After three straight road wins to begin the season, the Wreckers were poised to give its home crowd a good show at the first game of 2011 at Staples Stadium.

They did just that.

After consecutive three and outs from both teams, the Wreckers put a drive together starting in Danbury territory. It was capped off by a 39-yard run by Joey Zelkowitz ’13—who tallied 111 yards on 12 carries for the day—for a touchdown that gave Staples the early advantage. And they never looked back.

The Wreckers pleased the home crowd with 21 unanswered points in the first half with rushing touchdowns of four and one yards from Nick Kelly ’13 and Jack Massie ’14, respectively.

“Its really good to have a lot of explosive running backs,” Massie said. “Heil, Zelkowitz, and Kelly can all run the ball extremely well so it makes it hard for a team to stop all of them.”

The Hatters weren’t able to get on the board until the fourth quarter when James Harrington put a nine-yard run into the end zone. After a failed extra point attempt, the Wreckers were up 21-6.

Harrington is one of two Danbury running backs headed to Division I football programs next year. Harrington will run for Bryant University come next fall, and Austin Calitro, the Hatters’ bruiser-back and linebacker will play for Villanova University.

“With Danbury having two Division I running backs we had to be on top of our game,” Mikell Washington ’12, a defensive lineman, said. “We practiced on sprinting to the ball and to keep churning until the whistle is blown. We really emphasized tackling and wrapping up because if we didn’t, their talented backs would get away and score.”

Washington had a forced fumble that really put a despondent Danbury squad out of hope for the day.

Staples added another score late in the fourth with a nine-yard touchdown run from Kelly for his second score of the game.

Danbury tacked on six more points after a kickoff return for a touchdown by Harrington, but was unable to convert for two points after the score.

Three more Wrecker points from a field goal by Robbie Wolf ’12 put Staples up 31-12 for good.

“You have to give the most credit to the defense,” Massie said. “Causing turnovers makes it really easy for the offense to score.”

DANBURY 0 0 0 12— 12

STAPLES 7 14 0 10 — 31

Staples—Joey Zelkowitz 39-yard run, Robbie Wolf kick (7-0)

Staples—Nick Kelly 4-yard run, Wolf kick (14-0)

Staples—Jack Massie 1-yard run, Wolf kick (21-0)

Danbury—James Harrington 9-yard run, kick failed (21-6)

Staples—Kelly 9-yard run, Wolf kick (28-6)

Danbury—Harrington 88-yard kickoff return, 2-point conversion failed (28-12)

Staples—Wolf 23-yard field goal (31-12)