Football Falls to Ansonia, But Rallies to Beat Torrington

The Woodland Hawks football squad has amassed a 2-3 record in its first five games this season, including a 1-1 mark in its last two contests. Last Friday, October 3, the Hawks fell to two-time defending Class S and NVL Champion Ansonia, 40-6. However, they rebounded with a huge victory over Torrington on October 10, 21-20, to improve to 2-0 in the NVL Copper Division, which is tied for first place with Naugatuck.

Woodland got off to a good start against Ansonia, as junior quarterback Steve Petracca hooked up with senior wideout Zak Favoccia on an 11-yard touchdown pass to make it 6-0. But the Chargers proceeded to score 40 unanswered points, including four scores by Tyrell Moore and the same number of touchdown passes by Ron Bilodeau, to take a 40-6 victory and drop the Hawks to 1-3 on the year. It marked the fourth consecutive meeting between the rivals that Ansonia claimed victory (Woodland hasn't beaten Ansonia since a 35-28 win in 2005).

But perhaps the more important game to the Hawks was the following week at Torrington, a fellow Copper contender. After trailing for nearly the entire game, senior running back Jon Murren plunged into the end zone from four yards out with four minutes to go, and junior kicker Brandon Fowler added his third extra point to make it a 21-20 game. The Woodland defense successfully held the Red Raiders from rallying back to secure the important victory.

Murren, battling an ankle injury suffered in the season opener at Wolcott, had two scores on the night and over 100 yards rushing once again to lead the Hawks to the win. Even though Woodland sports a sub-.500 record, the Hawks lead the Copper Division with a 2-0 record (wins over Sacred Heart and Torrington). Due to the wide-open nature of the division this year (Holy Cross and Kennedy are both 1-4) it is a strong possibility that Woodland can repeat as Copper Champions if they can beat the Crusaders and Eagles, but more importantly handle the co-leading Naugatuck Greyhounds.

Next up is another road game for Woodland in a rare Saturday afternoon game. The Hawks travel to Wilby High School on Saturday, October 18, for a 2:30 PM kickoff. Following the trip, Woodland returns home for a key Copper matchup with Holy Cross on October 24, followed by a Halloween nighter against Crosby. The aforementioned key contest against the Hounds will be on November 7 in Naugatuck.

In addition, the broadcasts of the last four games will be available here on WRHSOnline.net this week.