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Fairfield, which had not allowed a touchdown in four straight games, took an 8-0 lead midway through the third quarter. Wilton’s Harvey Alexander ran for 46 yards on the next play, and kept running until the clock expired. He finished with 148 yards rushing and three touchdowns as Wilton (10-0) beat the Wildcats, 22-8.
“We played them before, so we knew what we were up against,’’ Wilton assistant coach Gaston Acosta-Rua said. “Our guys really stepped up. We knew there was enough time, and I felt we could make a two-point conversion.”
Alexander’s long run set up Wilton’s first score. He ended the drive with a 3-yard touchdown run, and then kicked a two-point conversion to tie it.
Wilton put the game away in the fourth quarter. After Fairfield failed to convert on fourth-and-short near midfield, Wilton moved 50 yards in nine plays. Quarterback Brian Calabrese hit Alexander with a 22-yard touchdown pass for the go-ahead score. Alexander outjumped two Fairfield defenders, came away with the ball and raced into the end zone. He scored on a 52-yard run with 3:30 to go to ice it.
“That run after Fairfield scored was huge,’’ Acosta-Rua said. “In the fourth quarter, we put the game on his back. Between him and Chris Colbert (70 yards rushing), we were able to move the ball. And our line really stepped up. I felt like there was another wave of energy in the fourth quarter.”
Wilton beat Fairfield during the regular season, 7-6. Wilton also beat Westport, 7-6, in the quarterfinals of the league playoffs before beating Darien, 21-0, in the semifinals.
Wilton’s defense got a fumble recovery by Kyle Maatallah and an interception from Colbert. Alex Acosta-Rua was one of the defensive linchpins that helped keep Fairfield bottled up.
The victory capped a tremendous year for the seventh-grade Wilton teams. Wilton White, coached by Kurt Schneider, went 7-3 and lost to Fairfield in the semifinals, 8-0. Acosta-Rua directed Wilton Blue in Sunday’s win in the absence of head coach Jim Sexton.
Wilton’s seventh-grade champions are Brian Calabrese, Riley Sexton, Nolan Quinn, Tommy Garvey, Jack Mcerlain, Joseph Murtha, Richard Tomasetti, Kyle Maatallah, Harvey Alexander, Chris Colbert, Ryan Soltis, Benjamin Pellicano, Alex Acosta-Rua, Jack DiNanno, Alexander Pykosz, Jake Beshlian, Daniel Fitzgerald, Peter Casey, Peter Gulbin, Trey Snyder, Toby Clark, Brendan Quinlan, Joseph Scarfi and Drew Peterson.
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