The North Haven Youth Football program recently wrapped up another quality season as all five Indians’ teams qualified for the playoffs with two making the semifinals and the 5th-grade squad reaching its championship contest.

Prior to the playoffs, North Haven’s 8th-graders completed their regular season by blanking Southington 26-0 behind two rushing touchdowns apiece from Max Rivera and Jeff Williston. Dom Borelli, Matt Mullen, and Jeff Ranciato played well up front for the Indians’ defense, plus Justin White, Ethan Okwuosa, and Donny McInnis did a good job in the secondary.

Then in the first round of the Shoreline Youth Football Conference Playoffs, North Haven’s season came to an end with a 32-12 loss in Madison. The Indians opened the game with a long, eight-minute scoring drive and held a 12-8 halftime lead before a turnover put them down 16-12. North Haven fought hard in the second half, but was unable to put together another scoring drive. Williston and Okwuosa scored TDs and Noah Perrillie, White, and Kyle Rollier played well on defense for North Haven, which went 5-4 on the campaign.

For the 7th-graders, the Indians ended their regular season by taking a 34-12 loss to Monroe. Patrick Lillis led the North Haven offense with 47 yards and scored on touchdown runs of eight yards and one yard. Gino Schiavo added 43 yards passing and 12 rushing and David Pace had 25 receiving yards. James Youshua, James Loda, and Dillon Vanoss each had a 5-yard reception. Teray Smart and Matt Gargano added nine and five yards rushing, respectively, for the Indians. On defense, Ryan Ziaks and Vinny Granata led the effort up front with Sean Fenton and Jake Ferraro making key tackles.

Then in the first round of the Bowl Series, North Haven was victorious by a 30-12 margin over Glastonbury. Hayden Tomlin had 59 yards passing and threw a 33-yard TD to Smart. Damian Carano reeled in a 31-yard touchdown reception and rushed 22 yards for a score. Schiavo added 15 yards rushing, including a 1-yard TD, and tossed the 31-yard scoring strike to Carano. Lillis ran for 49 yards and kicked two extra points. On defense, Sean Sullivan had two sacks and Anthony Vigliotti had one. Loda, Alex Dejesus, and Nick Cardona all made crucial tackles.

The Indians then took a 36-28 loss to East Haven in the semifinals of the playoffs. North Haven’s offense amassed more than 300 yards and Fenton led the way by running for 113 yards and touchdowns of six and 58 yards on only seven carries. Lillis ran 12 times for 112 yards, including a 3-yard score, and also booted an extra point. Pace had 42 yards on eight carries with Carano adding 32 yards on four carries, including a 25-yard TD scamper. The Indians’ offensive line of Aaron Barbiero, Joe Verrillo, Granata, Ziaks, Anthony Vigliotti, Amir Zureiqi, Max Foley, and Sullivan opened big holes for the backs. Rounding out the offensive performers were Gargano, Yoshua, Vanoss, and Chris Bracale, who all made key blocks. Defensively, Loda, Schiavo, Tomlin, and Smart each had big tackles, while Dejesus, Cardona, and Ferrara anchored the interior line.

Meanwhile, the Indians’ 6th-grade team lost to Glastonbury 37-14 in its regular season finale despite two touchdowns from Jake Langner.

Then facing top-seeded Cheshire in the first round of the playoffs, the Indians dropped a 26-6 decision to finish at 4-5. The Indians were only down 13-6 at the half before the Rams pulled away. For the third-straight season, Joe Corniello led North Haven as head coach. His team consisted of Johnny Appleby, Michael Bachmann, Ryan Balzano, Thomas Biehl. Paul Cappella, Anthony Cavaliere, Matteo Crisanti, Grant Curtis, Cole DeCusati, M.J. DeVilliers, Matthew Dodge, Brendan Jooss, Nicholas Judd, Langner, Stephen Loda, Spencer Mulligan, Luca Onofrio, Joseph Piper, Aidan Rapuano, Kennyel Santiago, and Riley Sykes.

In terms of the 5th-grade squad, North Haven took a 36-12 defeat to defending champion Newtown in its final contest of the regular season. Coaches Sal DeMaio and Greg Schepisi were very pleased with the effort of their team. Notable players for North Haven were Bennett DellaValle, Tariq Elmammann, and Mark Ludovico, Jr.

In their playoff opener, the Indians had no trouble with Monroe and prevailed 26-0 at home. Declan Finkle rushed for two touchdowns with Drew Grillo and Nick Magro each scoring one. Leading the shutout on defense were Joey Iamunno, Tyler Harger, Michael Masto, Sal Schepisi, Chayse Mangino, and Peter Harkins.

After downing Branford 22-12 in the semifinals, North Haven hosted Cheshire in the championship game of the Bowl Series. Despite gallant efforts from Finkle, Mateo Raiano, Magro, Grillo, and Iamunno, the Indians came up one win short of winning it all and finished 5-6 after their great postseason run. Harkins, Michael Bolduc, Masto, Tyler Harger, Chayse Mangino, Sal Schepisi, and Sal DeMaio made up a huge offensive line that paved the way to the team’s success. The Indians’ coaching staff thanks the team’s players, parents, and fans for supporting their team throughout a successful season.

North Haven’s 4th-graders earned the top seed in the playoffs by beating undefeated Newtown 19-12 in its final game of the regular season. Led by Connor Rapuano, Jason Chapman, Nick Harkins, and Matt Bostico, the Indians’ defense stopped Newtown’s passing attack.

Following a 6-0 win against Glastonbury in the first round of the playoffs, North Haven was edged 7-6 by Cheshire in the semis. North Haven scored on a 55-yard pass from Adam Pandolfi to Ryan Bernardo. The Indians were led by their offensive line featuring Albert Rotondo, Nick Pisticelli, Tyler Sullivan, JP O’Neill, and Harkins. Defensively, North Haven held Cheshire down with the exception of one lone touchdown run. The defense was anchored by Brendan Ryan, Al DeLeo, Dustin Arsich, Tyler DiMauro, and Bostico. The squad ended the season with an 8-2 overall record.