St. Joseph remains undefeated
ST. JOSEPH 63 WARDE 3
TRUMBULL— St. Joseph won a 633 decision from Warde in an FCIAC football contest at Dalling Field on Saturday afternoon.
The easy answer to the Hogs’ offensive success would be the individual talents of quarterback Jack Wallace, who threw for four touchdowns. Or maybe it was Jaden Shirden and his 100plus yards rushing and three scores. Then there is Brady Hutchison, who caught three touchdown passes including one on a onehanded catch in the end zone.
The truth is, the entire unit for coach Joe Della Vecchia’s Cadets is more important or impressive than any one player.
“These kids knowwhen its their turn,” Della Vecchia said. “Every year is a new team, a new class. They don’t care ( about publicity) they just want to win.”
The Hogs, ranked second in the GameTime CT football poll, showed off all its weapons on their first series against coach Duncan DellaVolpe’s 25Mustangs.
Wallace completed passes to Austin Jose ( 6 yards), Hutchison ( 10 yards) and Will Diamantis ( 8 yards) to lead an 11play, 62yard drive to start the game.
Shirden accounted for 38 yards on six carries, including a oneyard touchdown blast, with the Oline of Nick DiIorio, Chris Kiley, Dennis Elrod, Kenny Martin and Brian Robertson being joined by up backline man Alex Pagliarini and Cayden Porter on the scor
ing run.
“Without them, some of the plays we make wouldn’t be possible,” said Shirden, who rushed for 105 yards on 16 carries in the first half. “I always thank them ( the Oline) first, they do a great job. They are the reasonwe can run the ball, aswell as pass.”
The Cadet defense limited the Mustangs to negativeone yard of offense on their first 18 plays through five possessions.
After the first threeandout, Wallace found Owen DaSilva who turned the catch into a 17yard gain to the Warde 7yard line. The Mustangs blitzed and dropped Shirden for a 4yard loss. Wallace then went over the middle to Hutchison. On the run, Hutchison reached out with his left hand and brought the ball in for an 11yard touch down with 5: 58 left in the first quarter.
With Warde’s defensive personel balanced at each level, the Mustangs held on downs after St. Joe’s got to their 29.
Nowit was Wallace’s ability to extend a play that resulted in the Cadets’ third touchdown.
Rolling to his left, Wallace checked down and found Hutchison over the middle. Hutchison went the distance for a 43yard score.
A sack by Jermaine Williams got the ball back, but Warde’s Dylan Igram and Wyatt Morgan combined to sack Wallace for a 10yard loss. On the next snap, however, tthe senior QB went over the top to connect with Hutchison on a 30yard post pattern and a 280 lead.
Things got better for the Cadets when Justin Williams won a contested pass for an interception and returned it 31 yards to paydirt only three plays later.
After Joey Gulbin completed a 12yard pass to a sliding Jack McKenna, Warde went for it on fourthand4 from its 22yard line. Connor Burt got his hands under a pass for five yards and a first. Ryan Janz ran for six yards before the Mustangs had to punt.
Itwas all Shirden on the Cadets’ next drive, as the 5foot9, 175pound runner carried the ball five times. His last jaunt was good for a 36yard TD, with Jose sealing the edge with a great stalk block.
Again, Warde kept at it. McKenna was on the receiving end of an 18yard pass and Warde got to its 44. That’s when the Cadets’ Cole DaSilva picked up a fumble and ran it back to the 24, where a facemask penalty brought the ball to the 22. Shirden scored from the 9yard line two plays later for a 490 lead with 2: 40 left in the half.
Wallace completed 11 of 16 passes for 175 yards and the four scores. Shirden ran for 154 yards on 18 carries. Hutchison finished with four catches good for 94 yards and the three touchdowns
PLAYERS OF THEGAME
Brady Hutchison, Jaden Shirden, St. Joseph. Hutchison caught four passes and three went for touchdowns. Shirden drew special attention, yet to turned those 16 firsthalf carries into 150 yards of offense and three scores.
QUOTABLE
“I always thank them ( the Oline) first, they do a great job. They are the reasonwe can run the ball, aswell as pass.”— St. Joseph’s Jaden Shirden