North Haven, Connecticut — The Staples Wreckers suffered a 53-20 loss at the hands of the North Haven Indians and their Wing-T offense on Friday, Oct. 18 at Mike Vanacore Field. 

The Wreckers fell behind 13-0 early, and then things went from bad to worse as a fumble on a poor exchange from Staples quarterback Jackson Zager ’21 to running back Henry Beck ’21 set up North Haven for their third touchdown of the quarter and a 19-0 lead. 

“We dug ourselves into a deep hole early with turnovers that led to their touchdowns,” Michael Metro ’20 said. “We weren’t really ever able to fully climb out of it.” 

Being down 19-0 at the end of the first quarter was not even the worst of it for the Wreckers, as they were down 34-0 with just under three minutes left in the first half. 

However, an efficient “two-minute drill” from Zager and the offense led the Wreckers to their first points of the night at the end of the half on a 15-yard pass from Zager to captain Jake Thaw ’20 with just under 30 seconds to go.

Even though the Wreckers played better in the second half, they had dug themselves too much of a hole to climb out of. 

“At the end of the day that deficit was too big to overcome,” Thaw said. “We had to play a perfect second half and we didn’t do it. They’re a well-coached team and they’re good at what they do.” 

Zager added another touchdown in the second half to AJ Konstanty ’20, and Beck added a short touchdown run to cut the deficit to 20 with 3:41 left in the third quarter. The strength of the Indians offense eliminated any hopes of a comeback for the Wreckers, but the Wreckers showed resiliency and a different mentality in the second half. 

“If there’s one positive take away from the game,” Blake Lawrence ’20 said, “it’s definitely that we’re a tough group and we’re gonna work really hard to figure this out.”

The no-quit aspect was a positive take away for the Wreckers, as they still have half of the season left with plenty of opportunities on the schedule for big wins. They will have to stick together and work as a team to accomplish their goals.

“The guys did a good job of sticking together and being a team,” Head coach Adam Behrends said. “They were very encouraging to each other and no one quit. I’m really excited about the growth I’ve seen out of a lot of the players.”

The Wreckers’ strength this season has been their offensive line, which is led by three senior captains in Ben Howard ’20, Jacob Rizy ’20 and Andrew Goldberg ’20. The offensive line had success the past few weeks against McMahon and Ridgefield, and though they knew North Haven would be a challenge, it was not one they were going to shy away from.

“I think we had success the past couple of weeks as an o-line against Ridgefield and McMahon and we were trying to carry some of that momentum into this week,” Howard said. “I think we came out a little flat but stuck together and did the best we could.”

The Wreckers, sitting at 2-3 on the season, look to get back on track next week against New Canaan on homecoming night in the first game on the new turf at Staples Stadium.