Hawks gaining experience

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BEACON FALLS — As the season progresses a number of younger players have gotten their chance to shine and grow for the Hawks.

Woodland, which is in a rebuilding phase, fell to Oxford, 48-6, Friday night to drop to 0-5 on the year.

“We didn’t tackle and you have to tackle to play the game,” Woodland head coach Chris Moffo said.

Moffo’s young squad is experiencing the growing pains that come with a green team.

“It’s a lack of experience. Our kids come hard every day and work hard every day. It takes reps to translate from practice speed to game speed,” Moffo said.

Two freshmen have made the leap from practice field to game field. Zach Kabusk, who stepped in for the injured Tom Smith, and Joe Scarpati have started and play on both sides of the ball.

“They are both playing very well going both ways right now. They are gaining very valuable experience and Kabusk isn’t afraid to run in between the tackles,” Moffo said.

Kabusk provided the Hawks’ offense with a spark rushing for an 85-yard touchdown against Oxford (4-1) to cut the lead to 7-6 in the first quarter. The Wolverines were too much for the Hawks and responded with six unanswered touchdowns.

As the younger players take advantage of their opportunities, the Hawks also recently had two upperclassmen — junior lineman Jackson Henry and senior captain lineman and linebacker Cody Doyle — return to the field.

“They are both huge additions to our squad. Cody is back at 100 percent and is very big and very good,” Moffo said.

The Hawks will look to break into the win column this Friday at home against Wolcott at 6:30 p.m.