WALLINGFORD — The Sheehan Titans bounced back in force after last weekend’s loss to North Haven, routing Wilbur Cross in a SCC Tier 2 game at Lyman Hall on Friday night behind running back Brady Rossacci, who scored three touchdowns in the first half alone.
It was never close: Sheehan 54, Cross 0.
“It is good to come in here to get a win,” said Sheehan coach John Ferrazzi, his Titans now 2-1. “It is good for our defense to pull some points off the board.”
The offense, meanwhile, began putting up points immediately. Rossacci ran for a 20-yard touchdown just 26 seconds into the game. Rossacci would score two more times — from 10 and 39 yards — and amass 151 total yards on just nine carries behind a dominant performance by the offensive line.
“They work their butts off for me,” Rossacci said. “We have been communicating so much better, and I have to thank all of them once again because they really work hard for me.”
Rossacci noted that the Titans came out with a hot start because they wanted to shake off the 31-21 loss to North Haven last week. Also, Ferrazzi and his staff prepared the team well throughout the week, Rossacci said.
During the opening quarter, Wilbur Cross quarterback Travis Warren fumbled a snap, which he was able to recover. Still, the Titans eventually made the stop and the offense responded on the following drive by continuing to pound the Governors with multiple runs by Rossacci.
Warren threw an interception to Sheehan senior Dante DiNuzzo on the next Cross possession. DiNuzzo, a defensive back and wide receiver, made huge plays on both sides of the ball.
“For me to do good, the whole team has to do good,” DiNuzzo said.
Senior quarterback Paul Gorry threw only seven passes, completing all but one for 71 yards. He ran for a 16-yard touchdown late in the first quarter, then hit wide receiver Jayden Dougherty for a TD in the second quarter to put the Titans up 34-0 at the break.
Dougherty finished with three receptions for 51 yards.
“It was a great bounce-back win,” Rossacci said. “We were a little sloppy at times, but we picked it up, and we were feeding off each other to get our energy back up because we definitely didn’t want to play down to them.”
Defensively, the Titans were able to stop Warren and the Wilbur Cross running game. Rossacci made many open-field tackles at outside linebacker to help contain the Governors' offense.
“We worked together as a team,” DiNuzzo said.
Even after the 54-0 victory, Ferrazzi believes his team can improve in some areas, especially at the beginning of games.
“We have a real difficult schedule coming up; hopefully, this is a confidence booster,” Ferrazzi said. “Execution for us is the big part of the game and we did better with that tonight.”
DiNuzzo said the Titans should not let this win get to their heads, but instead continue to work hard in practice this week in preparation for next Friday’s game at Xavier.
“We are happy to get in here and get back in the win column,” Ferrazzi said.