Naugatuck football rides Brandon Andoh's five touchdowns past Notre Dame-West Haven
· Yahoo Sports
NAUGATUCK - The Naugatuck football team found itself in a back-and-forth affair with Notre Dame-West Haven in a Connecticut High School Football Alliance game Friday night at Craig Peters Field.
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"We told our guys, we said listen, it's not going to be an easy game," Naugatuck senior offensive tackle Llir Mamudov said. "It's like Mike Tyson, we're hitting one, they're hitting one back."
Naugatuck jabbed its way to a lead, then put the game away with a defensive adjustment turned pick-six. The Greyhounds beat the Green Knights, 51-35, to move to 2-0. Naugatuck is at Woodland (2-0) next Friday night at 6:30. Notre Dame (1-0) is at Cheshire (2-0) for a 7 p.m. kickoff.
Naugatuck junior running back Brandon Andoh carried the ball 34 times for 248 yards and five touchdowns (6, 50, 2, 8, 1). Senior Qwentarvous Lee, who missed time in the second quarter after getting hurt, still managed to run for 204 yards and a touchdown on 16 attempts.
"We as a team play with tremendous grit. We do not stop, we have that no fall back mentality, that net play mentality, that don't blink mentality," Mamudov said. "If we mess up and let up a TFL (tackle for loss), we're going right for it, go right back to get a bigger gain. We are very good at not blinking and persevering through."
Perseverance was definitely key in a game where it initially seemed like the last team with the ball would win. Naugatuck and Notre Dame went toe to toe, touchdown for touchdown. The first seven possessions ended in seven touchdowns with the Greyhounds holding a 28-21 lead. Andoh's eight-yard scoring run, his fourth of the first half, and a fourth Gabe Bello extra point without a miss, gave Naugatuck a 28-21 lead with 34 seconds left in the first half.
Notre Dame quarterback Wyatt Verrillo, who threw touchdown passes of 17, 18 and 4 yards to Eli Johnson, Michael Verderame Jr. and Raniel Matheney, showed his versatility when he kept the ball around the left side on a zone read and exploded down his team's sideline for a 77-yard touchdown. Christopher Medina-Romano's fourth extra point without a miss tied the game, 28-28, just 1:01 into the second half.
Naugatuck responded in typical Naugatuck fashion, with a 13-play, 75-yard march down the field. Andoh ran for eight yards on a key 4th-and-3 at his team's own 46-yard line to keep the drive going. When Andoh scored from a yard out with 4:07 left in the third quarter, and Bello added the extra point, the Greyhounds led 35-28.
"Our offensive line is huge. We're so strong up front," Mamudov said. "We impose our will on everyone."
Naugatuck added a 27-yard field goal from Bello with 9:51 left in the fourth quarter for a 38-28 lead. On the first play of the ensuing Notre Dame possession, Eric Harriot put the game away with a 33-yard interception return for touchdown.
"Coach (Chris) Moffo, our defensive coordinator, made a great adjustment at halftime," Naugatuck coach Chris Anderson said. "They were really hurting us with the bubble screen early in the game, and we were like caught in between, playing the quarterback and the bubble screen, which wasn't feasible. We made a rotation in coverage."
Harriott, who tackled a Notre Dame receiver for loss on the first bubble screen run in the second half, jumped the short route and ran untouched into the end zone. The Green Knights punted on their next drive, then Lee tightroped the corner in front of the Greyhound bench before running for a 77-yard touchdown.
"He went down, we were nervous, but he's tough as nails, that kid," Anderson said. "He needed to regroup a little bit, he got cleared to go back in there, and that was the result."
Notre Dame's Tahir Bennett ran the ball from a yard out after the second string players came in to finish the scoring.
Player of the Game
Brandon Andoh, Naugatuck: The senior ran 34 times for 248 yards and five touchdowns in the victory.
Quotable
"Andoh, he ran like a man. When Q (Qwentarvous Lee) went down, he carried the workload for us. He was a beast." - Anderson talking about Andoh's performance.
Naugatuck 51, Notre Dame-West Haven 35
ND-WEST HAVEN 7 14 7 7 - 35
NAUGATUCK 14 14 7 16 - 51
N-Brandon Andoh 6 run (Gabe Bello kick)
ND-Eli Johnson 17 pass from Wyatt Verrillo (Christopher Medina-Romano kick)
N-Andoh 50 run (Bello kick0
ND-Michael Verderame Jr. 18 pass from Verrillo (Medina-Romano kick)
N-Andoh 2 run (Bello kick)
ND-Raniel Matheney 4 pass from Verrillo (Medina-Romano kick)
N-Andoh 8 run (Bello kick)
ND-Verrillo 73 run (Medina-Romano kick)
N-Andoh 1 run (Bello kick)
N-Bello 27 field goal
N-Eric Harriott 33 yd interception return (Bello kick)
N-Qwentarvous Lee 77 run (kick failed)
ND-Tahir Bennett 1 run (Medina-Romano kick)
Records:Naugatuck 2-0; ND-West Haven 1-1.
This article originally published at Naugatuck football rides Brandon Andoh's five touchdowns past Notre Dame-West Haven.