Staples Falls To Top-Ranked Xavier 42-7 In Class LL Title Game

Throughout the season, the Staples football team showed an ability to come from behind and even last weekend, the Wreckers rallied from a 14-point deficit to defeat Newtown in the Class LL semifinals.

But falling into an early 14-point hole against the state's top-ranked team proved too much for Staples to overcome.

Mike Mastroiani rushed for 239 yards and a touchdown on 29 carries yards as Xavier defeated the Wreckers 42-7 in the Class LL finals Saturday evening at Rentschler Field to complete its second straight 13-0 season.

"He is the most underrated player in the state," Xavier quarterback Pat D'Amato said. "He never has a bad game."

The Falcons simply had too many weapons, and Mastroiani's 19-yard TD run with 4:40 remaining in the first quarter set the tone.

"They're big, they're physical, they don't quit," Staples coach Marce Petroccio said of Xavier. "We did the best we could but for a myriad of reasons tonight we just could not move the football. Against a team like that, you've got be able to put the football in the end zone in order to have some success."

Xavier's victory gave the Southern Connecticut Conference a sweep of Saturday's championship games against FCIAC opponents. Earlier Saturday, Hand defeated New Canaan 34-10 in the Class L final to also finish 13-0 season.

Xavier won its third state title in school history while Staples dropped to 3-5 in championship games after losing its third straight finals appearance. Xavier and Hand likely will be voted 1-2 in the final state polls.

The Falcons were like a machine, rushing for 408 yards and finishing with 505 yards of total offense against a good Staples' defense.

"They executed better than we did today," Staples running back Nick Kelly said. "They're a great football team and I think they proved it today. We just came up short."

Backup quarterback Tim Boyle tossed a 58-yard TD strike to Jovan Santos-Knox to extend Xavier's lead to 14-0 with 1:34 left in the first quarter. The play came after a 52-yard TD run by quarterback D'Amato was called back because of a holding penalty.

After the Wreckers (11-1) were held to 11 yards in the first period, sophomore quarterback Jack Massie made a big play early in the second quarter as he found Kelly for a 28-yard TD strike on 4th-and-3.

But Ryan Murphy returned the ensuing kickoff to the Wreckers' 38, and the Falcons regained their two-score lead on D'Amato's 37-yard TD pass to Mastroiani two plays later with 8:31 left in the half.

Massie completed 11 of 26 passes for 144 yards, but the Wreckers rushed for only 31 yards against the Falcons' imposing  defensive line.

"We were a little shocked," Kelly said of the Wreckers' struggles to move the ball, but they have a great defense and they executed great today."

Massie completed another long pass on Staples' next possession, a 40-yard completion to James Frusciante that gave the Wreckers a first down at the Falcons' 30. This time, however, the Wreckers turned the ball over on downs as Massie was flushed out of the pocket and threw an incompletion on 4th-and-6 from the 14.

"We were close, we just could not, for whatever reason, get over the hump, and I think they had a lot to do with it,"  Petroccio added. "There's no doubt."

Xavier missed a chance to increase its 21-7 lead as D'Amato's pass on 4th-and-goal from the 3 was incomplete with one second left in the half.

Staples had Xavier stopped on the opening possession of the second half, but a face mask penalty gave the Falcons another chance on third down, and it proved costly as DeAngelo Berry ripped off a 48-yard TD run for a 28-7 margin.

The Falcons started to pour it on, as Mastroiani's 48-yard scamper set up Matt Craig's 9-yard TD burst that made it 35-7 with 7:31 left in the third. D'Mato capped the scoring with a 3-yard TD run in the fourth period.

"You can't give a team like any sort of momentum," Petroccio said. "They took it, they ran with it. I thought we battled them hard for as long as we could, but it is what is. The score is 42-7."

Still, with a number of juniors on the roster and a 15-year-old quarterback starting in a state final, the Wreckers actually got to Rentschler a year ahead of schedule.

"We have nothing to be ashamed of," Kelly said. "We gave it all we had."

Xavier will take a 26-game winning streak into next season. Staples actually was the last team to beat the Falcons, a 31-28 victory in the Class LL semifinals in 2009.