Football

The North Branford football team traveled to Hartford to square off against divisional opponent Capital-Achievement (C-A) on Oct. 29. The Thunderbirds claimed a 28-22 victory in the matchup at Hartford Public High School to improve their overall record to 3-4 with a mark of 2-3 in the Pequot Conference Sassacus Division this year.

North Branford was trailing 22-14 entering the fourth quarter, but scored the last two touchdowns of the night to emerge victorious over the Trailblazers. C-A moved to 3-4 on the season with a divisional record of 3-3 with the loss.

C-A scored the first points of the game on a 2-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. The Trailblazers then rushed for the 2-point conversion for an 8-0 lead through one.

Sophomore Tommy Hansen scored on a 6-yard touchdown run during the second quarter to cut the deficit to 8-6. C-A came back with a 30-yard TD pass and then ran in the 2-point try to take a 16-6 lead into the halftime break.

Senior quarterback Mason Provencher ran for a 2-yard touchdown for North Branford in the third quarter. Hansen followed by rushing home the 2-point conversion to make it a 16-14 game. Later in the period, the Trailblazers hit on a 49-yard touchdown pass to increase their lead to 22-14, but T-Birds’ defense thwarted the 2-point pass to keep it a one-score game heading into the final stanza.

Hansen scored on a 2-¬yard TD run in the fourth quarter to make it 22-20. C-A then stopped the 2-point run to maintain its lead. However, North Branford took the lead for good when Provencher connected with Eli Defaranos on a 13-yard touchdown strike to put the Thunderbirds up 26-22. Hansen ran for the 2-point score to make it 28-22. North Branford was able to keep the Trailblazers off the board the rest of the way to come away its third win of the year.

Provencher went 10-of-16 passing for 109 yards and 1 touchdown in the victory. He also had 8 carries for 83 yards and a TD. Hansen ran the ball 15 times for 87 yards and 2 touchdowns for the Thunderbirds.

Senior Jack Meehan had 5 receptions for 62 yards in the game. Junior Braden Burns caught 3 passes for 58 yards, while senior Ian Kamienski had 2 catches for 27 yards. In addition to his 13-yard TD reception, Defaranos also completed a 41-yard pass for the T-Birds.

Junior Luke Blomster, junior Lucian DePino, and Burns all recorded a sack on defense in the victory. Meehan had a pair of pass deflections for North Branford.

Senior Tyler Serenson made 13 tackles in the game. Senior Dradon Brindisi and Blomster had 12 tackles apiece. DePino had 8 tackles, junior Aidan Chittenden made 7 tackles; freshman AJ Sigel, Burns, and Kamienski each had 6 tackles; and senior Dylan Burwell, senior Charlie Johnson, and Meehan all had 5 tackles.

North Branford’s next game is a road tilt versus Windsor Locks-Suffield-East Granby at Suffield High School on Friday, Nov. 4 at 6:30 p.m. The T-Birds will then face Morgan on the road on Friday, Nov. 18 at 6:30 p.m., followed by their annual Thanksgiving Week game against Coginchaug/Hale-Ray/East Hampton at Colafati Field on Wednesday, Nov. 23 at 6 p.m.

Girls’ Volleyball

The North Branford girls’ volleyball squad hit the court to play a trio of matches during the final week of the 2022 regular season. The T-Birds claimed victory in two of those three contests to finish the campaign with an overall record of 7-13.

In its first matchup of the week, North Branford hosted East Hampton and took a 3-0 defeat to the Bellringers on Oct. 24. East Hampton swept the match with set scores of 25-15, 25-19, 25-19.

Then on Oct. 26, the Thunderbirds were on the road to face West Haven and defeated the Blue Devils by a 3-1 score. North Branford won the match by the final tally of 25-20, 16-25, 25-20, 26-24.

Freshman Lauren Vitarisi handed out 24 assists to go with 10 digs for North Branford in the victory. Sophomore Adriana Hills posted 20 digs with 5 aces, and senior Spencer Carroll finished the match with 14 kills and 9 digs.

Senior Adriana Franceschi notched 8 digs with 6 kills and 3 aces in the win. Sophomore Julianna Onofrio recorded 11 digs and had 6 aces, while fellow sophomore Olivia Cahill had 8 kills with 3 digs for the T-Birds.

The next day, North Branford played a road match against East Haven in its regular-season finale and posted a 3-0 shutout over the Yellowjackets in the matchup. The Thunderbirds swept the contest behind set scores of 25-10, 25-16, 25-18.

Vitarisi turned in another solid performance by notching 10 assists, 7 aces, and 6 digs in the contest. Hills punched up 10 digs for the T-Birds in the win. Carroll had 6 kills, Onofrio served up 6 aces, and Franceschi finished the match with 4 kills for North Branford.

Girls’ Soccer

The North Branford/Hale-Ray (NB/H-R) girls’ soccer team gained a split of two home games during the final week of the 2022 regular season. The T-Birds claimed a victory versus Harding-Bassick and then took a loss against Coginchaug to close out regular-season play with a record of 2-13-1 this fall.

On Oct. 25, NB/H-R posted a 10-1 home win over Harding-Bassick in a non-conference matchup. The following day, the Thunderbirds hosted Coginchaug for their regular-season finale and took a 4-0 defeat to the Blue Devils at North Branford High School.

Boys’ Soccer

The North Branford boys’ soccer team took two road losses in the final week of the regular season last week. North Branford finished the year with an overall record of 1-15.

The T-Birds began last week by taking a 5-0 loss against Platt Tech in a road game on Oct. 25. Two days later, North Branford traveled to Durham to face Coginchaug and dropped a 6-1 decision to the Blue Devils in their last match of the regular season.

Girls’ Cross Country

The North Branford girls’ cross country team sent four athletes to compete in the Class SS State Championship meet last week. The Class SS meet was held at Wickham Park in Manchester on Oct. 29.

Freshman Emma Preiss led the T-Birds’ pack taking 38th place at states. Preiss crossed the finish line with a time of 23:59 en route to the 38th-place performance.

Senior Carolyn Heffenan finished in 50th place with a time of 25:00 for at the State Championship. Senior Sophie Gambardella recorded a time of 30:02 and finished in 89th place. Fellow senior Mia Park finished in 90th place with a mark of 30:06 for the Thunderbirds.

Boys’ Cross Country

The North Branford boys’ cross country program was represented by a pair of athletes when the Class S State Championship took place at Wickham Park on Oct. 29. Freshmen Benicio Iamunno and Cameron Lacroix competed for the T-Birds at the state meet.

Iamunno finished in 85th place for North Branford at the Class S State Championship. The freshman ran a time of 20:41 to place 85th on behalf of the Thunderbirds.

Fellow freshman Lacroix also hit the trails for North Branford to run in the Class S state meet. Lacroix posted a time of 26:23 and finished in 169th place for the T-Birds.

Field Hockey

After posting a regular-season record of 15-1, the North Branford field hockey team will open postseason play by competing in the Shoreline Conference Tournament this week.

Top-seeded North Branford is facing No. 4 seed Westbrook-Old Lyme in the Shoreline Conference semifinals on Tuesday, Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. at the Indian River Complex in Clinton. With a win, the T-Birds would advance to play the winner of No. 2 seed Old Saybrook and No. 3 Valley Regional for the Shoreline title at the Indian River Complex at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 3.

Following Shorelines, North Branford will compete in the Class S State Tournament that begins on Monday, Nov. 7. The Thunderbirds have won five-straight conference titles and also claimed the Class S state crown last season.