Bye about getting ‘back to the basics’ for Hawks

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BEACON FALLS — One week after an encouragingly feisty effort by the Woodland High football team against Naugatuck, the Hawks fell flat in their bounce-back opportunity against Oxford.

The Wolverines routed Woodland, 42-14, last Friday in a game they dominated from start to finish. The Hawks allowed 516 yards of total offense and faced a 21-0 deficit before they got on the board in the second quarter.

The defensive struggles came one week after Woodland (2-3) played well for more than a half against Naugatuck in the George Pinho Trophy game. The Hawks held the explosive Greyhounds to just six points in the first half of that game before Naugy pulled away for a 35-6 win.

That wasn’t the case last week. Oxford’s Matt Stordy ran 19 times for 259 yards and three touchdowns, and Cayden Mitchell completed 10 of 13 passes for 196 yards and three more scores. Julian Ferrante caught four passes for 113 yards and two touchdowns.

Woodland’s bright spot, as it has often been this season, was junior running back Edit Krivca. He carried 19 times for 136 yards and two touchdowns, a 57-yarder in the second quarter and a 2-yarder in the third.

Krivca has tallied 708 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns in five games this fall.

All 16 Naugatuck Valley League teams, as well as those from several other conferences in the state, are on their CIAC-mandated bye week this week. Bye week rules call for no contact in practice. That didn’t mean this past week was going to be a waste for the Hawks.

“Back to the basics,” Woodland coach Chris Moffo said of his goal for the bye week. “Proper execution and technique (are important).”

Woodland will visit Wolcott (2-3) next Friday. The Eagles have a new head coach in Matt Hove, who subscribes to the strategy of never punting and always going for two-point conversions after touchdowns. Wolcott was hammered by Seymour, 63-26, before the bye week.

The Hawks haven’t beaten Wolcott, which is Moffo’s alma mater, since 2006. It’s the second-longest dry spell against any opponent in program history, only behind Ansonia, whose last loss to Woodland was in 2005.