Xavier senior DJ Wright rushed for three touchdowns Friday night as the Falcons won their season opener, 31-19 over Norwich Free Academy at Larry McHugh Field.
Drew Kron’s fourth-quarter touchdown pass to Vinny Rappoccio put the game out of reach. Xavier ended a three-game losing streak against NFA.
Wright scored twice in the first half and Ethan Belzek kicked a field goal to give the Falcons a 17-13 halftime lead that they would not relinquish
Xavier’s defense also had a big night, blocking a PAT and stopping a conversion run in the third quarter.
“The theme for the week for our guys was ‘finish,'” Xavier coach Andy Guyon said. “We had been in situations with these guys (in past years) where we were up in the second half and couldn’t finish the game. … I could not be prouder. Our offensive line played amazing. Our defense made the stops when we needed to. It was a great win and I’m so so proud of them.”
The Falcons, ranked eighth in the GameTimeCT poll, visit Ridgefield next Friday.
Elsewhere on Friday:
Berlin 33, Middletown 0
The Redcoats outgained the Blue Dragons 419-75 en route to their season-opening win at Sage Park. It was the teams’ first meeting since 2009.
Berlin led 13-0 at halftime on touchdown runs of 33 and 32 yards by Toby Lavender. Jamie Palmese also rushed for two second-half scores. Jon Jon Morales Jr. also scored for the Redcoats. Lavender finished with 131 rushing yards and Palmese 112.
Middletown sophomore Colin Skene was 11 of 18 for 99 yards and an interception in his first varsity start. Senior Chace Petgrave had 8 receptions for 86 yards.
Haddam-Killingworth 27, Old Saybrook/Westbrook 22
Orion Inkel broke the opening kickoff for an 81-yard touchdown and also scored on a 4-yard run and a 56-yard pass from Tate Callender to lead the Cougars to a season-opening win over the Rams at home.
Andrew Carter, Vincent Naccarato, and Jake Pavlovich scored touchdowns for OSW.
HK took a 21-0 lead into halftime, but the Rams stormed back with three consecutive touchdowns and led 22-21 early in the fourth quarter.
The Cougars rebounded with a 55-yard drive, capped by a Matt Minasian touchdown run of 4 yards with just over four minutes remaining. The Rams could get no closer than midfield on their final drive, turning the ball over on downs with just over a minute remaining.
“I’m so proud of our kids,” said Tyler Wilcox, who earned the victory in his debut as Cougars coach. “They could have given up after Old Saybrook/Westbrook went up on us in the fourth quarter, but they willed themselves to come back and win this game.”
The Cougars will host Morgan on Friday night in their next game, while the Rams take on North Branford at home next Saturday.
Score By Quarters
OSW…….0 0 14 8–22
H-K……..14 7 0 6–27
Scoring
HK: Orion Inkel 81-yard kickoff return (Kevin Cavrell kick)
HK: Inkel 56 pass from Tate Callender (Cavrell kick)
HK: Inkel 4 run (Cavrell kick)
OSW: Andrew Carter 10 run (kick failed)
Related Posts
OSW: Vincent Naccarato TD (Naccarato run)
OSW: Jake Pavlovich 6 run (Pavlovich run)
HK: Matt Minasian 4 run (run failed)