The North Haven football team has dominated its competition all season long, and so it came as little surprise that the Nighthawks punched their first postseason ticket in four years in emphatic, convincing fashion.

North Haven traveled to face its rival Amity for the pair’s annual Thanksgiving week match up. The Nighthawks scored a 55-14 rout over the Spartans on Nov. 23 to cap off an 8-2 regular season and clinch a spot in the Class MM State Playoffs, their first appearance since 2018. The Nighthawks finished the regular season outscoring their foes by a whopping 320-76 margin.

North Haven took an early lead by nabbing the first three touchdowns of the night and never looked back on the way to the win. In the series between the two teams, North Haven has now captured

13 straight contests and is 16-9-1 overall.

Head Coach Anthony Sagnella noted that North Haven overcame a slow start to the season last fall and came ever so close to entering the postseason fold, which made it all the more sweeter to savor this triumph.

“The goal for this group of kids was to get into the playoffs and compete,” said Sagnella. “We fell short last year after we started 0-4 and then needed to win our final six games to get in but we only won five. The group looked at how close we were a year ago, and I told them that the schedule this year wouldn’t be easier. We wanted to be in a position this year where we could control our own destiny for the playoffs, and they seized the moment.”

Senior captain Jeff Karavas exploded on the ground for five touchdowns and 170 yards on only

13 carries. Elsewhere in the ground game, sophomore Joey Mastroianni added 74 yards on three rushes, and junior Adam Pandolfi scooped up 40 yards on four attempts. On special teams, senior Declan Finkle kicked through five extra points on six attempts, and then junior Eric Vetrano added another pair of PAT kicks.

The Nighthawks finished the first quarter up 21-0 after a trio of TDs. First, junior Camren Thompson ran the ball into the end zone from four yards out at the 8:21 mark. It was followed up by one and 33-yard scoring scampers by Karavas with 6:42 and 1:03 to play in the opening period, respectively.

Amity, finishing 3-7 overall, finally stopped the Nighthawks’ onslaught with a 1-yard TD rush in the second stanza with 3:41 remaining in the half. North Haven, though, went to the break up 34-7 thanks to another long run to paydirt by Karavas (this one 55 yards at the 2:43 juncture) and a short 1-yard spurt by junior Trysten Dos 87 ticks before halftime.

The intermission did little to stop the North Haven momentum. In the third quarter, Karavas finished off his five-TD night with 17 and 2-yard touchdown sprints to put his squad up 48-7 as the game headed to the final frame with the scores coming at the 11:38 and 7:20 points of the third period.

Amity responded with a 1-yard run for a score as 11:13 remained in the game, yet it was not enough, as the Nighthawks finished the evening with a 35-yard TD dash by Mastroianni with 4:58 left in the contest, and then played down to the final horn and the postseason berth.

On defense, senior captain Brian Lastomirsky and Thompson each had 10 total tackles, plus senior Chayse Mangino had eight tackles with one for a loss of yards. Mangino and senior Yousef Gebril tallied a sack apiece.

For the regular season, North Haven was equally proficient on both sides of the ball. The Nighthawks’ stingy defense allowed only 7.6 points per game (76 total with 4 shutouts). In the program’s history since a 10-game schedule was implemented 50 years ago, only the 1989 squad permitted fewer points, when it allowed 49 with five shutouts.

“We are built to play the scheme we play on defense,” Coach Sagnella said. “We do not have guys who are overweight, which is important. We have good tacklers who play with discipline. The idea is to be in the right places with our run and pass fits. The success also comes from staying focused in practice and film sessions.”

Not to be outdone on the other side of the ball, the offense has exploded for a rousing rate of 32 tallies per contest behind a deep and well-rounded group that showcase talent at every level of the turf.

“We have five or six kids capable of running the ball, and they can throw and pass, too,” said Sagnella on the team’s offensive prowess. “We had issues upfront on the offensive line coming into the year. Our skill carried us a bit before the line caught up. Our goals are to be more physical than the opponent, and then control the line of scrimmage and the clock. We have a very good kicking game where we can shift the field position in our favor. We work hard at minimizing turnovers and penalties. This whole team has really bought in and there is no ego. These guys tend to be only about winning the game, which creates a real pleasant atmosphere.”

In the regular season, North Haven scored decisions over Simsbury and Platt (both 49-0), Shelton (18-10), Harding (55-0), Xavier (29-7), Cheshire (10-0), Hand (35-14), and Amity (55-14). The Nighthawks’ lone two losses came versus Notre Dame-West Haven (14-7) and Fairfield Prep (17-13).

For the All-SCC Tier 1 Team, North Haven saw representation by junior Brendan Ryan (offensive line) and Karavas at running back. Defensively, Lastomirsky (linebacker) and Pandolfi in the backfield made the team.

Now, the Nighthawks embark on the postseason. In the quarterfinals of the Class MM State Playoffs, North Haven is seeded fifth and will travel to No. 4 and undefeated Thames River (10-0) on Tuesday, Nov. 29 at Grasso Tech High School at 6:30 p.m. A win there would put North Haven in the semifinals against the winner of top-seeded SMSA (10-0) and 8th-seeded Wilton (7-3) on Sunday, Dec. 4 at 12:30 p.m. The finals will be contested on Saturday, Dec. 10.

“The nice thing is that we don’t need to change from who we’ve become,” said Sagnella on the postseason approach. “We need to execute and control field position. The kicking game needs to be on par. We also need to play good defense, because you will always face top offenses in the postseason. Offensively, we have to control the line of scrimmage, because that will go a long way to help us be successful.”