WOLCOTT— Naugatuck’s five-game win streak came to an abrupt end Nov. 4 in a hard-fought game in the cold against Wolcott.
The Eagles had Naugatuck’s number as Wolcott came out firing on all cylinders with a mix of offensive versatility and debilitating defense to earn a 49-20 win at Joe Monroe Field.
In the weeks following the Greyhounds’ loss to Seymour on Sept. 16, Naugatuck (6-2) capitalized on an easier five-week stretch of their season smoothing out rough edges on both sides of the ball.
Naugatuck head coach Craig Bruno said as the caliber of teams increases so does the level of challenge on the field, which served as no surprise as the Greyhounds prepped for the matchup.
“We came out emotional,” Bruno said. “We threw that first wave, and in the second half they kind of took it to us. They didn’t really do anything spectacular. Number 17 (Wolcott’s Ray Iorio) was a real physical player, and they had a lot of threats out there. They’re a good team.”
The Greyhounds started out slow, yielding touchdown runs from Iorio, who rushed for 267 yards, and quarterback Mike Polzella, who accounted for four out of Wolcott’s seven touchdowns, to fall behind 14-0.
Down 14-0 in the second quarter, the Greyhounds found their way on offense. The Eagles (6-2) forced quarterback Mike Plasky into a scramble that he turned into a 5-yard touchdown run and the subsequent 2-point conversion to cut the lead to 14-8.
Wolcott answered back with a touchdown pass from Polzella to Steve Urbanski to make it 21-7.
Naugatuck found the end zone again with 1:21 left in the half. Sophomore Jacob Fazekas muscled through defenders for an 18-yard touchdown that would send the teams into halftime with the score 21-14.
The second half was a much different ball game. Wolcott pulled away with four unanswered touchdowns and held Naugatuck’s offense at bay.
The Greyhounds’ defense couldn’t hold the Eagles out of the end zone as Wolcott played through Polzella and Iorio for the remainder of the night, alternating between players whenever the Garnett and Grey zeroed in on one.
Offensively, Naugatuck was forced to rely heavily on the run game as Wolcott brought plenty of pressure on the pass and clamped down on senior receiver Jalen Datil with double coverage.
Naugatuck utilized Fazekas and senior Tyler Deitelbaum’s smash-mouth rushing to attack the Eagles defense. The Greyhounds would only make it to the end zone one final time, a 1-yard rushing touchdown from Deitelbaum in the final moments of the game.
Naugatuck will host Waterbury Career Academy (4-4) Friday night.
