Youth Football Teams Split with Ringwood

The Butler D Squad Bulldogs met the Ringwood D Squad Rattlers on the dew-drenched field in Ringwood last week.

Led by quarterback Wyatt Frawley, who ran for 130 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries, and running back Robert Battipede, who ran for 69 yards and one touchdown on nine carries, the Bulldogs offense kept the Rattlers' defense on the field for long stretches of the second and third quarter. 

On the other side of the ball, the Bulldog defense was headed up by Frawley, with six tackles (one for a loss) and an interception, Andrew Kaynak, with five tackles, PJ Janiec, with three tackles and Kyle Peterson and Timothy Connolly, each with two tackles. The combination of the long scoring drives and the shutout defense left the D Squad Bulldogs 21-0 winners.

The tables were quickly turned, however, as the start of the C Squad game saw the Ringwood Rattlers return the opening kickoff sixty yards for a touchdown. The defense, headed up by Alex Orth, with three tackles (two for a loss) and a fumble recovery, Michael Castiglia, Mark Finelli, Matthew Smith and Hyaden Ribaudo, all with three tackles, and Anthony Hagin, with two tackles and a fumble recovery, tried to keep the game competitive. 

But, the Ringwood defense kept the Bulldog running game, led by Castiglia, with 36 yards and one touchdown and Kyle Croker, with 28 yards, off the field, coming up with multiple turnovers in the third quarter that put the game out of reach. Unable to mount a major comeback in the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs wound up falling to the Rattlers 26-6.

The following B Squad game was a tense defensive battle, with Ringwood leading with the single touchdown until late in the fourth quarter. Defensive leaders Joey Walsh, with five tackles (one for a loss), Christopher Dino, with four tackles (one for a loss) and a safety and Lucas Steenstra and Joey Conti, each with three tackles (one for a loss), kept the Rattlers penned up most of the game. Unfortunately for the Bulldog offense, led by quarterback Evan Smith, with 39 yards rushing on the day, and running backs Jacob Luciani, with 19 yards rushing, Joey Walsh, 15 yards rushing and Matt Wolowitz, 14 yards rushing, the Rattler defense was up to the task of keeping them out of the end zone, leaving the Bulldogs on the losing end of a 14-2 final score.

The day’s football ended with the BBYC and Ringwood A Squads squaring off.

The Bulldog offense came out firing on all cylinders, with running back Patrick Brady rushing for 176 yards and two touchdowns, and full back Joe Bastante rushing for 63 yards and two touchdowns.

Adding in the two PATs by Brady and two PATs by quarterback Declan Minogue, BBYC’s A Squad ended the day racking up a season high 30 points.

Combined with a stifling defense that included fumble recoveries by Elias Tadros, Phillip Moya, and Shane Connolly, a sack by Joshua Webb, an interception by Jake Grecco and an interception and forced fumble by Bastante, the entire Bulldog defense combined to shut out a Rattler team that had scored 38 points against them two weeks before.