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Football Recap: Game 5

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Football Recap: Game 5

Football Recap: Game 5

By: Patrick Dallahan '23

Last Saturday, the Winged Beavers traveled to the Taft School to take on a 2–2 Rhinos squad, looking for the opportunity to move above .500 for the first time since week one (and to spoil the Taft family weekend, too).

The game, to start, was a defensive slugfest. Both teams struggled to move the ball on offense until the end of the first quarter. Quarterback, and Georgia Bulldog commit, Ryan Puglisi ’24 found postgraduate wideout Maxwell Warren ’23 in the back of the endzone from 26 yards out. Puglisi delivered a throw that no Taft defenders had a chance to make a play on, while Warren stretched out with a dive, surviving the ground and putting Avon Old Farms up 7–0.

In the second quarter, Puglisi found UConn commit Jackson Harper ’23 over the middle and Harper did the rest. The future Husky ran 40 yards after the catch all the way to the house, putting Avon Old Farms up two scores, 13–0. 

To end the first half, Taft had a good drive and put some points on the board with a field goal, leaving the score at 14–3. It would be the only points Taft scored all game.

At the beginning of the third quarter, Puglisi found freshman running back Buck Craig ’26 on a short pass, where Craig scrambled into the endzone putting Avon Old Farms up 20–3. Craig stepped up for the injured Luke Thorbahn ’23, who went down in the first quarter. Buck showed off his speed, agility, and ability to break tackles all game long.

In the fourth quarter, Puglisi himself found the endzone on a two-yard rushing touchdown, capping off the Avon Old Farms scoring with a final score of 27–3.

However, the story of this game was the Winged Beaver defense, who forced four turnovers, all on interceptions coming from four different Winged Beavers. Christian Alliegro ’23, Nick Lynch ’23, J’mar Branion ’23, and Owen Moreland ’25 all picked off Taft’s quarterback. The Winged Beaver defense has not allowed a touchdown since week three at Choate, and they look to carry this dominance into this Saturday's 3:30 game against Trinity-Pawling!

Two Winged Beaver football players committed to play football at the next level last week before the game at Taft:

  • Quarterback Ryan Puglisi ’24 committed to Kirby Smart and the #1 team in the country, reigning National Champion Georgia Bulldogs. Puglisi held offers from Alabama, Michigan State, Ole Miss, Minnesota, Purdue, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, and many more, but landed on the University of Georgia following a visit to Athens for their game against Vanderbilt. Puglisi is ranked inside On3’s Top 100 2024 Players, coming in at number 39, and the fourth ranked quarterback in the class.
  • Offensive lineman and AOF varsity hockey goalie, Will Prince ’23 committed to the two-time reigning Ivy League Champion Dartmouth Big Green last week. Prince previously held offers from Air Force, Army, Navy, Fordham, Georgetown, Cornell, and Columbia. 
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