It’s been the recipe for success this season for the Wilton High football team. The Warriors have an impressive opening drive to take the early lead, and then ride a dominating defensive effort to victory.
On Friday night, the result was a 28-0 win over Danbury at Fujitani Field, which raised Wilton’s record to 6-3 and kept its postseason playoff hopes alive.
After holding the Hatters to a three and out to start the game, Wilton took over at its own 37-yard line and marched 63 yards in six plays to go up 7-0 with 6:34 to go in the first quarter. Quarterback Matt D’Elisa capped it off with a one-yard sneak, but it was Will Litton who did the bulk of the work, carrying the ball six times for 62 yards on the drive.
The Hatters responded with their best drive of the night, marching 62 yards to the Wilton 14-yard line. Quarterback Dante Vines was five-for-five passing on the drive for 80 yards. The drive ended with a fumble on a fourth-and-two play, with D’Elisa recovering the ball at the Wilton 12.
Wilton closed out the first half with an 89-yard drive that took 15 plays, culminating on great catch in the corner of the end zone by Robbie Hermann for a 13-yard TD with 18 seconds left in the half.
After a D’Elisa interception midway through the third quarter, the Warriors went 73 yards in 14 plays to go up 21-0, with Joe McFadden scoring from a yard out to cap it off on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Harvey Alexander’s one-yard TD run with 6:24 left ended the scoring, with Wil Sullivan kicking his fourth PAT to make it 28-0.
For the game, Wilton out-gained Danbury in total yards, 214 to 149. Litton ran for 137 yards on 20 carries and Alexander had 35 yards on eight carries.
Notes: Wilton is now 11th in the Class L playoff rankings, with one game left in the regular season. The top eight teams at the end of the season qualify for the state playoffs.
Wilton hosts Trinity Catholic in the season finale on Thursday, Nov. 24, at 10:30 a.m.
The win was Wilton’s second shutout in a row, and third in its last four games. The Warriors have held the opposition to seven points or less five times this season.