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Howdy,

North Haven’s Nate Dodge had powered his way to the second level against Brookfield late in last Friday’s game when a defender got in his way.

Dodge, all 5-foot-10 and 170 pounds of him, didn’t slow down. He kept on trucking and slammed into the defender, causing a loud cracking sound. He continued to push himself — and defender — forward for a 17-yard gain.

Behold the glory of GOD’S FATHER’S OFFENSE, i.e. the single wing, that has become North Haven’s rugged identity.

“I’m a big fan of it,” Dodge said after the Indians’ 17-7 win over previously unbeaten Brookfield. “It’s hard-nosed football. It’s like it used to be.”

The single wing, for those of you who aren't familiar, is any formation in which the ball is directly snapped to a player not under center. It’s not exactly like the shotgun spread systems you see today as the single wing is predicated on running the ball (a lot) with power, multiple backs and, at times, using some wonderful misdirection.

Football savant Chris Brown wrote one of the better explanations of the single wing, that it “was not a big play offense. … instead relying on steady gains from its power runs. Indeed, most plays resembled rugby scrums, which made sense given football’s original roots.”

In an era where offensive linemen spend more time backpedaling into pass protection and getting hit by defenders, the single wing is the perfect offense to reward them for all their grunt work. They get to initiate contact by running, and slamming into, defenders.

“I love this offense,” center Pat Dasilva said. “Being able to ground-and-pound every week is the best thing ever.” 

North Haven is 5-0 and ranked ninth in The Day's Top 10 state coaches’ poll.

It took the Indians a full half to get their offense in gear. They ran 18 times for just 63 yards in the first half and trailed, 7-0.

The first half lasted just 42 minutes as both teams kept running the ball and running the clock.

North Haven got the ball to start the second half and went 65 yards in four plays. Dodge ran for a 28-yard touchdown to tie the game.

The Indians caught a break as they forced a turnover at their own 10-yard line with 1 minute, 31 seconds left in the quarter.

What followed was beautiful as North Haven gradually moved downfield. Dodge ran 13 yards on third-and-11 at the Indians’ 10. He threw a 19-yard pass to Albert Hooks on third-and-5 from the North Haven 39, his only pass attempt of the game.

Devan Brockamer ran 7 yards on fourth-and-1 at the Brookfield 33. Corey Hooks ran 9 yards on third-and-8 from the 24.

“We’re very, very lucky in the skill area, that we have a lot of runners, a lot of capable runners,” North Haven head coach Tony Sagnella said. “On any given night, (defenses) really don’t know who we’re going to be featuring. We don’t know who we’re going to be featuring.”

Dodge eventually ran for a 2-yard touchdown with 6:25 left in the game. The drive took 17 plays.

Spencer Hall, the hilarious mastermind of everydayshouldbesaturday.com, had a line years ago about Georgia Tech’s methodical option offense that applies to North Haven — it’s like “being eaten by a bunch of horseshoe crabs: funny and prehistorically amusing until you realize what's happening.”

Dodge finished with 17 carries for 130 yards and two touchdowns. The senior is one of many, many new starters for the Indians.

“He’s unbelievable,” Sagnella said. “He wasn’t even on my radar screen as a runner until I saw him in our spring game. I looked at him and said, ‘oh-hhhh, he has nice vision there and can cut.’ We’ve been periodically relying on him, but he does so much for us on the defensive side of the ball (at linebacker) and the kicking game. Tonight, he threw a pass. I couldn’t believe it. And he completed it.”

North Haven, after all of its first-half struggles, finished with 271 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 54 carries.

All that yardage was aided and abetted by weakside tight end Joe Vitale, weakside guard Kyle Maruca, strongside guards Eli Doheny and Jack Priebe, inside tackle Darren Major (filling in an ailing Joe Ranciato), strongside tackle Luke Maruca, strongside tight end Noah Parillie, and Dasilva. Everyone but Doheny and Major are juniors, and almost all of them are first-year starters.

"I think really the kids had to grow up a little bit (Friday night),” Sagnella said. “You’re on the road in a place like this against a very good team and you’re losing. And, as I mentioned to coming out (for the second half), the first half was fast.

“I told the kids the bus ride home is going to be longer than the second half, so you better make each play count. That was relay what I said to them at halftime. You better make each play count and it looked like they got that message. We tightened up the ship a little bit.”

• • • •

The following is written without malice — the Newtown football team doesn’t have many players who’ll run on the school’s 4x100 relay team during track season.

The Nighthawks haven’t needed to be speedy this season as they have the brawn to run over opponents’ faces.

Norwich Free Academy found out firsthand about Newtown’s raw power last Saturday. The Nighthawks ran 44 times for 363 yards and seven touchdowns in a 51-14 rout.

“We’re just trying to run the ball down every team’s throat,” senior running back Dan Mason said. “That’s our goal.”

Newtown (5-0) is sixth in The Day's poll.

It was a bit surprising to see the Nighthawks’ offense spend most of the game running out of the I-formation because it has been a spread team for so long. It’s been part of the program’s success as they went 59-3 during the regular season from 2011-16 and qualified for the CIAC LL playoffs every year.

Newtown had a down year by its standards last season as it finished 7-3 and missed states. Inexperience and youth led to growing pains but did provide a lot of on-the-job training.

The Nighthawks finished last year with a stunning 14-7 win over Masuk on Thanksgrabbing Eve. Masuk was unbeaten at the time, had been pummeling opponents by an average of 40 points, and knocked off four-time, four-time, four-time defending champion New Canaan in the Class L semifinals.

All of Newtown’s offensive linemen are back, and they’re big — center Mike Loomis (5-11, 220), guards Zach Lewis (5-11, 230) and Connor Hughes (6-2, 255), and tackles Kyle Good (6-3, 250) and Carson Ivey (6-4, 255).

“The expression (that) we tell these guys all the time (is), ‘meet me in the A-gap’,” Nighthawks head coach Bob Pattison quipped. “That’s our mentality. We’re going right at you. And the kids believe it. That’s what they want. They want to run. They come off (the field) saying, ‘hey, run iso behind me’, or, ‘run power behind me’ and so on.”

(“Meet me in the A-gap” is one of the greatest things we’ve ever heard).

• • • •

Bristol Central wasted a chance to knock off one of the top teams in the Central Connecticut Conference to end September.

Central didn’t waste its chance last Friday against Maloney.

Justus Fitzpatrick ran for a go-ahead 1-yard touchdown with five minutes, 32 seconds left as the Rams stunned unbeaten Maloney, 29-22.

Central had a late six-point lead over Middletown on Sept. 28 but was hit with a 91-yard touchdown pass, followed by a 69-yard touchdown run, and lost, 17-9.

The Rams held on this time with sophomore D’Ante Ross intercepting a pass with 1:58 remaining to ice the game.

Fitzpatrick ran THIRTY ONE times for 161 yards and two touchdowns, completed all six of his passes for 57 yards and a touchdown, and threw two conversion passes for Central (2-3). Darrell Payton added 16 carries for 54 yards and a touchdown, and Nate Rosa caught a 14-yard touchdown.

Freddy Hidalgo ran 19 times for 122 yards and a touchdown for the Spartans (4-1).

Maloney got everyone’s attention by knocking off Windsor, 26-21, to open the season (Sept. 7).

Windsor beat Central a week later, 29-14.

• • • •

BEHOLD, The Day of New London's Top 10 state coaches' poll: 1. Darien (5-0, nine first-place votes); 2. Greenwich (4-0, four first-place votes); 3. Hand (5-0); 4. St. Joseph (4-1); 5. Shelton (5-0); 6. Newtown (5-0); 7. East Hartford (5-0); 8. Ansonia (5-0); and, 9. North Haven and Southington (5-0).

• • • •

The GameTimeCT.com/New Haven Register/Hearst Inc. Monolith Top 10 media poll: 1. Darien (15 first-place votes); 2. Greenwich (12 first-place votes); 3. Hand (four first-place votes); 4. St. Joseph; 5. Shelton; 6. East Hartford; 7. Newtown; 8. Southington; 9. Naugatuck (5-0); and, 10. Bloomfield (5-0).

Bloomfield (5-0) was No. 11, and Naugatuck No. 16 in The Day coaches’ poll.

North Haven was 11th and Ansonia 12th in the media poll.

• • • •

Ned Freeman’s cold, calculating computer rankings for CalPreps: 1. Darien; 2. Greenwich; 3. St. Joseph; 4. Hand; 5. Shelton; 6. North Haven; 7. Newtown; 8. Staples (4-1); 9. Fairfield Prep (4-1); and, 10. Southington.

East Hartford was No. 18, Ansonia 21st, Bloomfield 26th, and Naugatuck 27th.

• • • •

Dig the ballot Polecat HQ filed for the GameTimeCT.com/New Haven Register/Hearst Inc. Monolith media poll:

1. Greenwich

2. Darien

3. Hand

4. Shelton

5. St. Jose

6. Newtown

7. Staples

8. Southington

9. New Britain

10. East Hartford

11. New Canaan

12. Fairfield Prep

13. North Haven

14. Middletown

15. Sheehan: We needed a new team after Maloney’s loss. Sheehan was the highest rated team at CalPreps (11th) that wasn’t on our ballot, and we’re marks for strength of schedule and what-not, so, yeah. Titans lost to Fairfield Prep, 23-14, on Sept. 28. That Prep team kept Shelton’s high-powered offense out of the end zone in a 10-7 loss. The Gaels’ scored the go-ahead touchdown on a punt return in which David Yakowicz caught the Jesuits’ sleeping. We considered Berlin which, like Sheehan, will quailfy for the Class M playoffs again provided both teams don’t disband and start new lives as loggers in British Columbia.

• • • •

NOTABLES~!

Phoenix Billings completed 11 of 14 passes for 207 yards and two touchdowns and ran six times for 108 yards and a score as Hand put a beatdown on West Haven last Friday, 47-6. Colin McCabe also had 12 carries for 152 yards and three touchdowns, four tackles and a sack for the Tigers (5-0). TEAMDAY~! has yearly results dating back to 1982, and we cannot find an instance in which anyone beat the Blue Devils by 40-or-more points. We don’t care if they fielded a team of sloths, seahorses and Gila monsters — NO ONE beats the Westies that badly.

Jake Roberts (no, not that Jake Roberts) completed 8 of 20 passes for 112 yards and three touchdowns and ran 12 times for 132 yards and a score as Shelton squished Masuk last Friday, 38-10. Nick Andrade kicked a 34-yard field goal and made all four of his extra points for the Gaels (5-0). .. Nick Helbig had seven tackles, two sacks and two safeties for Fitch in its 23-6 win over Wilbur Cross last Friday. The Falcons (3-2) allowed just 37 yards. Kennard Tate ran for an 11-yard touchdown and threw a 10-yard touchdown to Kiev Lucas for the Falcons (3-2) and Oliver Banks and Dan Mojica both recovered a fumble.

SHAKESPEARE Rodriguez caught a pass from Louis Ferri on a fake punt and took it for a 65-yard touchdown with 55 seconds left as Lyman Hall rallied to beat Ledyard last Friday, 20-13. Lyman Hall trailed 13-0 after three quarters. Rodriguez had four catches for 101 yards and two touchdowns for the Trojans (3-2). Brayden Grim scored on a 22-yard run for the Colonels (2-3) and Jaiden Bickham kicked field goals of 21 and 28 yards.

James Goetz ran for 145 yards and three touchdowns and threw for 111 yards and a score as Weston downed East Lyme last Friday, 34-11. Weston is 4-1. Spencer Duthrie (five catches, 73 yards) caught a 15-yard touchdown from Noah Perry for the Vikings (1-4). ... Luke Desaulnier completed 8 of 13 passes for 170 yards and three touchdowns and made all seven of his extra points as Killingly rolled Stonington last Friday, 49-0. Josh Montpelier had five catches for 115 yards and caught all of Desaulnier’s touchdown passes in the first half for Killingly (4-1) and Nsaiah Harriet had six carries for 43 yards and two touchdowns, five tackles, and a sack.

John Iaropoli and Finn Duran helped Fairfield Prep strafe Cheshire last Friday, 28-14. Iaropoli completed 19 of 24 passes for 272 yards and four touchdowns for the Jesuits (4-1) and Duran had six catches for 137 yards and three scores. Jake McAlinden scored on a 95-yard kickoff return and 93-yard run for the Rams (0-5). ... Xzavier Reyes rushed for 171 yards and four touchdowns on seven carries (yes) as Middletown mangled Farmington last Friday, 49-7. Tyreece Lumpkin added four carries for 52 yards and a score and had two catches for 48 yards and a score for the Blue Dragons (5-0). Jonta’e Dempsey also completed 5-of-10 passes for 116 yards and two touchdowns.

Shaun Hunter ran 10 times for 110 yards and two touchdowns as Windsor erased E.O. Smith last Friday, 35-0. Gabriel Bryan scored on a 70-yard interception return and a 3-run, Kobe Foster had 10 tackles and two sacks, and Jadyn Fleeting had three sacks for the Warriors (4-1). ... Sheehan got its pound of flesh from Barlow last Friday. Wes Terzi completed 15 of 18 passes for 290 yards and four touchdowns as the Titans mashed Barlow last Friday, 49-6, avenging last year’s Class M quarterfinal loss. Jake Smith caught a 45-yard touchdown pass, scored on a 1-yard run, and returned a blocked punt for a touchdown for Sheehan (4-1). Jordan Davis added five catches for 114 yards and two touchdowns.

Dalton Modehn ran 15 times for 125 yards and four touchdowns as Haddam-Killingworth trucked Morgan last Friday, 63-22. GOD'S OFFENSE. Tobey Callender had 10 carries for 117 yards and caught touchdowns of 50 and 42 yards, threw a 24-yard touchdown and had 10 tackles and a sack  for H-K (5-1). James Murphy also completed his two passes for 92 yards and two touchdowns. J.P. Nye completed 24 of 42 passes for 318 yards and two touchdowns for the Huskies (1-4). Bryce Thomas also scored on a 44-yard kickoff return.

Sean Kelly ruined Pomperaug’s night as he paced Branford to a 35-15 win last Friday. Kelly completed 10 of 12 passes for 198 yards and three touchdowns and ran 13 times for 46 yards and two scores for the Hornets (4-1). ... Jackson Zalinsky completed 10 of 21 passes for 130 yards and three touchdowns in Notre Dame of West Haven’s 21-6 win over Xavier last Friday.

Roberto Salas ran 30 times for 265 yards and a touchdown to help carry Platt to a 26-19 win over Wethersfield last Friday. Lorenzo Sanson threw two touchdown passes to Jake Baker for Platt (4-1). ... Mike Plaskon ran 15 times for 133 yards and three touchdowns and caught a 23-yard touchdown from Zach Smith as Law smote Stratford, 35-0.

Devon Chykow caught a 14-yard touchdown and returned a pooch kick for a 63-yard touchdown in Griswold’s 20-8 win over Windham last Friday. Nate Barbosa-Torres ran 20 times for 102 yards and a touchdown and set the Windham school career rushing record (4,198 yards). The record was previous held by 1972 graduate Hank Reed (4,111 yards).

• • • •

Thanks for reading. More soon.

Adios....