Football: Falcons flatten Wave

Written by Rocco Valluzzo
Thursday, 29 October 2009 11:36

All the yardage the Joel Barlow High football team gained on the ground did not go for naught in its game against New Milford.

The Falcons racked up nearly 500 yards rushing last Friday, Oct. 23. They also had the points to show for it in a 49-21 win, their highest scoring game to date.

“It was probably the best overall game we played this year,” said head coach Rob Tynan. “When you rush for 490 yards you’re going to win.”

The Green Wave, however, had little success on the ground against the Falcon defense. It netted just 19 yards for the game.

It had better luck with its passing game, including on its opening drive and also got some help with a late hit call against the Falcons for a 15-yard penalty. The hosts would later miss some pass coverage near the goal line and New Milford quarterback John Krafick hit Roy Kennedy for a nine-yard pass. The extra-point kick failed but the visitors led 6-0 with 8:05 left in the first quarter.

That was the Wave’s only lead of the game. It did continue to pass the ball but saw only some success.

“We knew they’d pass the ball,” said Tynan. “We made some good tackles after the pass.”

The Falcons answered later in the first quarter on a 34-yard touchdown run by George Hebner. Tiago Moore kicked the extra point and it was a tie game with 5:21 left in the frame.

For the rest of the half it was all Barlow, which scored three times in the second quarter. Sam Neidenbach ended the Falcons’ next scoring drive with a six-yard run and Luke Holden caught a 21-yard pass from Tyler Colby less than two minutes later. Neidenbach again found the end zone with 2:08 left on another six-yard run and, with Moore’s third extra-point kick of the night, it was a 28-6 game going into halftime.

Going mainly on the ground in the second half, the Falcons opened with another scoring drive. This one ended when Pat Eaker found the end zone from five yards out and with Moore kicking the extra point again the Falcons led 35-9 with 9:33 left in the third quarter.

The Falcons still had plenty of offense left in them and embarked on another scoring drive a few minutes later. This time it was Colby who finished things with a nine-yard run and with Moore’s kick it was Barlow 42, New Milford nine.

Although the Green Wave had little success moving the ball on the ground it did make progress in the air. It managed a couple of big plays, including a 38-yard touchdown pass from Krafick to Keith Kirwan-Welsh. Going for the two-point conversion, they made it with Krafick’s pass to Matt Caraceno.

On Barlow’s next series, Peter Meehan took over at quarterback and led another scoring drive. Sam Neidenbach scored his team’s last touchdown with 5:53 left in the game and Mike Giamportone kicked the extra point for a 49-13 lead.

The Krafick/Kirwan-Welsh combination worked one more time for New Milford, resulting in a 55-yard touchdown pass with 4:46 to go. After missing the extra point the score was final.

Colby led Barlow in rushing with 180 yards. Neidenbach totaled 103.

Defensively, Egan O’Brien had eight tackles and Moore had five.

The Falcons, now 3-3, host Stratford on Saturday in their homecoming game.