The Windham Wolverines 8th grade team traveled to the Nor-Rock Vikings for its opening game of the 2013 season. The team has worked hard all summer and hopes to build on last season’s undefeated campaign. They certainly came out with fire in their eyes as Brian Murzda returned the opening kick-off 65 yards for a touchdown. Royce Belsky followed with a perfectly kicked extra-point and the first 15 seconds of the game set the tone for the afternoon. The first defensive series was dominated by Zach Cunha, Jonathan Saklad, Thomas Splagunias, Nolan Cunningham, and Tommy Costa, Tyler Folsom, Max Faro, Joe Dunlap, Jack Swarbrick, Murzda and Belsky. Nor-Rock attempted a punt that Cunha blocked and Cunningham recovered in the end zone for the second touchdown and another perfect extra-point.
From that point the flood gates opened. The kick-off was fumbled by the Vikings and on the first Wolverines offensive play of the day, Dunlap eluded several defenders and scored the 3rd touchdown in the opening 3 minutes of the game. Great line blocking and downfield support were provided by Joe Miccicihie, Jeff Doucette, Nico Nardone, and Colin Peterson. The offense continued to click all afternoon and featured touchdown runs from Jake Aleksa and Max Faro and Cunningham also caught a nice touchdown pass from Jake Byers to complete the scoring.
Defensively the Wolverines swarmed and limited the Vikings to less than 35 total yards of offense for the game. Highlights on defense were interceptions by Spenser Sawyer and a big tackle for a loss by Matt Dodge and Peterson. Nick Spenser, Mike Walters, Nardone and Dunlap also had several tackles that lead the charge. The Spenser Twins, Folsom, and Doucette also had significant contributions on special teams. It was a great team effort that lead to a final score of 44-0.
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Contributions to the story by: Susan Hebert
