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| Seymour's Jon Wilson is taken down by Wilby's Duvonte Zimmerman on Thursday night at Municipal Stadium. Seymour won, 32-30, to stay alive in the Class S playoff hunt. Credit: Christopher Massa/Republican-American |
In our Thursday night showcase, Seymour outlasted Wilby, 32-30. Seymour pulled ahead and had a 24-6 lead in the first half thanks to a pair of long Jon Wilson touchdown runs before Wilby stormed back to tie it at 24-24. Seymour went back ahead, 32-24, on a Luke Grabowski run before Wilby scored again. But Wilby as 0-for-5 on two-point conversions, which ended up costing it the game. Jay'Len Mahan made some more incredible long runs, but a pair of second-half turnovers and the conversion futility were too much to overcome. Seymour (5-2) is still in good shape in the Class S playoff standings.
Woodland crushed Naugatuck, 40-14, for the Hawks' eighth win in nine all-time meetings between the two teams. Anthony Scirpo had one of the season's best games by a wide receiver with two touchdown catches, a 59-yard touchdown run, an interception, over 100 total yards, and plenty of moves to go with them. Naugatuck's mistakes hurt again with two red-zone turnovers. The Hawks (5-2) are still very alive in Class S and can help themselves get back in the Copper hunt with a win over Holy Cross next week.
Speaking of the Crusaders, they trailed Sacred Heart in the first half but rallied for a 21-13 win. Holy Cross did it without the suspended Dave DiGiorgi, so plenty of other players stepped up to do just enough on offense, including Adrian Brown. Jaquan Overbey ran well in the first half for Sacred Heart before exiting with an ankle injury. The Crusaders will win the Copper Division with a win next week over Woodland and are in very good shape in Class S, but DiGiorgi's status for next week is up in the air.
In another game featuring an ankle injury, Torrington pulled away from Derby, 58-28. Brenden Lytton suffered an ankle injury in the second quarter and didn't return, but it is believed to be only an ankle sprain. The teams traded blows until late in the second quarter when Torrington took the lead for good. Ray Kreiger had a great game with over 350 yards passing, but it wasn't enough for the combined 450-plus yards by Lytton and Joan Toreibo. Torrington is still hovering in Class L while they need a Woodland victory over Holy Cross next week to take control over the Copper.
Wolcott also trailed Watertown early but pulled away for a comfortable, 28-12 victory. Mike Nicol had one of his best passing games of the season to lead the Eagles, who have played well defensively ever since their loss to Torrington. Wolcott hosts Ansonia for the Brass Division championship next week and can likely clinch a playoff berth by winning even just one of its final three games.
Ansonia had no trouble in a 42-6 pasting of Crosby in which Arkeel Newsome had three touchdowns on nine carries while Elliot Chudwick had over 100 yards passing. Newsome is clearly being paced in this soft stretch in Ansonia's schedule, which seems to be the obvious and smart decision by the Chargers' staff. Ansonia's defense continues to play incredibly well, and the Chargers will have their biggest game in weeks when they play for the Brass title on Friday.
Finally, congratulations to Kennedy on earning its first win of the season in a 29-14 victory over St. Paul. Logan Marchi didn't throw for a touchdown and was intercepted twice, including a pick-six, and we can only imagine that the poor weather conditions factored into the tough passing day. Kennedy scored 15 points in the second quarter and held on in the second half. St. Paul is now the only winless team in the league.
Who Did It
Woodland wide receiver/safety Anthony Scirpo is our NVL Blog Player of the Week for Week 7. He only had 132 total yards, but he scored three total touchdowns, intercepted a pass and made a long return to set up another touchdown, and made some of the most incredible moves of the season in the Hawks' win over Naugatuck.
Week 7's top rushers: Wilby's Jay'Len Mahan (319 rush yds, 3 TD); Torrington's Brenden Lytton (256 rush yds, 4 TD); Torrington's Joan Toreibo (200 rush yds, 2 TD); Seymour's Jon Wilson (192 rush yds, 2 TD); Woodland's Matt Zaccagnini (169 rush yds, 2 TD); Sacred Heart's Jolly Black (138 rush yds, 2 TD); St. Paul's Jordan Rowley (128 rush yds, 2 TD); Naugatuck's Jake Yourison (127 rush yds, TD); Holy Cross's Adrian Brown (127 rush yds, TD); Ansonia's Arkeel Newsome (118 rush yds, 3 TD); Holy Cross's Nick Giambacini (65 rush yds, 2 TD); Wilby's Jacob Thomas (35 rush yds, 2 TD)
Week 7's top passers: Derby's Ray Kreiger (27-45, 363 pass yds, 2 TD, INT); Wolcott's Mike Nicol (13-16, 251 pass yds, 3 TD); Woodland's Tanner Kingsley (8-10, 130 pass yds, 3 TD, INT); St. Paul's Logan Marchi (10-23, 127 pass yds, 2 INT); Ansonia's Elliot Chudwick (5-10, 130 pass yds, TD)
Week 7's top receivers: Derby's Brian Dobek (155 rec yds, TD); Ansonia's Andrew Matos (118 rec yds, TD); Derby's Dillon McMahon (106 rec yds, TD); Wolcott's Pat Byrne (83 rec yds, TD); Woodland's Anthony Scirpo (73 rec yds, 2 TD)
How It Looked
Remmy saw parts of two games on Friday night, so check out his videos of the Ansonia-Crosby and Naugatuck-Woodland games below.
Ansonia-Crosby
Naugatuck-Woodland
And as always, here are some additional bits of multimedia from our friends at the Rep-Am and Register Citizen.
Videos: Naugatuck-Woodland, Holy Cross-Sacred Heart, Holy Cross-Sacred Heart, Wolcott-Watertown
Photos: Seymour-Wilby, Naugatuck-Woodland, Holy Cross-Sacred Heart, Derby-Torrington, St. Paul-Kennedy
What's Next
Week 8 will provide us the champion of the Brass Division and could give us a winner of the Copper Division, too.
Wolcott hosts one of its biggest games in program history on Friday when it welcomes Ansonia in the de facto Brass Division title game. Meanwhile, Holy Cross meets Woodland at Municipal Stadium in a huge Copper Division game. If the Crusaders win, they are the champions of the Copper. If Woodland wins, then Torrington assumes the driver's seat. The Red Raiders host Kennedy.
By the way, if you don't quite understand how the tiebreakers would work out, check out this post on the Red Zone blog for the clear explanation of the rules.
Wolcott, Ansonia, Holy Cross, Woodland, Torrington, and Seymour will all be playing for their playoff hopes, too. The winner of the Wolcott-Ansonia game will basically clinch a spot in Class M while Holy Cross, Woodland, and Seymour jockey for position in Class S. Torrington still needs a bit of help to climb up in the Class L standings.
Look out for our Week 8 picks on Monday, along with looks at the six remaining NVL playoff contenders' situations later in the week. Enjoy the snow!
