Schools

North Branford Football Beats Hyde in Thanksgiving Eve Football Action

In the regular-season finale, the T-Birds struck early and often for a 34-13 victory.

The T-Birds certainly carried some momentum heading into their , having won eight in a row after dropping their . North Branford continued its dominance in the regular-season finale with a 34-13 win to finish 9-1 and looking ahead to states.

"We came in here pretty confident about our abilities, but Hyde is always a rivalry and comes out and plays us well," said North Branford Coach Mark Basil. "This was a measuring stick for us to make sure our guys are focused on our opponent at hand and not looking beyond anybody. Now we could set our sights on the big show that we’ll hopefully be in."

North Branford took advantage of that momentum from the first whistle, scoring on its first possession as quarterback Brandan Basil capped the first march down the field with a 19-yard pass to Joe DeLucia. Ryan Magnotti’s kick was good for a 7-0 lead less than five minutes into the contest.

Find out what's happening in North Branfordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The T-Birds added to their lead on their next possession, calmly moving down the field behind several long passes, including two to DeLucia and one to Magnotti. On 4th-and-8, the Howling Wolves charged Basil, who twisted around them and sprinted forward to make a 39-yard touchdown pass to Magnotti with less than a minute before the second quarter.

Hyde started the second with some big plays including a run by Matthew Sheffield that was stopped by Steve Saunders and Devan Dolphin looking to break down the sideline with Caron pushing him out of bounds.

Find out what's happening in North Branfordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The Wolves pushed it to the 16-yard line before a fumble backed them up to the 22 on second down. Kevin Jones handed it off to Dolphin, who snuck through the middle to put Hyde on the board, 14-7.

Basil tried out the running game, handing off to Dale Hausman before he launched a long pass that was picked off by Elijah Nixon to give Hyde possession at the North Branford 45.

Hyde took advantage, pushing toward the end zone with North Branford’s Caron, Eric Berlepsch and Gary Falanga coming up with big defensive stops. Jones was on his way to score, but Caron pulled him down at the five-yard line.

North Branford couldn’t hold Hyde back there, though, as Akeem Berry punched it through on 2nd-and goal from the three. The kick was wide as Hyde pulled within one at 14-13 with just more than five minutes to play before the half.

Basil continued to target Magnotti and Onofrio to get within 30 yards of another score. After a Hyde defensive pass interference on what looked to be a sure North Branford TD, Basil launched a pass deep into the end zone where DeLucia snagged it in the back corner. Magnotti’s kick was good for a 21-13 lead with 3:00 before halftime.

Hyde’s Nixon then looked to return the kick all the way before Magnotti dove for his ankles, tripping him up to stop Hyde from a sure score. 

A Hyde fumble recovered by Mitch Mongillo set up a 1st-and-10 for the T-Birds from their 28 to end the first half with an eight-point lead.

North Branford put Hyde 4-and-out to start the second half, forcing Hyde to punt from the six-yard line. The kick was blocked by Christian Perrotti and Falanga recovered the ball in the end zone for a touchdown. Magnotti’s kick was good for a 28-13 lead just 2:15 into the second half.

"This senior [Perrotti], who works harder than anybody in the weight room, had a chance to come back [in his first game after recovering from a broken leg] and get on the field and get something out of his senior season," said Basil. "I’m thrilled for him."

Just three minutes later on Hyde’s 3rd-and-long, Caron picked off Hyde’s Jones and ran it in for another North Branford score. Magnotti’s kick was blocked by Jeremy Brown as the T-Birds went up 34-13.

The T-Birds remained strong in the final frame with Bob Miller and Falanga making several big tackles and Magnotti beating a Hyde player on a long pass for an interception.

With less than three minutes to go, Basil connected with Hausman for a big gain to set up 1st-and-10 at the Hyde 26-yard line. The T-Birds went for a field goal that went just wide to end the contest with a 34-13 win for North Branford and a 9-1 regular-season record.

"Damoy Hunter was getting double- and triple-teamed inside, which allowed our linebackers to make plays–those are the things that go unseen," said Basil. "Ryan Magnotti played a great game in all facets–kickoffs, offense, defense; and you’ve got your playmaker Joey DeLucia, who doesn’t touch the ball a whole lot, but he finds the end zone so there’s good balance there."


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here