Home Care In Wilton, CT

MONROE — Hearing the year brought a soft “wow” from Todd Woodring. His Wilton football team had just shut down Masuk 35-10 in the Class MM semifinals through Sunday’s rain showers at Benedict Field and had earned the right to be the first Wilton team in a CIAC football final since 1995.

“It’s awesome. I’ve dreamed about it since I was 10 years old back in youth football,” said Woodring, a senior, who took the first of Wilton’s four interceptions back for a first-quarter touchdown that handed momentum to the Warriors.

“I didn’t think we’d ever get here. It’s crazy to think about.”

The third-seeded Warriors (10-2), ranked 10th in the GameTimeCT Top 10 Poll, will face fifth-seeded, fifth-ranked and defending champion North Haven (10-2) in the final on Saturday, 10:30 a.m., at Central Connecticut State University’s Arute Stadium in New Britain.

This will be Wilton’s fifth trip to a CIAC final. It won Class L in 1978 and 1985, and it lost in the 1984 Class MM final and the 1995 Class M title game. The Warriors didn’t make the playoffs again until 2019.

“When I first got here (taking over in 2018), the first thing I did was try to prepare a speech for the first time I beat Ridgefield, because I didn’t know what I was going to say,” Wilton coach E.J. DiNunzio said.

“The second thing I did was I said I’ve got to get my kids to the point where they understand they can be a New Canaan, they can be a Darien (perennial contenders), but it takes work. It takes work in the offseason. It takes work during the season. ... They bought in.”

North Haven beat Wilton 14-7 in last year’s Class MM semifinals on the way to the title. The Warriors won a regular-season game 28-7 against the Nighthawks in 2021.

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Masuk, seeking its first trip to a final since 2017, finishes 9-3 at the end of a season full of drama.

Head coach Steve Christy has been on administrative leave since July as the town board of education initiated an investigation into the program.

Assistant coach Eric Giordano was also on leave, then resigned in November, which brought a walkout from other coaches that nearly led the team to forfeit at least one game and possibly the whole rest of their season. They’d won the past four to get here.

“This year has probably been the worst and best year of football I’ve ever had,” Masuk senior Jason Champagne said.

Champagne helped the Panthers into the red zone on the first drive of the game, but they had to settle for Jackson Zylick’s field goal.

On Masuk’s third drive, Woodring ran a pickoff back for a score.

“I didn’t even think I was going to catch it, first of all,” Woodring said. “I was running right (and thought) OK, I’m just going to go down here. I saw a lane to my left: Oh my God, I was gassed after that.

“I think that really sparked us. They were moving it again. We just needed that.”

The first of two Joey Hagerty touchdown passes to Cole Stevenson stretched the lead to 14-3 at halftime. And Wilton’s defense gave Masuk little except a 94-yard Shane Walker touchdown in the third quarter.

“We pretty much locked No. 14 down, Jason Champagne, hell of a player, good things for him, but we’re the best defense in the state,” Woodring said.

“The D-line, up front, we really shut them down. There were no holes, squeezing gaps, and the linebackers filled in, all 11 to the ball.”

Player of the Game

Senior linebacker Todd Woodring’s pick-six turned the tide in Wilton’s favor, and he helped the defense contain Masuk’s potent offense.

Quotable 1

“We’re not the biggest, not the strongest, but we definitely have the most heart out of anybody. We fought to the last end of this. It’s been a rough season. You can say all the excuses you want, but we battled to the end.” —Masuk senior Jason Champagne

Quotable 2

“I just told the kids, listen, you don’t get many names come out of Wilton. ... We play as a whole, 11 on defense, 11 on offense, 11 on specials, and we play our butts off. I’m so proud of those kids.” —Wilton coach E.J. DiNunzio

Wilton 35, Masuk 10

CULTURE CRAWL CT 2024 EVENT RELEASED!

Partnership between Music Theater of CT, Wilton Playshop and ACT of CT

Music Theater of CT, Wilton Playshop, and ACT of CT are pleased to announce the 3rd Culture Crawl! Past events have been successful partnerships across Fairfield County towns with about equal attendance from each town bringing people back to the theater to support businesses in each location. In addition to the price of the ticket, each theater receives a donation to continue to support regional theater and the arts! Crawlers at last year’s event shared that their favorite parts of the Crawl were experiencing new theater, the pre-show reception with other Crawlers, and the SWAG bag packed with fun gifts from local area merchants.

It’s time to Crawl again! Grab a friend and make plans to head back to live theater this spring. This year will offer a three-theater crawl spanning Norwalk, Wilton, and Ridgefield! The dates are as follows:

Wilton Playshop:

It’s Only A Play

Friday, February 16th 2024, 8pm

Reception at 7:15pm

Music Theater of CT

The Legend of Georgia McBride

Friday, March 1st 2024, 8pm

Reception at 7:15pm

ACT of CT Ridgefield:

Million Dollar Quartet

Thursday, March 14th 2024, 7pm

Each package includes a ticket to the show listed on the above dates and times. Also included is a welcome reception with refreshments before the show and a SWAG bag filled with gifts and coupons from local town merchants. Local restaurants will also offer discounts to encourage attendees to sample some of the wonderful dining options offered in each town.

Tickets are on sale on the website and there are a limited number so make plans for a night out in Wilton, Norwalk, and Ridgefield this Winter by visiting: www.culturecrawlct.org

Tickets are offered at $115 per ticket and include all three shows in addition to the SWAG Bag (Last year valued at over $500 each!) and pre-show reception at each show.

Sponsorships are also available and are offered at NO COST to any business or service provider located in Norwalk, Wilton, Ridgefield or the immediate surrounding area. For information on sponsorship, please email [email protected].

About the Venues:

Music Theatre of Connecticut is nestled in the vibrant community of Norwalk, CT. Established as a haven for musical theater enthusiasts and performers, Music Theatre of Connecticut showcases top-notch musical productions in a charming setting.

Founded in 1937, The Wilton Playshop had the vision of importing New York talent for its

alfresco greek-style theater.

ACT (A Contemporary Theatre) of Connecticut located in Ridgefield, CT presents limited engagement runs of well-known musicals, as well as world-premiere productions by the next generation of writers and composers. In addition to fully produced mainstage productions, ACT of CT’s programming also includes a New Works Series, a Broadway Unplugged Series, and an extensive theater education program.

For more information:

[email protected]

www.culturecrawlct.org

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WILTON — The Wilton football team heard the rumblings, saw Shelton’s place in the GameTimeCT Poll and didn’t get much love from the pick’ems.

In the end, none of that mattered.

Wilton delivered a loud statement on the brink of the CIAC playoffs by shutting down a potent Shelton team 28-7 in a Connecticut High School Football Alliance game Friday night at Fujitani Field.

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The Warriors defense held the eighth-ranked Gaels to 107 yards of total offense, including just 33 in the first half, the majority of that coming on a 67-yard touchdown run in the third quarter by David Dojlidko, a play that came with Shelton down 21-0.

Linebacker Todd Woodring, who has added the role of running back to his repertoire the past two weeks, scored on three short touchdown runs, giving him five scores in the past two games.

It’s a role he’s thoroughly enjoying.

“I was a running back in youth,” Woodring said. “They haven’t given me the ball in four years and they’re giving me the ball now? I’m eating. All credit to the O-line opening holes.”

While both teams had unofficially qualified for the CIAC playoffs before the game had started — Wilton in Class MM and Shelton in Class L — the performance could be a great springboard into the postseason for the Warriors.

“Before the game we said if we are going to go places in the playoffs, we have to win our home game tonight,” Wilton coach EJ DiNunzio said. “I think Shelton is one of the top five teams in the state, but my kids have kind of put everything together over the last three or four weeks, and they’ve been playing playoff football ever since that loss to New Canaan. And it showed tonight.”

On the other side of the field was an obviously frustrated Shelton squad, which had won four straight before running into the Wilton bulldozer,

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“The worst thing that we can do is turn on each other now,” Shelton coach Mike DeFelice said. “We just have to learn from this. We came in here, we had some things we thought we could do and they shut it down on us.

“We just have to play better football, plain and simple.”

Wilton scored on its first possession when quarterback Joey Hagerty connected with Cole Stevenson on a seven-yard touchdown pass.

But even though the Warriors were efficient running the ball, they couldn’t tack on any more points before halftime. A 17-play, 86-yard drive that chewed up much of the second quarter came up empty on a missed field goal just before halftime.

The third quarter was different as Hagerty hit Stevenson for a 55-yard reception to the Shelton one-yard line, and Woodring steamrolled in for a 14-0 lead.

Wooding added another TD later in the quarter, before Dojlidko broke out for his long TD run. The Shelton back, who had been averaging better than 125 yards per game, was held to 63 on 13 carries.

Woodring, who carried the ball 11 times for 29 yards, added the final TD with 1:51 remaining.

The decision to try Woodring as a running back has added a new weapon for Wilton.

“He’s a linebacker in our defensive drills and we didn’t have a running back to run the ball, so Todd said ‘give me the ball’.” DiNunzio said. “We watched him run people over and nobody could tackle him. So we told him we’re going to put him in on goal line and he loved it. He’s a super athlete, he’s a winner and a gamer. That’s true of all my kids.”

Player of the game

Todd Woodring, Wilton: The senior linebacker was part of a powerful defensive effort by the Warriors, and scored three touchdowns on offense.

Quotable

“We felt a little hate on our end. We didn’t really get a lot of people picking us and we showed the whole state what we can do.” - Wilton senior Todd Woodring

Wilton 28, Shelton 7

NEW BRITAIN — When talking about North Haven football, offense always comes to mind. Defense and special teams should quickly join the conversation.

Behind the defensive play of Jake McCreven, Camren Thompson, and company, and the punting of Adam Pandolfi to complement a methodical offense, fifth-seeded North Haven topped third-seeded Wilton 21-0 in the Class MM championship at Arute Field on the campus of Central Connecticut State University Saturday morning.

“We have heart,” McCreven said. “We love playing defense. That’s our team. We revolve around the coaching staff. They preach defense. We try to embody them on the field.”

The title is North Haven’s second straight after topping Killingly in last year’s championship game. The Nighthawks, 2-1 in title games, become the first Connecticut team to repeat as state champions since St. Joseph in 2018 (Class M) and 2019 (Class L).

“How about those kids? They have been through a lot on and off the field, and they kept their focus and kept their drive,” North Haven head coach Anthony Sagnella said after his team finished the season 11-2. “They are unbelievable. What a pleasure to coach them and be around them every day.

“It’s great for the program. Our program has elevated its standards every year, and there was a lot of pressure on them to do this. Everyone knew we had kids coming back. That’s hard to say hey you guys got to go win it again, but, they did it, despite all the distractions. They did it. I am so proud of them.”

The North Haven season got off to a complicated start, forfeiting its opener to Darien due to an investigation concerning allegations of inappropriate student conduct." Sagnella was later suspended for one game this season. A DCF investigation into the athletics program tied to the student conduct allegations followed.

On Saturday, offensively, the two teams were even with North Haven holding a slight 190-184 advantage in terms of yardage, but it was the defense of the Nighthawks which was the separation.

The Nighthawks not only recovered two fumbles and had one interception, but key pass break ups stalled any momentum Wilton was looking for on offense.

The two biggest plays came at appropriate times for North Haven as McCreven knocked away what could have been a touchdown late in the first half, and Thompson stopped a third quarter drive with an interception, setting up North Haven’s second score of the game.

“I think it is great our defense works in unison,” Thompson said. “I’m not going to say we have the best defense in the state, but, when we are together, we play at our best. Our best is pretty hard to stop. “

Three plays after Thompson’s interception on third-and-short, Joey Mastroianni hit Ryan Bernardo in stride for a 28-yard scoring strike and a 14-0 lead just 42 seconds into the fourth quarter. Mastroianni’s touchdown was North Haven’s only pass attempt of the game.

“It was a complete game,” Sagnella said. “We were striving for that. Our goal every year is to try to be the best team we can be, and to try to have the best performance we can have. Today, I think we did that on the biggest stage. You can’t do better than that.”

The North Haven defense needed just four plays to make another impact play as Michael Moran came up with the big hit to force a fumble, which was recovered by Brian Moran and returned 33 yards for a score 1:15 later for a 21-0 lead.

After the Nighthawks held the Warriors on downs, all that was left was for North Haven to run out the clock. Wilton had one final possession, but another fumble was recovered by James Studley, allowing North Haven to enjoy the final moments of a second straight state title.

“I have to give credit to our coaching staff,” McCreven said. “They got us prepared. They got us ready. They told us the right coverage. They called the right coverage in that moment, and we just executed.”

Wilton, who came into the title game scoring 35 points in each of its two postseason games, was searching for its third overall title and first since the Warriors topped Hall in the Class L – II championship game in 1985. Wilton was also looking to avenge last season’s semifinal loss to the Nighthawks.

The Warriors could not stretch their winning streak to seven games as quarterback Joey Hagerty was held to 95 yards passing and was contained on the ground.

“Their offense wore us down,” Wilton coach E.J. DiNunzio said after his team fell to 10-3. “We knew what they were going to do. They just had maybe one or two extra dudes on offense that we couldn’t match up with. My hat goes off to those guys. They played a really good game.”

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North Haven won its sixth straight contest and, in the process, outscored its opponents 83-22 in the postseason.

The first half saw a mix of everything as each team made big plays on both sides of the ball, but it was the defense which stole the show. With two offenses accustomed to putting up points, only 192 yards of combined offense was seen in the opening half.

Each team combined to attempt four fourth down conversions, with the Nighthawks converting just one time in the first 24 minutes.

For the Nighthawks, they allowed the Warriors just 87 yards of offense in the first half, despite Wilton advancing into North Haven territory on all four of its possessions.

Wilton drove to the North Haven 21 in the closing minutes of the opening half, but a fourth down pass attempt from Hagerty to Ryan Smith, which had the makings of a touchdown reception, was perfectly knocked away by North Haven’s McCreven with 12 seconds to go in the half.

“Listen, we said coming into this game, there were not going to be many points scored, especially on our end,” DiNunzio said. “We tried to prepare the best we could, and we tried to do what we could, but they were just the better team today. Simple as that.”

On the flip side, North Haven had two drives into Wilton territory, the first ending when Thompson was stopped inches short of a first down at the Wilton 32 on the game’s first possession.

The Nighthawks scored the only points of the first half at the start of the second quarter. A 6-play, 64-yard drive saw Christopher Cretella scamper 18 yards, before Pandolfi raced around the left edge two plays later and dove into the endzone for a 23-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead with 8:37 remaining in the half.

Pandolfi led the Nighthawks with 63 yards rushing, Thompson finished with 40, Trysten Dos had 31, and Cretella added 26.

Player of the Game

North Haven defense – Not only did the Nighthawks hold the Warriors to 184 yards of offense, but, in the process, recorded an interception, two fumble recoveries, and several key pass break ups.

Quotable

“It feels great. It is a great way to go out. Repeat champions. It feels amazing.” — North Haven’s Jake McCreven

North Haven 21, Wilton 0

Rise Doughnuts in Wilton doesn’t have a gluten-free or vegan option. It’s not from lack of desire. Owners Hugh Mangum and Laura Malone simply haven’t found a recipe they love, and they won’t settle for ticking a box. In fact, aside from soft-serve ice cream, toasts and coffee, there are just six doughnuts on the menu: vanilla brown butter, cinnamon sugar, chocolate buttercream, a coffee-bun-style mashup of dough odds and ends that Rise calls misfits, plus a rotating selection of seasonal flavors, such as apple fritters or peanut butter cups for fall.

“This is not knocking anyone, I want to preface that, but we’re not the place that will put tons of Froot Loops or Skittles crunched up [on our doughnuts],” Mangum says. “If we’re going to do our take on a Reese’s peanut butter cup, we’re not going to crumble Reese’s peanut butter cups and put them on top, right? We’re going to do it from a very natural place.”

That simplicity and attention to detail is baked into Rise’s origin story. During the pandemic lockdown, the married couple’s sons wanted to make doughnuts. Their eldest had been keeping a sourdough starter, and so the family made sourdough doughnuts. Malone and Mangum thought they might have hit on something interesting with a version featuring a brown butter-and-vanilla glaze.

They spent weeks refining their recipe. Not for business purposes, just because they made something delicious and thought they could make it even better. “It’s totally just for us, just for us for fun,” Malone says. “And then he’s like, ‘Maybe we should do a pop-up.’”

Mangum also launched his first food business, Mighty Quinn’s BBQ, with a pop-up. He was smoking meat and selling it at Smorgasburg food hall in Brooklyn, N.Y., and realized he had enough of a following to open a brick-and-mortar restaurant in Manhattan’s East Village. That was in 2012. Today, Mighty Quinn’s has locations in Queens, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey and Dubai. Of course, in 2020, when Mangum and his family were perfecting their doughnuts, Mighty Quinn’s was pretty quiet.

So in June, the family created a makeshift doughnut bakery in Parlor Pizza in Wilton. “We had zero plan to make this a thing,” Mangum says. “It was more just, like, something to do when there was nothing to do.”

But that first pop-up changed their perspective. “Day one, it was insane,” Malone says. “I think because it was the middle of the pandemic, people were just eager to do something.”

They sold out quickly, and the pop-up became a weekly occurrence, quickly gaining attention not just from local doughnut enthusiasts, but also from outlets like Good Morning America. Malone and Mangum were motivated by something else they noticed, though. “At first, it was people coming for the doughnuts, but then everybody was coming for each other, too,” Malone says. “And friendships were developing in the line — this really cool, very unrelated-to-us thing was happening at the same time as the doughnuts were happening.”

That sense of community was part of their motivation to find a permanent storefront. They opened their shop at 28 Centre St. in Wilton in the summer of 2022, and these days they say they make about 5,000 doughnuts per week.

Rise continues to use sourdough starter. All doughnuts are made and proofed at night, and then fried fresh and served warm throughout the day. That means they sometimes run out. Mangum and Malone also say they won’t compromise on ingredient quality. All of these factors together mean that they charge $4 per doughnut.

“We’re just trying to do it our way,” Mangum says, “and serve it in an environment where you feel welcomed from top to bottom.”

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Rise Doughnuts 28 Center St., Wilton @risedoughnut on Instagram Open Tue.–Sun. 8 a.m. until they run out (usually 3 p.m.) Wheelchair accessible