NAUGATUCK — The Naugatuck football team didn’t take long to embrace the sheer enthusiasm of new head coach Dave Sollazzo.
Sollazzo, coaching his first game in front of the home crowd last Friday at Veterans Field against Seymour, was quite animated along the sidelines. The Hounds followed his lead, playing with emotion and a whole lot of confidence en route to a convincing 31-12 victory.
“Seymour is a really good football team, but our kids came out ready to play,” Sollazzo said.
Naugatuck (2-0) got it done in all facets of the game. The defense forced five turnovers, special teams scored two touchdowns, and Naugy showed its depth as backup running back Doreon Chapman rushed for 146 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries.
“We came out and played a real good first half and took control of the game,” said Naugatuck senior quarterback Mike Plasky, who completed six of 10 passes for 36 yards and ran for another 31 yards. “Coach had us fired up. The ground game carried us on their back. The guys up front were opening holes and we were getting five and six yards per clip. We got a lot of tough kids on this team, and it feels great to play like this at home in front of our fans.”
Naugatuck got on the board first when Jayden Anderson broke through the line and blocked a Seymour (1-1) field goal attempt from the 17 yard line. Elijah Robinson scooped up the ball and took it 50 yards to the house as the home crowd erupted in cheers.
Seymour came right back with Bobby Melms (19 carries, 87 yards) taking a lateral from Tamar Epps 51 yards down the sideline for the touchdown. Naugatuck’s Sammy Ayash blocked the extra point, and the game was tied at 6-6 with 4:29 remaining in the opening quarter.
That’s when the Naugy defense turned up the pressure, forcing the Wildcats to turn the ball over three times in their next four possessions.
Naugatuck took the lead for good after Plasky engineered a nine-play, 80-yard drive, completing three passes to Isaiah Williams as Malachi Gatison ripped off runs to move the chains.
Efe Onakpoma pitched it to Robinson on a reverse that went for 17 yards and a touchdown to cap the drive. The two-point conversion failed as Naugy took a 12-6 advantage.
The Wildcats then drove deep into Hounds’ territory on a 13-play drive, but the Naugy defense had the last say when Hubert Lutzykowski recovered a fumble at the Greyhound 28 yard line.
With 3:27 left in the first half, Zachary Koslosky broke the game open when he returned a punt 80 yards for a touchdown.
The Greyhounds held an 18-6 lead at the half, and the enthusiasm was building for Naugatuck.
Naugatuck’s Jeff Schebell returned the second half kickoff 30 yards to midfield. Three plays later, Chapman went 44 yards into the end zone behind the blocking of linemen Andrew Balkcom, Ayash, Cameron Litwinka, Derek McGrath and Jiram Lopez.
Koslosky booted the extra point to open a 25-6 advantage.
Seymour threatened to make a game of it after Melms scored on a 3-yard blast to cut the lead to 25-12 in the third quarter.
Seymour recovered an onside kick on the ensuing kickoff, but any momentum the Wildcats had quickly vanished when Jayden Anderson intercepted a pass three plays later.
Any notion of a Seymour comeback was dashed when Chapman scored from 13 yards out to take a 31-12 lead with 7:24 left to play in the game.
Chapman appeared to be stopped at the 2-yard line, but a mob of Greyhounds rallied to the ball and literally pushed Chapman, and the pile, into the end zone.
The party was just beginning along the Naugy sideline, and coach Sollazzo was the biggest reveler high-fiving every player within arm’s reach.
“The kids are buying into it,” Sollazzo said. “Blocked field goal touchdown, punt return, touchdown, these things are game-breakers and the kids are making it happen.”
Naugatuck is back in action on Friday at Torrington to take on the Raiders (1-1).
