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With 24 minutes remaining in the season, the Wilbraham & Monson Academy Football team wasn't about to let something special slip by.
The Titans scored four unanswered touchdowns in the second half to beat The Gunnery 56-19 Nov. 14 and secure a winning record for the Academy.
WMA beat Pomfret, St. Thomas More and Gunnery to close out 2015 and give the team a 5-3 mark.
"It's great to have a winning record," Coach Jeff Vartabedian said. "We've been at .500 the last two years. We've been building toward this. It was great to come out and win our last three games and finish with a winning record. Of our three losses, two of them came to teams going to bowl games, and the other was in contention for a bowl game. Now we have to work into getting into bowl contention, but it was a great year.
"It was a fun group of guys. They guys clicked. They enjoyed being around each other and worked hard. We stayed healthy, for the most part. It was a fun and exciting group to be around and coach."
As it has been so many times this season, the offense was fun and exciting against Gunnery, especially in the second half behind three touchdown runs from Caelan Etti '17 (8 yards, 47 and 50) and Tony Barbieri '17 (9 yards).
"It was a tight first half," Coach Vartabedian said. "They had a fast start – pulling out all the stops and making some big plays. But we were pretty-much able to answer every time with a touchdown and we had the lead at halftime, but it was only by a touchdown.
"And then in the second half, our guys dominated. Our defense kept them out of any scoring opportunities and our offense kept clicking. It was great to have the offense run the ball the way we did in the second half – that was the best we've run the ball all year. Caelan and Tony had some great runs. It was good to control the second half and a great way for us to finish, especially for the seniors and postgraduates."
In the first half, quarterback Jack Faulstick '16 connected on touchdown passes with Steve Puzzo '16 (19), Jaelon Blandburg '16 (11) and Craig Green '16 (20). Caelan also scored on a 20-yard run.
Jack had an exceptional game, completing 14 of 18 passes for 246 yards and four touchdowns. Caelan rushed eight times for 134 yards, and Jaelon caught six passes for 67 yards. The team rushed for a season-high 251 yards.
Defensively, WMA forced four turnovers. Alex Claudio '17, Craig and Jaelon all had interceptions, and Dylan Dupont '16 forced a fumble, which was recovered by Steve. Alex finished with a team-high eight tackles.