Naugatuck football 'hammers' its way to comeback victory over NVL foe Holy Cross
· Yahoo Sports
WATERBURY - High school football's double-wing offense is affectionately known by smashmouth running game enthusiasts as the "hammer."
Naugatuck was down 14 points in its season opener against Holy Cross on Thursday night at Municipal Stadium's Ray Snyder Sr. Field, but that changed once the visitors went to the hammer offense.
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The Greyhounds scored three unanswered touchdowns, the last two runs of 15 and 4 yards by Brandon Andoh behind a monster offensive line, to stun the Crusaders 27-20.
Andoh's 4-yard score with 33.4 seconds left in the game and Gabriel Bello's third extra point in four attempts gave Naugatuck a 7-point lead, its first of the game.
The Greyhounds' defense made sure a last-ditch Hail Mary pass from Crusaders quarterback Brady Lombardo came up short of the end zone. That set off a massive celebration by Naugatuck and its student section.
"You did not blink in the face of adversity, and that's what I'm most proud of," Naugatuck coach Chris Anderson told his team in an exuberant postgame huddle.
Andoh, who didn't have a great first half running the ball, got it going in the second half, especially in the fourth quarter as the Greyhounds wore down the Crusaders and chewed valuable time off the game clock.
"I felt like we just kept our heads up, we kept our composure," said Andoh, who finished with 119 rushing yards on 20 carries and two scores.
In the hammer, Andoh and Qwentarvous Lee went to work running the ball at the Holy Cross defense.
"It's just punch them in the mouth, punch them in the mouth," Lee said. "If they don't have on white and garnet, we own them. It's no mercy, no mercy at all."
Adversity was something Naugatuck struggled with during a 4-6 season in 2025.
The Greyhounds faced major adversity just 4:52 into the 2026 season opener. That was because the Crusaders scored a touchdown, recovered a pooch kick on the visiting sideline and then scored again.
Lombardo had two touchdown passes, one of 8 yards to Tyler Smith and another of 28 yards to Nate Craft, and there was still a ton of time left.
"They play with a lot of confidence at home, and the way they came out," Anderson said. "They had a pep rally themselves, the crowd was into it. It felt like we were going to be in big trouble, but credit my kids who were super resilient. They didn't blink."
Lee scored from 2 yards out on the first play of the second quarter to get Naugatuck on the board.
Lombardo countered with his third touchdown pass, a 29-yard connection with Aaden Hall. It was 20-6 Holy Cross with 1:47 to go until halftime.
The Greyhounds showed they could push the pace, however, and drove to the Crusader 11. Lee was at quarterback for the first-and-10 play. He executed a great run fake with Andoh, then tossed to an open Kayler Nieves for a touchdown with 37.6 seconds left in the second quarter. Bello's extra point made it 20-13 at halftime.
After a scoreless third quarter, Naugatuck still trailed by the same margin, but it stopped Holy Cross on downs at the 19 with 10:55 to play in the game.
The Greyhounds embarked on an eight-play, 81-yard drive in the double-wing and tied the score at 20-20 on Andoh's 15-yard touchdown and Bello's kick at the 7:23 mark.
The Crusaders, who hurt themselves with some dropped passes, fumbled snaps and penalties, gave the ball back to the Greyhounds at their 41 with 5:21 to go. Naugatuck ran 10 plays and chewed up nearly five minutes of game time. The Greyhounds converted two third downs and a fourth down before Andoh scored the winner.
Holy Cross' star receiver and UConn commit Dae'Sean Graves finished with seven catches for 91 yards.
Player of the Game
Brandon Andoh, Naugatuck: Scored both fourth-quarter touchdowns for the Greyhounds in their comeback victory.
Quotable
"We made some adjustments at the half. Our defense was lights out. Coach (Chris) Moffo put a great defensive game plan together, and on offense, we said we're going to go right at them. We worked really hard for this win today. It was a character win for our program, and I'm super proud of them all."
- Chris Anderson, Naugatuck football coach.
Naugatuck 27, Holy Cross 20
NAUGATUCK 0 13 0 14 - 27
HOLY CROSS 14 6 0 0 - 20
HC-Tyler Smith 8 pass from Brady Lombardo (kick blocked)
HC-Nate Craft 28 pass from Lombardo (Michael Stradford pass from Lombardo)
N-Qwentarvious Lee 2 run (kick missed)
HC-Aaden Hall 29 pass from Lombardo (kick blocked)
N-Kayler Nieves 11 pass from Lee (Gabriel Bello kick)
N-Andoh 15 run (Bello kick)
N-Andoh 4 run (Bello kick)
Records: Naugatuck 1-0; Holy Cross 0-1.
This article originally published at Naugatuck football 'hammers' its way to comeback victory over NVL foe Holy Cross.