Health & Fitness
Durham Middlefield Falcons D Squad Open Season with 0-0 Tie at Salomone Cup
Highlights of the Salomone Cup games on Sunday, September 2nd for D squad Mighty Mights
The kickoff of the Mighty Mites season started on Sunday, September 2nd at 3:00 pm in the home opener as the Falcons took on the Haddam-Killingworth Cougars in defense of the Salomone Cup.
The young Falcons team was led in the offensive backfield by Jeremy Mangiameli, Graysen Egana and Dalton Sisk. The offensive line was anchored by center Peter DeRita, linemen Michael Pitruzzello, Benjamin Pitruzzello Dante Salvatore and Drue Fleck. Also on offense were Hayden Stojak and Sal Monarca.
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The Mighty Mites started on defense first and held the Cougars to just 3 yards on the first series and it was 3 plays and out for the stingy Falcon defense, a theme that would be held throughout the day.
The first few possessions for the Falcons had the offense just starting to gel together and start moving the ball. Then the rains came. The fans took cover under umbrellas and hid in the press box but the fearless Mighty Mites did not stop playing.
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They doubled down on defense led by John Palo, Kevin Lee, Zachary Raffles, Anthony Toth and Hayden Stojak.
The HK team was having no luck moving the ball and then on a big third down play, they ran the ball 50 yards and just as the Cougar running back was about to score, defensive back Zachary Raffles for the Falcons came in to make the defensive stop by tackling the back at the 10 yard line.
This changed momentum in the game and stopped the scoring drive. After a few more back and forth possessions, the score at halftime was 0-0.
The second half started similar to the end of the first where the defense for both teams was just very tight. This was clearly going to be a game of field position.
The Falcons took to the air and Quarterback Jeremy Mangiameli was looking for tight end Anthony Toth as the two had connected on several plays during the exhibition season.
While the passing game looked like it might connect on a few plays, the defense for the Cougars proved to be too tough on this day.
The Cougars had a chance late in the 4th quarter but two big tackles by both Toth and Magiameli with no time left on the clock made the final score 0-0. The Falcons retained the Salomone cup for this year.
Submitted by Carl Pitruzzello and Dan Wheeler
