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Ridgefield High School's Luke Faillaci tries to bring down Staples High School's Jake Thaw in a game played at Ridgefield. Friday, Sept. 28, 2018
Photo: Scott Mullin / For Hearst Connecticut MediaRidgefield High School's Luke Faillaci tries to bring down Staples High School's Jake Thaw in a game played at Ridgefield. Friday, Sept. 28, 2018
Ridgefield High School's Luke Faillaci tries to bring down Staples High School's Jake Thaw in a game played at Ridgefield. Friday, Sept. 28, 2018
Ridgefield High School's Luke Faillaci tries to bring down Staples High School's Jake Thaw in a game played at Ridgefield. Friday, Sept. 28, 2018
RIDGEFIELD—The Staples football team had a loud and clear response for anyone doubting them heading into the season.
The Wreckers were in control the entire game, defeating Ridgefield 35-17 Friday night at Tiger Hollow and are now sitting at 4-0.
“That’s was our driving point. We’ve had a lot of adversity heading into the season, losing our head coach and then losing our assistant coach with a suspension. All of that stuff really fired us up heading into this game,” Staples running back Tim Luciano said. “Heading into the game we thought our offensive line could dominate and they played really well and I was able to get yards just because of them.”
The offensive line of Staples did indeed dominate most of the evening, opening holes for Luciano and giving quarterback Jake Thaw time to find receivers.
RELATED: The Week 4 High School Football Scoreboard
“They were more physical than us today up front,” Ridgefield coach Kevin Callahan said. “Clearly, they are a good Staples team. I mean that sincerely because we play Staples so often. The last three years we got them and we know what the good Staples teams are like. Their kids are big and physical up front and the running backs run hard. We knew we wouldn’t shut them down but we were hoping to slow it down more.”
Luciano TD run 35-10 Staples #cthsfb pic.twitter.com/LTBRP6w8W5
— Scott Ericson (@EricsonSports) September 29, 2018
Staples (4-0) wasted no time getting its offense going, scoring on the opening drive of the game on a 2-yard dive by quarterback Thaw.
After a Ridgefield (2-2) punt, Staples went up 14-0 on a 25-yard touchdown pass from Thaw to Dylan Ward.
Ridgefield’s offense would get a touchdown back on a 37-yard pass from Owen Matthews to Brian Showstead late in the first quarter.
Staples would keep rolling in the second quarter as Luciano ran in touchdowns from 10 and 1-yard.
Ridgefield stayed within reach with a 38-yard field goal by Sebastian Gasparo with 18 seconds remaining in the half, cutting the Staples lead to 28-10 at the break.
In the third, it was Luciano once again, this time scoring on a 4-yard run.
The Tigers would answer back with Jackson Mitchell catching a 23-yard touchdown from Matthews with 3:47 left in the third.
Ward nifty 25 Yard TD catch and it’s 14-0 Staples 7:10 in first #cthsfb pic.twitter.com/CYqWkMAo1l
— Scott Ericson (@EricsonSports) September 28, 2018
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Tim Luciano, Staples. Running behind a stout offensive line, Luciano found holes to run through all evening, scoring three touchdowns.
QUOTABLE
“I thought our offense was doing well in the beginning. We mixed it up a little and our offensive line really blocked well,” Staples coach Phil Treglia said. “Those guys up front did the job and made it easy for our running backs and quarterback to do what they’re supposed to do.”
STAPLES 35, RIDGEFIELD 17
STAPLES 14 14 7 0—35
RIDGEFIELD 7 3 7 0—17
S—Jake Thaw 2 run (Bradley Cox kick)
S—Dylan Ward 25 pass Thaw (Cox kick)
R—Brian Showstead 37 pass Owen Matthews (Sebastian Gasparo kick)
S—Tim Luciano 10 run (Cox kick)
S—Luciano 1 run (Cox kick)
R—Gasparo 38 field goal
S—Luciano 4 run (Cox kick)
R—Jackson Mitchell 23 pass Matthews (Gasparo kick)
Records: S 4-0; R 2-2
Ridgefield is a good barometer of relative strength. They are a credible team with good, dedicated athletes who do not give up until the last whistle is blown, and can pose a threat at any point in the game.
It looks like Staples and Darien had about the same amount of success against Ridgefield.
Staples appears to be back in play, and frankly is enjoying underrated status right now.
I saw parts of the game on the livestream and Staples did look pretty solid. Their defense appeared strong. And theyre currently undefeated and right up there in the LL standings. At this point they clearly have a better shot than Ridgefield to go to playoffs. They could indeed be in the mix in December as a 5-8 seed in LL. At this point the LL standings are starting to take shape with many of the names you’d expect to be there. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Staples first REAL test comes next Saturday at Darien. Ridgefield is DOWN this year.