A battle of 3-1 Waterbury football teams turned into a defensive struggle on Friday night at Municipal Stadium’s Ray Snyder Sr. Field.
Holy Cross did enough to take down WCA, 14-6, and improve to 4-1. The Spartans fell to 3-2. James LaFleur, making a start at running back, scored a pair of second half touchdown to pace the host Crusaders.
The game was scoreless until deep into the second quarter, and that was when WCA struck. After a deep pass from Dylan Rossi to Josh Smith-Myers and a personal foul facemask moved the ball to the four-yard line, Rossi took it himself the final four yards for a touchdown. Adrian Acosta blocked Rossi’s extra-point attempt, but the Spartans had a 6-0 lead that they would carry into the halftime break. It could have been worse, but the Crusaders stopped a drive inside their 10-yard line, then Rossi missed a field goal as the half wound down.
Holy Cross’ Nicholas Damato returned the opening kickoff of the third quarter 34 yards to the Crusader 44. Caouette completed five straight passes – three to Graves and one apiece to Damato and Doherty – to get the ball to the WCA six. LaFleur ran it in from there, and Doherty’s extra point gave the Crusaders a 7-6 lead with 9:16 left in the third quarter.
Holy Cross forced a WCA punt, then drove to the Spartan 10-yard line, where it faced a third down and eight. Caouette shoveled the ball to Graves, who was moving to his left. Graves then pitched it back to LaFleur, who was running right. LaFleur got key blocks from linemen Kyler Booker and John Petrokaitis, then broke a tackle attempt in the backfield. From there, it was a sprint to the front right pylon, which LaFleur won for a 10-yard touchdown. Doherty’s kick gave the Crusaders a 14-6 lead with 2:05 left in the third quarter.
Monie Eason gave the Spartans great field position with a return to their 49, but the Crusaders forced a punt. Later in the fourth quarter, Rossi threw a deep ball that Smith-Myers made a terrific adjustment and catch on, but an ineligible man downfield penalty negated the play. Eason later broke a big run over midfield on fourth down to keep the WCA drive alive, but Holy Cross never let the visitors get closer.
ST. PAUL 41, WILBY 0
Angel West electrified the home crowd at McPhee Field with an opening kickoff return for a touchdown, and the Falcons rolled from there.
West later added a touchdown run, one of five for St. Paul on the night, and the Falcons picked up the first win of the Tony Mazzarella era. The Falcons improved to 1-4 while the Wildcats, under the guidance of first-year head coach Damon Atkinson, fell to 0-5.
West scored on a one-yard run while Brady McManama added a pair of one-yard touchdown rushes. Max Cappetto also had a one-yard rushing touchdown, and he added a 41-yard scoring run. It was a strong effort from St. Paul during homecoming.
WOODLAND 43, OXFORD 6
The Hawks scored the first 43 points on the way to their fourth straight win and a 4-1 record.
Woodland turned Jack Brunetti loose, and he fired four touchdown passes – two to Josh Stepputtis, one to Erik Pulkinnen and one to David O’Brien. Norman Cook and Christian Morales scored on the ground for the Hawks, who have undefeated Naugatuck (5-0) next on their schedule.
TORRINGTON 35, KENNEDY 26
The Eagles (2-3) battled, but couldn’t overcome the 21 straight points the undefeated Raiders (5-0) scored in the second and third quarters.
Those 21 points turned a 14-14 game into a 35-14 lead for Torrington. Danny Rodriguez led Kennedy with a pair of touchdown runs. Julius Caban and Joe Fasano also ran for touchdowns.
WATERTOWN 24, CROSBY 6
The Bulldogs (1-4) got 207 yards passing from Will Rogers, but could only punch it in the end zone once in a loss to the Warriors (3-2), who made the Class MM state final last year.
Rogers connected with Courdel McLarty for a 72-yard touchdown in the third quarter. McLarty led Crosby with 98 yards on six catches.
GALLERY: Here are my photos from Friday night’s Crosby game.
