Rocky Hill Football Wins Season Opener Over Rockville 41-12

Smash mouth football.

That’s the only term to accurately describe the offensive and defensive effort of Rocky Hill in its 41-12 shellacking of division foe Rockville in the season opener Friday night.

Rocky Hill never trailed and scored a combined 34 points in the second and third quarters while completely shutting down Rockville’s offense. Even head coach Dave Coyne, who was less than completely satisfied with his team’s effort, acknowledged that the Terriers played a strong game overall.

“It was a good win,” said the coach. “We improved as the game went along and did a better job of executing on both sides of the ball in the second half.”

The backfield tandem of Chris Young and Alex DeNardo made a big impression in the team’s double-wing offense. Rockville could not slow down the duo, which completely wore down their defense. Young, a sophomore, rushed for three touchdowns and 105 yards, while DeNardo, a junior, picked up two touchdowns and 98 yards.

DeNardo scored Rocky Hill’s opening touchdown on a one-yard run up the middle with 7:07 left in the first quarter. Young helped the Terriers push the game out of reach with a four-yard run to the outside to make the score 13-6. He earned the night’s highlight play with a 60-yard breakaway on the first play from scrimmage in the second half that made it 28-6.

Young and DeNardo would each add one more TD run in third quarter. DeNardo scored on a 10-yard run with 6:14 left and Young capped the team’s scoring on a 23-yard burst with 45 seconds remaining in the third. Overall, Rocky Hill rushed for 336 yards.

“We showed tonight that our identity is the running game,” said Coyne. “Our kids blocked really well and allowed our backs to be successful.”

Rocky Hill’s other score came on a 15-yard touchdown pass from junior Troy Syme to sophomore Greg Marzilli with just 18 seconds remaining in the first half. Marzilli’s catch gave the Terriers a 21-6 advantage.

As well as the Terrier’s offense played at Rockville, its defense may have played even better. Having come into the game missing six original starters due to injury, the defense stepped up from the first snap. Rockville managed to score two touchdowns at the beginning and end of the contest with the second coming in garbage time.

Thanks to Rocky Hill’s outstanding tackling, many of Rockville’s drives were three and out and Rocky Hill only permitted the home team to advance into its red zone twice. Running back Gabe D’Alatri, Rockville’s top player, was held to 49 yards on 15 carries.

“The younger guys filling in did a good job tonight,” said Coyne. “There were a lot of guys out tonight, including all our starting linebackers, and the guys playing in their place gave a great effort. We should be in better shape next week when the team gets more players back.”

Coming off its impressive opening statement, Rocky Hill has its first home game Friday against rival Berlin at 7 p.m.