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| Brenden Lytton ran for a career-high 427 yards and six touchdowns, threw for another, and led Torrington to a 66-28 win over Wolcott on Saturday. Lytton is the NVL Blog Player of the Week for Week 2. Credit: Michael Kabelka / Rep-Am |
Seymour started the week with a 26-14 win over Sacred Heart in what can best be described as a sloppy game on all counts. Despite the turnovers and penalties that plagued both teams, Seymour's Luke Grabowski and Jon Wilson both rushed for over 100 yards to help the Wildcats start 2-0.
Ansonia and Woodland were hooked in a defensive battle until about 15 minutes into the game, and for the last 33 minutes it was all Chargers, who coasted to a 36-6 win. Arkeel Newsome rushed for 196 yards and four touchdowns while the Ansonia varsity defense held the Hawks to just 97 yards of offense. Not bad.
In the other two games played Friday in spite of the rain, Wilby shut out Kennedy, 36-0. The two-headed rushing attack of Jay'Len Mahan and Jacob Thomas was great again, combining for over 300 yards and four touchdowns while the Wildcats' defense was very quick along the line of scrimmage. Holy Cross used a 21-point second quarter to coast past Watertown, 42-20. We originally had a report that the Indians outgained the Crusaders by a fairly substantial margin, but corrected statistics show us that wasn't the case. Anthony Avoletta ended with less than 100 rush yards in the game and Cross had little trouble on offense.
On Saturday at Municipal Stadium, Naugatuck didn't take a lead until the final minute when Jake Yourison scored on a 12-yard run, which he set up with a 35-yard pass to Zac Mercer. The 'Hounds, with only four regular defensive starters playing, held Ray Kreiger to 249 yards and just one touchdown en route to a 14-13 victory.
Torrington crushed Wolcott, 66-28, thanks in large part to Lytton's huge day, which was tied for the fifth-most rushing yards in a game in state history. There was no better way for the Red Raiders to bounce back from the tough loss to Ansonia, so it appears as though Torrington is back on the right track. According to Torrington's staff, the team ran for 647 yards in the game, which is a new state record.
In the final game of the week, Crosby scored in every quarter and beat St. Paul, 41-21. Marcel Lugo ran for three touchdowns and threw for another while the Bulldogs intercepted Logan Marchi five times.
Who Did It
Lytton was the star of the weekend and earned our NVL Blog Player of the Week award with his 427 yards rushing, six rushing touchdowns, and a 14-yard touchdown pass to lead the Red Raiders to a big bounce-back win.
Passing took more of a back seat in Week 2 than it did in the opening round of games. Only Kreiger (14-28, 249 pass yds, TD), Marchi (12-38, 198 pass yds, three TD), Lugo (13-32, 152 pass yds, TD), and Grabowski (10-18, 147 pass yds, two TD) broke the century mark this week.
Your list of 100-yard rushers for the week: Lytton (427 rush yds, six TD), Newsome (196 rush yds, four TD), Yourison (191 rush yds, two TD), Thomas (170 rush yds, TD), Mahan (131 rush yds, three TD), Wilson (126 rush yds, two TD), Grabowski (125 rush yds), and Torrington's Jared Williams (110 rush yds, two TD).
We also two 100-yard receivers: Derby's Dillon McMahon (7 rec, 141 yds) and St. Paul's Justin Gonzalez (5 rec, 103 yds, TD).
How It Looked
Since Remmy was away this weekend, we don't have any video of our own to show you. But we can direct you to a few photo galleries and videos from our friends at the Rep-Am Red Zone.
Videos: Seymour-Sacred Heart, Kennedy-Wilby
What's Next
Just as we had Co-Games of the Week in Week 2, there are two more important games in Week 3. But this week's games are even more important than last because most teams get their first taste of divisional play.
The slate is headlined by Ansonia at Derby and Torrington at Holy Cross, both on Friday night at 7 p.m. Those matchups will have a great deal of say in who could emerge atop the Brass and Copper Divisions, respectively. Also of note is Wilby at Watertown, also on Friday at 7 p.m. The only teams not engaging in divisional play are Woodland, which will host the SCC's Jonathan Law, and Sacred Heart, which could not find a Week 3 opponent and will sit idle.
The Week 3 predictions thread and videos will be coming early this week, so stay tuned. (Maybe I'll even get to updating our Predictions Tracker, too, since I was perfect this week.)
