It’s a battle of the unbeatens on Friday night when Wolcott visits the Robert H. Frost Complex at Torrington High School to play Torrington. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. for one of the biggest NVL games of the season.
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| Wolcott worked hard during the preseason, and that work has paid off so far with a 5-0 record. |
Both teams enter the game with 5-0 records, and both are unbeaten in the NVL’s Iron Division. This is the last division game for the Eagles, who are 3-0. The Red Raiders (2-0) still have to play Watertown on Thanksgiving morning. Wolcott can sew up the Iron Division title with a win on Friday night. Torrington can give itself sole possession of the division lead with a victory. For this week, it doesn’t get bigger than this for these two teams.
Here are the leading offensive players for Wolcott, according to stats from maxpreps.com (Torrington has only updated statistics through a portion of its games):
Wolcott
RUSHING: Nate Filippone 38 carries, 496 yards (99.2 per game), 6 TDs; Raymond Iorio 30 carries, 188 yards, 3 TD; Chris Giuggio 22 carries, 130 yards, 2 TD; Mike Pastore 17 carries, 160 yards, 4 TD; Colin Pawlak 12 carries, 93 yards, 1 TD
PASSING: Rocky Griffin 35-for-61, 524 yards, 10 TDs, 0 INT
RECEIVING: Jake Ramos 8 catches, 56 yards, 1 TD; Filippone 5 catches, 156 yards, 2 TD; Justin Fernandes 5 catches, 74 yards, 2 TD; Pastore 5 catches, 32 yards, TD; Chris Maisto 4 catches, 89 yards, TD; Steve Urbanski 4 catches, 83 yards, 2 TD; Damon Stefko 4 catches, 45 yards, 2 TD
KICKING: Anthony Mennillo 23-for-29 PATs
WOLCOTT KEYS TO THE GAME:
GET FILIPPONE GOING: Filippone, a 5-foot-11, 190-pound senior captain, has been the main cog in the running game for the Eagles. Filippone averages just under 100 yards per contest, and Wolcott needs to get him going to have success moving the ball and keeping it away from Torrington. The junior Iorio (5-foot-9, 185 pounds) can also run the ball effectively.
HAVE SOME SUCCESS IN THE PASSING GAME: Griffin, a 6-foot-1, 150-pound senior, isn’t the main point of the offense, but he certainly is a key. Griffin was extremely efficient in the passing game in wins over Naugatuck and Kennedy, and he can take pressure off the Eagle ground attack with the pass.
SLOW DOWN TORRINGTON: Easier said than done, but the Eagles will need to find a way to short-circuit a Red Raider team that averages 47.8 points per game. Senior Tyler Marens (5-foot-6, 145 pounds) is a fast, elusive running back, and senior quarterback Connor Finn (5-foot-10, 150 pounds) has been very efficient throwing the ball. Torrington has shown the ability to be explosive (see their 50-point SECOND HALF against Naugatuck), and Wolcott must find a way to at least slow them down. The Eagle defense has certainly been up to the challenge this season with just 49 points allowed in five games (second in NVL to Ansonia’s 26 in four games), and they need to be again on Friday.
Friday night will be cold but partly cloudy, according to the National Weather Service’s website. If you want to see a good high school football game Friday, look no further than the Robert H. Frost Complex at Torrington High School. This game has the potential to be a classic.
