DANBURY — No. 8 St. Joseph and Danbury put their undefeated records on the line in an early test for the pair that have both exceeded expectations thus far. 

 

When the dust settled, it was the favorite, St. Joseph, which won its sixth straight meeting between the two 24-7 to improve to 4-0. 

 

DANBURY — No. 8 St. Joseph and Danbury put their undefeated records on the line in an early test for the pair that have both exceeded expectations thus far. 

 

When the dust settled, it was the favorite, St. Joseph, which won its sixth straight meeting between the two 24-7 to improve to 4-0. 

 

Danbury has not beaten the Hogs since 2007, but considering it lost last year's season opener to St. Joseph 49-0, the Hatters loss further showcased the new and improved roster. 

 

 

"I talked to the team about it before the game," Danbury coach Augie Tieri said. "I felt like that game last year, we learned so much from. A lot of the success that we are having this season came out of the lessons we learned from that game."

 

 

St. Joseph senior running back Riley Jordan ran for two touchdowns in the victory while quarterback Will Singewald passed for one touchdown to senior wide receiver Brandon Hutchinson. 

 

 

"(Jordan) is a workhorse," St. Joseph coach Della Vecchia said. "He is a tough runner, he is tough to bring down, and he's got good vision. He gets a lot of yards on his own after contact, he has been like that since we got him. He is a grinder."

 

Two fourth quarter touchdowns propelled St. Joseph to victory. Danbury cut the lead to 10-7 entering the fourth quarter.

 

"I don't think the final score was at all indicative of the game we played," Tieri said. "We fought them throughout and we just couldn't finish when we needed to."

 

St. Joseph struck first with a field goal behind the leg of Logan Spoelstra for a 3-0 lead in the first quarter, and extended its lead to 10-0 at the end of the half following Jordan's 1-yard first rushing touchdown. 

 

 

After two turnovers on downs in St. Joseph territory, Danbury got on the board against a Hogs defense that had allowed just 14 points per game. 

 

With 6:35 left in the third quarter, Danbury quarterback John Bardin threw a screen pass to Aiden Montalvo behind the line of scrimmage, who passed it again to a diving sophomore Asher Jones in the end zone. It was Jones' third touchdown in the last two games. 

 

"Our offensive coordinator did a great job of drawing that up," Tieri said. "We have a lot of success on the screen, so that was something that we wanted to use as bait and it worked to perfection. Aiden Montalvo made the throw and had been having an excellent game, and he executed it really well."

 

With a slim three point lead, St. Joseph came alive. 

 

 

"They made a great play down there, a trick play," DellaVecchia said. "They pulled it to 10-7 and I think that kind of woke us up a little bit with two long drives to put them away, but they played terrific. Augie (Tieri) is doing a great job with those guys, they are very good and are better than people think they are."

 

On the third play of the fourth quarter, Singewald connected with Hutchinson to put St. Joseph up 17-7 over Danbury 17-7, and after a quick stop turned around for another touchdown on a three-yard rush by Jordan. 

 

"It is great to be 4-0. If you asked us at the beginning of the year if we would be 4-0 at this point I am not sure what people would have said," Della Veccia said. "We are just going to keep plugging. These kids have a lot of grit and a lot of passion for the game and for each other."

 

St. Joseph will head into a bye week as one of the few remaining undefeated teams in the FCIAC before traveling to Greenwich on October 14th. 

 

"We have a lot of young kids playing and I think they are doing a lot of good things," Della Vecchia said. "They make mistakes but they are competing at as high a level as they possibly can. Our senior leadership is good and we are more aggressive than I thought we were going to be as a young team."

 

Danbury will also head into a bye week and will prepare for an away game at Staples on Oct. 14th as well. 

 

"We are right there, and once again this is a game we are going to learn from," Tieri said. "You can expect us to be back from the bye hungrier than ever."

 

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Riley Jordan: The senior captain rushed for two short touchdowns, including the final touchdown to put the game out of reach in the fourth quarter. 

 

ST. JOSEPH 24, DANBURY 7

​

ST. JOSEPH 3 7 0 14— 24

DANBURY  0 0 7    0—7

​

S—Field Goal

S—Riley Jordan 1 run (kick good)

D—Asher Jones 21 pass from Aiden Montalvo (kick good)

S—Brandon Hutchinson 15 pass from Will Singewald (kick good)

S—Jordan 3 run (kick good)

Records: Danbury 3-1; St. Joseph 4-0.