NORTH BRANFORD — The North Branford football team's game against Granby/Canton started as a defensive battle Friday night. Both sides stopped the run and the pass for a scoreless first half.
North Branford coach Anthony Salvati knew adjustments had to be made at halftime, and the Thunderbirds responded.
After allowing a score on the opening drive of the second half, North Branford answered with four touchdowns to beat Granby/Canton 26-6 at Colafati field.
“We made some personnel adjustments, and we just started executing up front,” Salvati said. “We made some minor adjustments in the blocking scheme, and it helped out big time in the second half.”
North Branford quarterback Matteo Anderson ran for touchdowns of 21 and 62 yards, and running back Jack Sigel scored on runs of 3 and 7 yards to help the Thunderbirds improve to 8-1.
Like Salvati, both sophomores credited the offensive line for their breakout performances in the second half.
“Honestly, we just ran right up the middle,” Sigel said. “The O-line won that game pretty much.”
One of the key blockers in the middle was freshman center James Kavanaugh, who played in North Branford’s youth league and won two championships. Kavanaugh said that it means a lot to contribute to the Thunderbirds’ success this season.
“It feels really great, especially to do it as a freshman with my friends, and to just do it for the seniors (juniors and sophomores) around me,” Kavanaugh said. “It feels really good.”
After Granby/Canton opened the scoring on a 3-yard touchdown run by running back Frank Briggs, North Branford showed it was a different team coming out for the second half.
On the ensuing drive, Sigel advanced the offense down the field on consecutive running plays, putting the Thunderbirds on the 21-yard line. Anderson then called an option play and broke loose for the touchdown, making it 6-6.
After the defense forced a punt on Granby/Canton's next drive, Anderson called his own number again and ran for a 62-yard score on a third-and-4 for a 13-6 advantage.
“We played our hearts out after a 6-0 deficit and just played some smashmouth football in that second half,” said Anderson, who also played free safety.
“We just kept the momentum on, and everything was just working well in our favor,” Anderson said. “We just kept on hitting them and hitting them.”
After Sigel extented the lead with a touchdown late in the fourth quarter, the Thunderbirds recovered the ball on the ensuing kickoff after a line-drive kick deflected off a Granby/Canton player. Sigel scored again with 41 seconds left to seal the game.
North Branford, ranked third in Class S, faces Coginchaug on Wednesday to close out the regular season, hoping to avenge last season's loss to the Blue Devils.
Players of the Game
Matteo Anderson, North Branford: Anderson ran for two second-half touchdown to put the Thunderbirds up for good.
Jack Sigel, North Branford: Sigel pounded the rock consistently for first downs to help set up Anderson’s touchdown runs. He added two late scores to seal the win.
Quotable
“We’re hungry. We haven’t beaten (Coginchaug) since I’ve been here, and that’s one thing that we want to check off the list, but we’ve just got to go out there and execute and play North Branford football.” — Coach Anthony Salvati on next week’s game against Coginchaug.
North Branford 26, Granby/Canton 6
GRANBY/CANTON 0 0 6 0—6NORTH BRANFORD 0 0 6 20—26
GC— Frank Briggs 3 run (kick blocked)NB— Matteo Anderson 21 run (kick blocked)NB— Anderson 62 run (Owen Brustman kick)NB— Sigel 3 run (Brustman kick)NB— Sigel 7 run (kick failed)Team records: North Branford 8-1; Granby/Canton 6-4.