Wolcott’s Raymond Iorio (17) runs through a whole for a first down during their game Friday at Seymour High School.
Jim Shannon Republican American
By KYLE BRENNAN
Republican-American
SEYMOUR — Wolcott High running back Ray Iorio didn’t score during the Eagles’ 33-30 upset over Seymour last Friday night at DeBarber Field. But nobody did more to earn the win than the 5-foot-7, 165-pound senior.
Sure, his 5-yard run on fourth-and-inches with under a minute to play clinched the victory. But Iorio’s willingness to do the dirty work next to quarterback Mike Polzella during the prior 47 minutes put Wolcott in position to shock Seymour.
Perhaps his most quietly notable play of the night came with less a minute to go in the first half. The Wildcats had just scored to make it a 20-7 game with 1:31 left in the second quarter, and Wolcott was trying to respond before time ran out.
On second-and-10 from the Seymour 44-yard line, Polzella dropped back to pass deep down field. The Wildcats, who became more aggressive in their blitzing as the night went on, sent heavy pressure through the middle.
Iorio stepped up to pick up the blitz. He was bulldozed, but his obstruction gave Polzella enough room to step up in the pocket to deliver a throw over the middle to Justin Fernandes, who reeled in the ball with one hand at the 10-yard line. Two plays later, Polzella hooked up with Fernandes for a touchdown to make it a 27-7 game at the half.
“Every practice, we go over pass (protection),” Iorio said. “I knew that if I made the block, (Polzella would) make the play. I just stepped up to make the blocks, and he made every play possible.”
Iorio thwarted several more blitzes in the second half, helping Polzella finish 14-of-21 for 205 yards and four touchdowns.
“I knew my line would protect me and I knew Ray would step up,” Polzella said. “I had all the confidence in the world.”
Iorio is the second-leading rusher in the Naugatuck Valley League with 750 yards and seven touchdowns on 112 carries. He trails only Ansonia’s Markell Dobbs on the rushing charts and is fifth in the state.
But that win, which propelled the Eagles (4-1) to their fourth straight win, was much more satisfying for the senior tailback.
“We knew a lot of people in our school, everyone around us was pretty much doubting us,” Iorio said. “We knew we had to capitalize and finish with a big win.”
Back to the drawing board: Seymour was the deserved favorite entering last Friday’s game. The Wildcats had dominated their first three opponents, none of whom showed any signs of stopping senior quarterback Jaylen Kelley.
But Wolcott, who surrendered 62 points in a season-opening loss to Ansonia, held Kelley to 26 yards rushing and dominated against the zone-read ground attack.
“Coach (Jason) Pace does a phenomenal job with his guys,” Seymour coach Tom Lennon said of the Eagles’ mentor. “We knew he’d have great game plan for us. They came after us, and we didn’t execute. They put on a tackling clinic, and we missed too many tackles.”
Now, Seymour faces must-win games the rest of the season if it wants a share of its first NVL championship since 2000. It must run the table, including the still-important game against Ansonia on Oct. 27, to have a shot at the league title.
If Wolcott, Seymour and Ansonia all finish 9-1 in the league, they’d become the first tri-champions since 1985, when Ansonia, Naugatuck and Holy Cross shared the title.
But after perhaps being caught looking ahead once, Lennon’s job for the rest of the fall is to make sure that doesn’t happen again.
“We’re all going to own it and be accountable and hopefully get better,” Lennon said. “We should expect to win, but respect every opponent. I don’t know whether we got too high on ourselves or thought they’d roll over for us, but we warned them all week. This is a point where we either divide or come together, regroup and get back on track.”
Looking ahead: This is the final week for 14 of the 16 NVL teams before the league’s bye week. It was originally supposed to be a bye for the entire league, but the previously postponed Seymour-Derby game will be played Oct. 21.
The top game on the NVL slate is tonight’s Copper Division game between Ansonia (5-0) and St. Paul (4-1) in Bristol. Seymour will try to bounce back Friday against Kennedy, while Iron Division co-leaders Wolcott (at Woodland) and Naugatuck (at Watertown) will try to keep pace in road divisional games.
Arguably the most important local game of the week is Friday between Gilbert-Northwestern (4-0) and Stafford-East Windsor-Somers (4-0). They’re two of the last three unbeaten teams in the Pequot Conference, and it’s the Yellowjackets’ second-to-last game against a winning team.
The Southern Connecticut Conference and Central Connecticut Conference are mostly on their bye weeks, so Cheshire and Southington are off.