POMPERAUG FOOTBALL
NEWS
Pomperaug's Tom Attanasio recieves his award as Fairfield County's defensive
player of the game.
ACCIDENT OVERSHADOWS ALL-STARS
Lenn Zonder
DANBURY NEWS-TIMES
WEST HAVEN: From the beginning, the fourth annual Hall of Fame Classic
was
nothing but bad news for the Fairfield County All Stars.
It began with a message that three Danbury-area players were in a car
accident on Route 34 in Newtown while on their way to the game.
The three were Eric Williams of Danbury High, Todd Childs and Larry
Badaracco of Immaculate.
Immediately, Fairfield County head coach John Murphy went into the
dressing
room to check on the other Danbury area players.
Yes, Chris Dzurka of New Milford was there, and so was Mike Murphy of
Ridgefield.
A moment later,
small sigh of relief. But the unsaid nagged in everybody's mind. How bad were the injuries.
While the coaching staff checked assignments and adjusted lineups, they
learned the
injuries were not serious.
That good news aside, the football gnomes continued to jinx Fairfield County.
New Haven charged out of the gate and took a 14-0 lead in the first
quarter and
extended it to 21-0 at the half.
Murphy refused to lay any of the blame for the blowout on the accident.
"I think we didn't play very well," he said and then placed
the blame
for the loss squarely on his own shoulders.
"I apologize to my kids for not preparing them better for
(New Haven County's) option offense. It's my fault that it wasn't covered
well enough in the last week."
Fairfield County made a comeback in the second half. They scored on
drives of 66 and 21 yards.
Gabe Ramos of Notre Dame-Fairfield engineered the first score, ringing
up a
touchdown on a 55-yard pass to Jim Henry of Greenwich. The second score also came
through the air, this time via from Matt Taylor to Henry from 11 yards out.
Badaracco's absence was a major concern for the Fairfield County's
coaching staff.
He was to be the long snapper for punts and extra points. But what the
Immaculate graduate couldn't do on the field, he did on the sidelines.
In a complete surprise to everyone, Badaracco, on crutches and with his
arm wrapped, walked down to the sidelines and stood with his team.
Badaracco said Childs was banged up pretty good, while Williams
may have broken his collarbone. All three were treated and released at Danbury Hospital.
Matt Glasz of North Haven was chosen New Haven's Most Valuable Player
on offense, and Jason Dellaselva of Cheshire on defense.
For Fairfield County, Pat Moffett of Norwalk was the MVP on offense. He
had six
catches for 127 yards.
making numerous tackles.
WILBY'S SANTIAGO SHINES IN ALL-STAR FOOTBALL GAME
By Mark Jaffee
© 2000 Republican-American
WEST HAVEN — You couldn't take the smile off of Alex Santiago's
face Friday night.
The chances are good that the Wilby High senior will be smiling throughout the next few
days.
And he has a pretty good reason.
Santiago asked his New Haven County coaches to call his number on a
reverse a couple of times
during the second half. And finally, in the game's closing minutes, Santiago received his
wish, taking a
pitch to left sideline and cutting it up field for a 35-yard touchdown.
That sealed New Haven's 42-14 victory over the Fairfield County
All-Stars in the fourth annual
Hall of Fame Classic before an estimated crowd of 2,200 fans at Strong Stadium.
The game features graduating seniors.
"This feels great," Santiago said. "We practiced the play
all week. It didn't go for a touchdown,
but I knew that if we did it in the game, we would score. Matt Glasz (North Haven's
quarterback)
made a great fake and I just walked into the end zone.
"This is the best of the best," Santiago added. "I wanted
to have a good game and represent
Wilby High School well. It doesn't get better than this."
Santiago was a terror on the kickoff team, making a handful of tackles
deep in Fairfield territory.
Santiago certainly did his part of representing the Naugatuck Valley League in splendid
fashion.
And so did several of his NVL rivals, too.
Seymour's Ben Karter caught a 24-yard touchdown pass in the second
quarter on
a fly pattern from Foran of Milford quarterback Kyle Brennan. Seymour's Matt Thomas
added an interception late in the fourth quarter, killing a scoring chance by Fairfield.
And Holy Cross' Joe Salvati, arguably the best fullback in the NVL in
1999, had two consecutive
carries in the second quarter for 22 yards that helped lead to another score.
"We all played our hearts out," Salvati said. "We had
team chemistry right from the start. Everyone
from the NVL got along and made their time worth it."
And you can't forget Ansonia's Adam Richmond's contribution. Richmond
booted all six extra
points and did all of the punting and place kicking chores. Richmond, the state's all-time
leader
with 254 extra points, was perfect on all 63 PATs in 1999.
After Richmond booted one his deep kickoffs near the end zone, New Haven
assistant coach
Scott Benoit just shook his head in amazement.
"Adam is the greatest (high school) kicker I've seen," said
Benoit, a former Cheshire High
assistant who now is the head coach at North Branford. "It's like a pitching wedge.
You put a spot on the field, and he hits it every time."
Ansonia linebacker Jason St. Jacques had a strong game defensively and
nearly intercepted
a pass in the first half. His leaping tipped pass on a third-down play ended a Fairfield
scoring drive.
Watertown's Jim Fitzpatrick summed up the experience of playing his former rivals.
"You worked your four-year career in high school to get this
opportunity," Fitzpatrick said. "It's such
an honor to play with the best. In just a week, we all became friends. And tonight,
we all won this game together."
In the first half, Cheshire's Jason Dellaselva made a leaping
interception near the sideline
and his return set up the first of three touchdown runs by Glasz.
Dellaselva also scored a 1-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and
made several hard
hits on special teams and from his defensive back position. Dellaselva earned the New
Haven
defensive most valuable player award.
"Jason is an awesome player," Santiago noted. "He's going D-I; he's got to be good."
Dellaselva, a 5-foot-9, 194-pound tailback, is headed to the University
of
Connecticut in the fall. His 4.41 speed in the 40-yard dash makes him a special player.
Pomperaug defensive end Tom Attanasio,
headed for Milford Academy, received the
Fairfield County defensive MVP.
"It was an honor to play in this game," Attanasio said.
"There were a whole team filled
of MVPs. New Haven played great and you have to give them credit."
Attanasio has one
more opportunity to don his Panther helmet. He, Fitzpatrick and
Dellaselva will be among the Connecticut All-Stars when they meet Rhode Island Saturday,
July 29 at 5 p.m. in the second Chowder Bowl Classic at the University of Connecticut.
Fourth Annual Hall of Fame Classic
NEW HAVEN ROLLS
NORTH HAVEN'S GLASZ LEADS OPTION ATTACK
Ned Griffen, Register Correspondent
New Haven Register
WEST HAVEN — The prevailing wisdom in
all-star football games is it's hard
to score because it takes time for the offensive players to get used to one another.
Friday night the New Haven County all-star team shot that belief full of holes. Led by
team
offensive most valuable player Matt Glasz of North Haven, New Haven used its option game
to perfection and thumped Fairfield County 42-14 in the fourth annual Hall of Fame Classic
in front of 2,257 fans at Strong Stadium.
The win gives New Haven a 3-1 edge in games, with 42 the most points scored by one team.
Glasz, a Register All-Area selection who is headed
to Trinity, had eight carries for
120 yards and three touchdowns.
"I just wanted to come here and make a statement, you know," Glasz said.
"Option
quarterbacks don't usually get a lot of respect. We wanted to run this offense because we
knew we would get a great shot at winning the game and I was glad I could showcase
my option talents one last time."
New Haven coach Glen Worthy said of Glasz: "Unbelievable. He was the spark and I knew
he was the key to our offense. He and (Cheshire's Jason) Dellaselva are a great
combination."
Dellaselva, who was named his team's defensive MVP, scored on 1-yard touchdown run
and had an interception that led to New Haven's first touchdown.
"It (the award) feels great," he said. "It's a great honor to play on this
team."
Foran of Milford quarterback Kyle Brennan was 3-of-4 passing for 73 yards, including a
24-yard touchdown pass to Ben Karter of Seymour. Alex Santiago from Wilby of
Waterbury also scored on a 35-yard reverse.
"Everyone on the team ran the option in some form or another (in the fall), so it was
really
easy for us (to run)," Worthy said.
"I apologized to our team," said Fairfield coach John Murphy, who
coaches at Masuk of Monroe.
"I didn't think I did a good job getting our guys prepared for to defend the
option the way they ran it."
New Haven was equally as successful on defense. David Laferriere of Platt of Meriden a
nd Matt Thomas of Seymour each had an interception.
Pat Moffett of Norwalk (six catches, 117 yards) was named Fairfield's offensive
MVP and Tom Attanasio of Pomperaug of Southbury
was defensive MVP.
Fairfield was playing without three players; Eric Williams of Danbury and Larry Badaracco
and Todd Childs from Immaculate of Danbury were involved in a car accident
on Route 34 in Newtown.
Williams suffered the worst of the injuries with a broken collarbone.
Fairfield had the first possession, but Dellaselva picked off a Matt Taylor pass to give
New Haven first down at the Fairfield 32. Glasz scored immediately on a keeper and
Adam Richmond's extra point gave New Haven just 2 minutes, 5 seconds into the game.
"Jason had a big interception and that got us the momentum," Glasz said.
Fairfield went three-and-out on its next possession.
New Haven took over at the 44 of Fairfield and on second-and-6, Glasz ran 25 yards
down to the Fairfield 15-yard line. Five plays later, Dellaselva scored from a yard out,
and Richmond's extra point gave New Haven a 14-0 lead with 4:32 left in the first quarter.
New Haven had a first down at its 42 early in the second half when Dellaselva carried the
ball up the gut for a 15-yard gain to the Fairfield 43. Glasz then rushed 4 yards, then
on second-and-6 kept the ball again and scored on a 39-yard run. Richmond's extra point
gave
New Haven a 21-0 lead with 9:20 left in the half.
Glasz finished the half with seven carries for 111 yards and two touchdowns.
New Haven went ahead 28-0 with 6:41 to go in the third quarter when
Brennan connected with Karter on a 24-yard touchdown play.
With 4:15 to go in the quarter, Fairfield finally got on the board when Jim Henry of
Greenwich caught a 55-yard touchdown pass from Gabe Ramos from Notre Dame of Fairfield.
Fairfield scored again with 7:34 to play when Henry caught an 11-yard pass from
Greenwich teammate Matt Taylor to cut New Haven's lead to 28-14.
Fairfield got the ball right back since the rules allowed a team to get the ball back
after
they score if they trail by at least nine points. However on Fairfield's first play from
its 24,
Laferriere returned an interception from the Fairfield 45 to the 9. Glasz immediately
scored to
put New Haven up 35-14 with 7:10 remaining.
New Haven scored its final touchdown with 2:31 to go when it ran a reverse to Santiago
who scored on a 35-yard run.
Pat Moffett of the Fairfield County All-Stars catches a long pass
as New Haven County's Matt Glasz goes for the diving tackle during Friday
night's game at Strong Stadium in West Haven.
NEW HAVEN COUNTY SHOWS IT'S SUPERIORITY
Matt Duda, Staff Writer
Connecticut Post
New Haven County quarterback Matt Glasz, of North
Haven High, celebrates his first half touchdown in
the Hall of Fame Football Classic Friday.
WEST HAVEN- Before the first qusrter ended in Friday's Hall of Fame
Classic, the New Haven football all-stars had full control of the game's
momentum against their Fairfield County counterparts.
Fairfield's all-stars never really threatened, and New Haven came away
with a 42-14 win at Ken Strong Stadium.
New Haven now holds a 3-1 advantage in the series and has won two
straight contests.
"It seemed like every time we could get something going we'd shoot
ourselves in the foot with some stupid penalty," said Fairfield County
coach John Murphy of Masuk.
Pat Moffett, a wide reciver from Norwalk, was Fairfield County's
offensive
MVP. Moffett caught six passes for 127 yards.
An option attack allowed New Haven quarterback Matt Glasz to post some
big numbers. Glasz, a North Haven graduate who is headed to Trinity, rushed
eight times for 121 yards and three touchdowns. He was named the team's
offensive MVP.
"This feels great," Glasz said. "We had a lot of talent
and we used it in the
right way."
New Haven's Jason Dellaselva, a Uconn recruit, intercepted a pass from
Fairfield
County quarterback Matt Taylor of Greenwich on the game's first series. Glasz
scored on a keeper from 32 yards out on the very next play.
Glasz also scored on runs of 39 and 9 yards.
Dellaselva also ran for a touchdown later in the game and was named the
team's
defensive MVP.
Foran's Kyle Brennan threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Ben Karter of
Seymour
to make the score 28-0 with 6:41 left in the third quarter.
Fairfield County got into the end zone on the next possession.
Quaterback Gabe Ramos
of Notre Dame-Fairfield tossed a 55-yard touchdown pass to Greenwich's Jim Henry.
Stamford kicker Niles Duggan added the first of two extra points.
Fairfield's all-stars got their second touchdown with 7:34 left in the
game when Taylor
hit Henry from 11 yards out. That made the score 28-14. Henry caught on other pass
for 70 yards total.
Murphy expressed regret that his team could not control New Haven's offense.
"I don't think I did a good job getting our guys prepared for the
option the way
they ran it," he said. "We started to do a little better job, but at that point
we were
already in the hole.
Fairfield racked up higher numbers than New Haven, finishing with 368
yards of
total offense compared to the opponent's 298.
Glasz, like many New Haven players, felt pleased at the game's conclusion.
"This must have been the tightest all-star team in a while,"
he said. "We were a
tight group and we had a great time."
NOTES - Three Fairfield County players missed the game after suffering
injuries
in a car accident prior to the game.
Todd Childs and Larry Badaracco of Immaculate suffered minor cuts
and sprains when a car driven by Danbury's Eric Williams skidded off
Route 34 in Newtown and struck a tree.
All three were transported by ambulance to Danbury Hospital, treated and
released. Williams was the most seriously injured, suffering a broken collarbone.
FAIRFIELD COUNTY 0 - 0 - 7 - 7 -14
NEW HAVEN COUNTY 14 - 7 - 7 - 14 - 42
NH-Matt Glasz 32 run (Adam Richmond kick)
NH-Jason Dellaselva 2 run (Richmond kick)
NH-Glasz 39 run (Richmond kick)
NH-Ben Karter 24 pass Kyle Brennan (Richmond kick)
FC-Jim Henry 55 pass Gabe Ramos (Niles Duggan kick)
FC-Henry 11 pass Matt Taylor (Duggin kick)
NH-Glasz 9 run (Richmond kick)
NH-Alex Santiago 35 run (Richmond kick)
