Jake Filippone has 62 total tackles, four sacks and six tackles for loss. Sforza has 56 tackles, four sacks and four tackles for loss. All statistics were added up through the team’s Hudl account.
It has been a rough season off the field, but Wolcott still has something to gain on it.
