NORTH HAVEN — Tony Sagnella, from time to time, ribs his North Haven football team about their stature.
“I tell them they look pretty ordinary,” Sagnella deadpanned. “Sometimes I tease them and go, ‘Where’s our varsity,’ because we’re not big up front.”
The Nighthawks defense had to play exceptionally tough on Friday night, giving up a lot of size to Cheshire’s offensive linemen who, once they get to college, can easily find jobs as bouncers.
North Haven spent much of its night on defense but made enough stops to beat the Rams 35-21 in a Southern Connecticut Conference game at Vanacore Field.
“They were bigger than us,” Nighthawks senior co-captain Nate Eggerling said. “Pretty much every team we face is bigger than us.”
Eggerling scored on a 59-yard interception return with 1 minute, 34 seconds left to ice the game for North Haven (3-1, 2-1).
“We like to accept that challenge,” Eggerling continued. “(Cheshire’s) line is really good, really big, but we just put our heads down and work.”
Ordinarily, the Nighthawks use their Single Wing offense to gnaw away at a defense a few rushing yards at a time, eating up clock and allowing their many two-way players to pound away at a defense rather than be pounded on.
North Haven scored too quickly to do that against the Rams (2-2, 2-1), though. It needed just 12 plays to score four touchdowns, all run in by sophomore Artie McCormack IV (12 carries, 180 yards).
The Nighthawks finished with 34 plays for 349 yards.
Cheshire, meanwhile, was the methodical team, running 68 plays for 305 yards.
Junior Michael Chopak ran 30 times for 115 yards and two touchdowns for the Rams while senior Jack Rosier completed 16 of 24 passes for 133 yards with a touchdown.
Cheshire converted four times on fourth down in the first half alone.
The game was tied at 14 when the Rams went for it again on fourth-and-1 at their own 45 early in the third quarter.
North Haven senior Emeka Dimpka got through the Rams’ offensive line and tackled Chopak for a 1-yard loss.
McCormack ran for an 8-yard touchdown to put the Nighthawks ahead for good with 6:35 left in the third quarter.
“If they believe in themselves and each other, play hard, and they continue to work in practice, they can do something extraordinary,” Sagnella said. “For us to beat Cheshire is an extraordinary outcome for those guys cause of where we were coming from. Not too many of them played a year ago on the varsity level.”
Player of the Game
Artie McCormack IV, North Haven: The Nighthawks defense was the game’s big story, but they still needed points, and the sophomore kept providing them.
Quotable
“They’ve got big guys, big line. Even their receivers and backs are physical. So we just had to stay in it and just keep fighting every play.” — Artie McCormack IV, North Haven.
North Haven 35, Cheshire 21
(At Vanacore Field, North Haven)
CHESHIRE 7 7 0 7—21NORTH HAVEN 14 0 14 7—35
NH—Artie McCormack IV 12 run (Eli Reynolds kick)C—Michael Chopak 7 run (Tim Reinhard kick)NH—McCormack 74 run (Reynolds kick)C—Chopak 8 run (Reinhard kick)NH—McCormack 8 run (Reynolds kick)NH—McCormack 51 run (Reynolds kick)C—Jacob Trocchi 3 pass from Jack Roiser (Reinhard kick)NH—Nate Eggerling 59 interception return (Reynolds kick)Team records: NH 3-1 (2-1 SCC); C 2-2 (2-1).