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10/31/2014 12:00 AMThe North Haven football team trailed Hillhouse by a touchdown after the first quarter when the teams met up on Oct. 30. However, it was all Indians from that point on as they scored four TDs in the second quarter en route to 48 unanswered points in 48-7 rout of the Academics at Vanacore Field.
Senior captain quarterback Cole Pecora rushed 11 times for 122 yards and three touchdowns to go with one TD via the air and senior wide receiver Mehdi Azizi caught three passes for 123 yards and two scores to lead North Haven’s offense. The Indians’ defense forced Hillhouse to turn it over six times, which also played a major factor in the victory.
“It was a tight ballgame in the first quarter and then the turnovers played a big role in stopping their momentum because we turned them into points,” Coach Anthony Sagnella said. “The running game was tight for a while as Hillhouse is big and physical with a lot of good tacklers, but we made a few big plays in the passing game and were able to take advantage of their defense, which was a little overaggressive.”
Hillhouse (3-5) used a 38-yard touchdown pass late in the first quarter to hold its 7-0 advantage. North Haven then scored three TDs in less than three minutes early in the second to take control. Senior captain Tommy Gallagher started it by scoring from one yard out and then Pecora’s 20-yard touchdown rush gave the Indians the lead for good. Shortly thereafter, junior Mike Montano found Azizi on a 44-yard scoring strike and North Haven was up 21-7. Then with just five seconds left in the half, Azizi caught a 24-yard touchdown from Pecora and Sagnella’s squad took a 28-7 lead to the locker room.
The third quarter saw more North Haven dominance as Pecora posted TD runs of 7 and 50 yards to blow the game wide open. Junior Sabrina Fronte kicked her fifth and sixth extra points, respectively, after both Pecora scores and it was all Indians at 42-7 entering the final frame. For good measure, Gallagher plunged in from three yards out early in the fourth to seal it at 48-7.
Additionally for North Haven’s offense, Montano completed three passes for 127 yards and a touchdown to complement Pecora’s passing TD and Montano also had 60 rushing yards on 10 carries. Senior captain tight end Joe Corniello added a 28-yard reception.
Defensively, leading tacklers were David Mikos (12 with 2 for a loss), Bowen Brennan (8), Paul Brockamer (8), Gallagher (7), Mike McKenna (7), Jake Kastenhuber (7), Colin Ciszewski (7), Hunter Coughlin (7), Corniello (6), and Pecora (6). Brockamer and Ciszewski each recorded a sack apiece. Also, McKenna had an interception that he returned 45 yards to go with two pass deflections, Mikos notched an INT with a 25-yard return, and Max Sullivan added an interception. On top of that, Brennan blocked a punt, Kyle Melillo forced and recovered a fumble, Brockamer forced a fumble, and McKenna and Kastenhuber both recovered fumbles for North Haven.
Coach Sagnella was especially pleased with the play of sophomores Sullivan and Melillo, who both started at outside linebacker with Jeremy Imperati and Connor Suraci out with injures.
The win improved North Haven to 7-1 and put Anthony Sagnella’s squad into seventh place in the Class L Playoff rankings. The Indians’ next game is at division foe Foran (4-4, 2-0) in Milford at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 7. As usual, the SCC Division II East title will be on the line when North Haven plays the line. Sagnella and company have claimed the crown in each of the past five seasons.
“We are in a one-game-at-a-time mentality and I believe our kids will be focused for Foran,” said Sagnella. “We respect Foran and they’re a well-coached team with a high-powered offense. We’ll have to play well.”