Woodland quarterback Tanner Kingsley and wide receiver Rahmi Rountree bring their spread offense to the borough this week to face Naugatuck. Credit: Stan Strusky
The Woodland-Naugatuck series has become one of the NVL’s best rivalries since it began in 2003. The Hawks have historically gotten the best of the ‘Hounds (leading the series 8-1, Naugy’s only win coming in 2006) but there is usually plenty on the line for both teams. That will be the case again Friday night when Naugy hosts Woodland in a game that will either get the Greyhounds back in the Copper Division race or help the Hawks move one step closer to the division title.
Remmy’s Keys to the Game: The Hawks feature one of the best, if not the best, passing threats in the league. With that said, the game plan will be simple for Naugatuck: Force Woodland to run the ball and we’ll win on our home field. That’s a very tough assignment, though. And it’s not a given that Woodland will turn to its running game even if things aren’t going right with the passing game. The Hawks win or lose with their passing game. I’ve seen some good things from Naugatuck quarterback Jason Bradley. The sophomore has shown some signs of improvement since earlier in the season. And he is definitely a threat to the Woodland secondary, especially when he scampers out of the pocket with his eyes downfield. Woodland will need to find an athlete on defense to contain Naugy running back Mick Pernell. The Hawks will see Pernell lined up at the slot and in the backfield which will certainly allow some other key guys on the Greyhounds’ offense to have an opportunity to make some big plays.
Kyle’s Keys to the Game: For the first time this season, Naugatuck’s defense gave me reason last Saturday to worry about how it could handle an opposing offense. While the Greyhounds did a good job bringing lots of pressure and disrupting Holy Cross’ passing game for much of the first three quarters, the Crusaders made a nice adjustment to Naugy’s risky attempt to play man defense across the board with either one shallow safety or none at all (the safeties are young, too). Cross quarterback Kristian Harmeling took advantage of his opportunities, hitting several slants over a weak middle of the field, vacated by linebacker pressure. If Harmeling did it, you can bet Tanner Kingsley will have even more success with his two big wideouts, Anthony Scirpo and Rahmi Rountree, along with slot receivers Brian Reis and Jack Pinho. I think it will be interesting to see whether Naugy brings the house again (its base defense usually brings four or five guys, sometimes with a middle linebacker coming, too) or tries to sit back. On the flip side, Woodland’s defense will get a much better test this week than it had last week in Torrington. I’m waiting to see Naugatuck use Mick Pernell more in the slot, especially if teams bottle up his running game early like Holy Cross did last week. I think that would be a very difficult matchup for Woodland to defend because the Hawks have been at their best in run defense so far this season.
Remmy’s Players to Watch: Woodland quarterback Tanner Kingsley will be starting on my NVL Fantasy team again this week because I think he will have the opportunity to have another big game. Big-time players do big-time things in big-time games. Last season, I picked Hawks wide receiver Anthony Scirpo to have a monster game last year against Naugy. And he did. Here’s what I said:
This game has all the makings for Kingsley to be spectacular because Naugy’s pass defense has been pretty suspect this season with the loss of some studs due to graduation. Hawks wide receiver Anthony Scirpo is also due to have a breakout game. Scirpo is a reliable target and looks like he is one of Kingsley’s more favorable targets.
Scirpo had a 59-yard touchdown run, two touchdown receptions and an interception in that game. I expect nothing less in this game. Scirpo will have his chances at grabbing some interceptions, too, as I feel Naugatuck will have to go to the air a lot in this game. Two players that have really impressed me on the Naugy side have been Jerome Love and Matt Carda. Love runs very hard and is a very shifty back. He is overshadowed by Pernell but you will see Love run the ball with authority and punish defenders in the process. Carda is just an animal on defense. He is quick to the ball, hits very hard, plays with a lot of emotion, and simply makes big plays for his team. This game could go either way.
Kyle’s Players to Watch: I’m very, very interested to see how the Naugatuck linebackers play. Guys like Ronald Parker, Brandon Kuczenski and Dennis Murphy, along with Love, have taken their turns blitzing (usually pretty effectively). Add them to Carda, Tom Douty and Devon Watkins on the defensive line and Naugy has one of the best defensive fronts in the league. But the linebackers won’t all be able to come against Woodland’s spread, which has at least three (with a tight end) or four (without) wide receivers at all times. We’ll have to see how often (and from where) those ‘backers come and how well they play in coverage. The Hawks usually don’t try to bomb it right downfield but rather utilize some west-coast elements in the passing game, which makes the linebackers all that much more important. Nobody should sleep on Woodland running back Joe Fancher, either. He has been one of the most underrated backs in the league so far and averages 104.6 yards per game. He’s effective on screens, too, which could really throw the Naugy blitz through a loop. Woodland’s front seven has to keep playing as well as it has been, which includes Eric Collodel, Kevin Brennan, Nick Brown, and Jim Barrett.
After the success Holy Cross’ passing game had against Naugatuck, especially in the second half last week, it looks like the door is open for Woodland to have similar success. Naugy will have to hold the ball with better offensive line push, and its secondary will have to play much better to beat Woodland. But the Hawks are on a roll. Their powerful offense and underrated defense will get the job done again.
Picks: Remmy- Woodland, 35-28. Kyle- Woodland, 41-28.
Extra Points: A Woodland win plus a Holy Cross loss to Sacred Heart would give the Hawks their first division title since 2007. If Woodland and the Crusaders both win, the teams’ Week 8 matchup in Beacon Falls will have most of the Copper marbles on the table. … The Woodland-Naugatuck game is the WATR Game of the Week, and Kyle and Bob Sagendorf will have the call starting at 6:50 p.m. on WATR 1320 AM and watr.com. … Check out Kyle’s Rep-Am Red Zone blog, where he has this week’s Gimme Five, the new power rankings, a summary of last week’s big three NVL games, notes from other local teams and more throughout the week. Also, watch Kyle, Mike and Mark Jaffee in this week’s Red Zone show. … The Predictions Tracker is updated through Week 6. … Jaffee caught up with Ansonia’s Tyler Lester, who will likely miss the rest of this season with a broken leg. … The Day’s Ned Griffen went through his weekly playoff update. Check it out. Kyle will have his closer look at the local squads soon.
Week 7′s Game of the Week is presented by DiGiorgi Roofing and Siding. Since 1933, DiGiorgi Roofing and Siding has been providing Connecticut with quality replacement windows, gutters and home improvements of all kinds. Call today at 1-800-428-6438. DiGiorgi Roofing and Siding is a proud sponsor of the NVL Football Blog.
This game has everything you need to become a classic battle. The Woodland Offense has been running on high octane and their defense is starting to come into their own. They caused turnovers against Torrington and scored 3 times on defense. Kingsley has complete command of the offense and OC Phipps has been calling great games. Woodland has some serious playmakers on offense and they do a great job spreading the ball around. DON’T sleep on their rungame. They can and will run the ball effectively. Defensively DC Moffo has been bringing pressurre and making things very difficult for teams to get comfortable.
Naugatuck has played some tough games this year and they are battle tested. They will try to turn this into a physical war for 48 minutes. Their young QB has been solid thus far and has done a great job running the offense; especially when he breaks the pocket and extends the play and finds receivers down field. His ability to stay alive makes it difficult for DB’s to cover their receivers for a long period of time which has resulted in some big plays for the Naugy offense. Pernell has been unbelieveable so far. It is not a secret that if he has a good game then Naugy will have success. Defensively I am having trouble buying into Naugy. They had some key breakdowns last week against HC and it cost them the game. I think Woodland is more potent on O than HC and if they breakdown early Woodland will put up a lot of points early and often.
These two teams are very good but I think it boils down to this: COACHING! Shea is a seasoned veteran and his OC has been with thim for a while and they work well together. The Naugy staff is also pretty seasoned but the interim coach hasn’t been the head guy in BIG games like before.
I think Woodland will win by 2 scores but this will be a very physical and entertaining game. I can’t wait to get off work early and head to Naugatuck for this NVL battle. Both teams also have awesome uniforms.
One more thing…..I know Timmy Shea loves to go back home and stick it to his alma mater (Spelling) whenever he can……
Nice breakdown on all counts. I agree that last week was a big defensive step backward for Naugy. It’s great to blitz and bring pressure but if your back end can’t handle it, it’s just a matter of time before a breakthrough happens. It will happen more quickly against Woodland than it did against Holy Cross because of each team’s offensive style.
Kyle, who was number 2 for Naugatuck. He played a pretty good game against HC. He was one of the few kids without a name tag on his jersey.
By the way, although the new Naugy unifroms are nice, it just isn’t right. They need the OLD SCHOOL garnet helmets and no nmaes on the jerseys. Craig Peters would never have allowed this.
That was Jerome Love, one of the players Remmy picked to watch. He’s been playing an excellent inside linebacker all season for Naugy.
He, Ronald Parker and a few other late additions to the team didn’t get nameplates.
And there’s a lot that’s happened with Naugy that Craig Peters never would have allowed. Haha.
I agree with you cc. You sound like a coach! Woodland lives by the pass which is very difficult to defend in high school football. I think Woodland wins this game even though their time of posession will be half of what Naugy’s T.O.P. is. Should be an entertaining game. Woodland will need to out hustle Naugy on Defense the same way Derby did a few weeks ago. I see Woodland as very similar to Derby except Woodland’s offense is much more polished.
Woodland has a knack for playing NAUGY tough.this will be down to the wire.
Hard to trust Naugy in a game against a team that will have a plan on both sides of the ball. Naugy needs to get more physical if they don’t wanna get blown out. I like Woodland here cause they will be hard to stop. Sidenote Xavier is at Hillhouse tommorow if your free so all the pundants can see two SCC teams live at 3 at Bowen Field.. Curious to see Xavier play a good team again, I felt the house played Hand tough in their meeting. Branch out from the NVL once in a while, it’s ok!
Xavier vs Hillhouse should be interesting. Hillhouse will have the Cooper kid back and Xavier is very banged up. Hillhouse is a very good triple option team. It will be a close game and i would not be suprised to see the Hillhouse win.
Xavier could be in some trouble in terms of playoffs. The Falcons have Hillhouse, a surging Shelton team, a West Haven squad that should have beaten Hand, and a Middletown team that nearly beat Windsor.
Who would have thunk it?
You’re right Kyle. I think Shelton stinks though. Xavier will physically beat the be-Jesus out of the Gaels this year.
West Haven and Middletown are tough. I watched Middletown play Windsor on TV last night. Two very good teams. Windsor is physically impressive and very well coached. I also watched Southington play Glastonbury. Staples would beat either of them handily. This is starting to look like its Staples year in LL.
I’ve had Staples #1 in my poll since after Week 3, when Xavier had trouble with Fairfield Prep.
I think teams are really going to struggle to stop Staples’ offense. Granted, we thought the same thing about Masuk last year.
Fish I am not sure Shelton stinks but how do you think they would fare in the NVL? I know it pains you to see them struggle a little.
It does pain me JTS. I think they would be the second best team in NVL.
I bet. Hey all the men in my previous generation played for the Gaels. I have a 90 year old uncle who still bleeds black and orange. They will bounce back but I just don’t want it to be this Thanksgiving. Lol
I don’t think some people realize that Joe Fancher will probably run the ball for Woodland about 15 times in this game and get solid yardage. He’s been deceptively good this season.
Aside from the Holy Cross and Derby losses, Naugy has relied on a quick-strike offense. Woodland’s spread doesn’t necessarily need the big play (30-plus yards) as much as I think Naugatuck needs it.
I also wonder what happens to Naugy if it gets down early. Does it become a here-we-go-again scenario? No Greyhound on this team has ever beaten Woodland on the varsity level and these coaches have only done it once. You wonder if that sets in at some point.
Let’s also remember Naugy hasn’t exactly had an offense that can march down the field on teams in say, 8 to 12-play drives. As you mentioned, this is a quick-strike offense that relies on big plays to win games. Jason Bradley impressed me last week against Holy Cross. He had a tough time against Derby. I was at both games. Now, one of Naugy’s scores vs. Holy Cross was from a nice defensive play by Pernell (pick-six). Naugy struggled last week and I expect to see some more of the same this week. Naugy needs a defensive TD and Special Teams TD this week.
Kyle – Great point about Fancher. He runs hard and can eat up some yardage; especially with Naugy having to put less guys in the box to stop the pass. IF Naugy can play man and leave guys in the box to stop the run then it could be a very competitive game. IF, however, they have to play zone and drop people out of the box it could be a long night. Kingsley will pick their zone defense apart and Fancher will gash a small box behind their massive center Clark.
I also like your point about Naugy’s offense. I have not seen them have any long methodical drives. Pernell either takes it to the house right away or they score in some other aspect of the game.
This is either going to be a good game or a blow out by Woodland. Naugy will NOT blow them out.
I have no doubt that Naugy will make some defensive adjustments to correct last week (remember, the ‘Hounds didn’t play awful defense, they just had a few big-play lapses and broke down a little more often in their second-half pass defense). But I think Woodland’s offense will force Naugy to make choices they haven’t had to make yet. Should be interesting to watch.
Kyle like your red zone area top 10. Think you got it rite on.
Thanks, blue. It’s always a bit easier later in the season but I feel pretty good about this week’s list.
A quick look at the playoff from Ned Griffen of The Day. I’ll have my closer look at the local squads soon.
http://www.theday.com/article/20121024/INTERACT010114/121029815/-1/SPORT
Also, this week’s Gimme Five in the Red Zone.
http://blogs.rep-am.com/redzone/2012/10/25/gimme-five-huge-week-for-oxford/
Sell those papers, big boy. We don’t mind.
Figured many of our readers would like to drop by. You’re not required.
Just kidding Kyle I read it all and enjoy it.
i might be wrong but i think pay for play has taken its toll in shelton.