NORTH HAVEN — T.J. Wright said the season the St. Joseph-Trumbull football team had last year “wasn’t us.”
Cadets’ head coach Joe Della Vecchia acknowledged it “was a down year” for the proud program.
So when you open the 2024 season on the road against the reigning two-time Class MM state champions, it’s a chance to make a statement. And St. Joseph did just that.
Wright caught the go-ahead touchdown pass in the third quarter for the Cadets, who shut out North Haven in the second half and won 17-7 in the Connecticut High School Football Alliance game at Vanacore Field Friday night.
North Haven is ranked sixth in the GameTimeCT preseason top 10 poll,
“Everybody was saying that we had a down year. It was disrespectful to us. We took that personal,” Wright said. “This one right here means a lot to us.”
Wright caught the 46-yard scoring pass from quarterback H.T. Jones. 1:34 left in the third quarter to put St. Joseph ahead 14-7.
“We were trusting that play. All week we went over that play,” Wright said. “(The defense) came down on the other receiver and I just finished it off/ Great pass, great protection by my O-line and I just finished it off.”
Jones said that Wright “was that wide open, chucked it to him, it was just there. That helped us mentally, too. We were just on fire after that play.”
Jake Rios, who caught a 93-yard scoring strike in the second quarter, kicked a 22-yard field goal in the fourth quarter to put the Cadets up 10 with 7:57 left.
North Haven drove into St. Joseph territory on the next possession but facing a 4th-down-and-11 situation, the Nighthawks punted. North Haven coach Anthony Sagnella said both of his quarterbacks, Joey Mastroianni and Nate Eggerling, were cramping and said Mastroianni couldn't plant and throw the ball at that exact point of the game.
“Our tank emptied quickly with the cramping,” Sagnella said.
North Haven was able to recover a fumble on the very next play from scrimmage. But the drive ended when Jules Jacques intercepted Mastroianni’s pass off a tip.
“This is huge for us going forward,” Della Vecchia said.
There were plenty of stars to give the game ball to, but that ball went to senior Connot Fahey. Della Vecchia said the former quarterback missed last season with a torn hamstring and now will miss the season after breaking his leg in a scrimmage against Notre Dame-West Haven.
“He’s a great kid. He’s our leader. He holds the team together,” Della Vecchia said.
Both St. Joseph and North Haven are playing in Class M this season. So there is potential for a playoff rematch come December.
“We’ve got a lot of growing to do. We will learn from this,” Sagnella said. “We'll harden up as a blocking team. That will come. It’s just a different team right now.”
Player of the Game
T.J. Wright, St. Joseph: The receiver caught a 46-yard touchdown pass late in the third quarter to put the Cadets ahead for good.
Quotable
“He just ran by the kid, HT threw a strike.” — St. Joseph coach Joe Della Vecchia on Wright’s touchdown.
St. Joseph 17, North Haven 7
(at Vanacore Field, North Haven) ST. JOSEPH 0 7 7 3—17 N. HAVEN 0 7 0 0—7 SJ—Jake Rios 93 pass from HT Jones (Rios kick) NH—Joe Mastroianni 79 run (Allen Ramirez kick) SJ—T.J. Wright 46 pass from Jones (Rios kick) SJ—Rios 22 FG
Sep 13, 2024
Joe Morelli
Sportswriter
I am a sportswriter for the New Haven Register and GameTimeCT. I cover boys basketball, girls soccer and golf of all ages throughout the state. I have been with the New Haven Register since 1997.