Frank Speziale Photo

NORWICH – The Purple Tornado received the opening kickoff Friday against the Windsor Black Knights. The first offensive play for Norwich started with a hand-off from quarterback Thomas Parrella to running back Eric Conant. The play resulted in a 67 yard touchdown, the first of seven for the home team in their 49-19 victory over the Black Knights.

Conant led the offense with three touchdowns, one of which was a pass from Parrella for 54 yards midway through the second quarter. He totaled 81 rushing yards on eight carries for two touchdowns.

It wasn’t just the play of Conant that led Norwich to a win in the 2018 home opener. The Tornado defense allowed Windsor to score three touchdowns and gain a total of 238 yards offensively, but it wasn’t until the second half that the visiting team started to pick up their yardage.

At the half, Norwich had total of 318 yards on offense with the defense allowing just 38 Black Knight yards.

Norwich’s Eli Rodriguez and J.T Vinal picked off two Zach Wolcott passes thrown in the first half, creating two of the three turnovers the Tornado forced. The other was a fumble by Windsor that Vinal was able to jump on top of to create the second scoring drive for the home team.

The drive resulted in Conant’s second touchdown, one he scored untouched from seven yards out.

Vinal wasn’t just catching balls on the defensive side. Early in the second quarter, he received a pass from Parrella. Once the ball was in his hands, he turned on his jets and broke a few tackles on his way to the end zone for a 22 yards touchdown catch to make the score 21-0 in favor of Norwich.

After attacking the Black Knights through the air for two scores, Norwich head coach Mike Chrystie went back to the run game. Enter Drew Walsh.

Walsh, a power tailback for Norwich, showcased his speed as he sprinted for 66 yards and the score. He hit the hole that the offensive line opened up for him hard and shook off a few tacklers on his way to his lone touchdown of the contest. Walsh rushed for another 40 yards on nine carries through out the game to lead the Purple Tornado on the ground.

David Berger, the last of the speedy trio of running backs on Norwich’s offense, was able to also get six points on the board before the half ended. Berger punched the ball in from 11 yards out with 20 seconds left in the first half, giving the Tornado a 42-0 lead at the intermission.

“We have a lot of speed in the backfield,” said Chrystie. “Whether it’s Berger, Conant or Walsh, we feel confident that if they get the edge, they are going to win the 1-on-1 matchup and have a chance to make a home run every time they touch the ball.”

The Black Knights came out of the break to put together a scoring drive. Wolcott found his receiver, Eric Hunsinger, for a 23 yard touchdown reception and their first points of the game.

On the ensuing kickoff, Norwich’s special teams displayed some trickery for the fans. After a few exchanges by the Purple Tornado return team, Berger took the final hand-off down the field 87 yards for the Norwich’s final score of the contest. He finished the game with a total of 107 kick return yards on just two returns.

Windsor was able tack on two additional touchdowns, both coming in the air from Wolcott in the second half. Kieran Horton caught one for 35 yards late in the third quarter and Jack Beattie added a eight yard scoring reception in the fourth.

The stymie defense of the Tornado was a group effort with a few who had their names called often. Vinal led the team in tackles (seven total, six solo). Vinal added a sack and forced a fumble to his statline.

Throughout the game, Shane Lawrence and Skylar Wenzel disrupted the Windsor offense by tackling the running back at the line of scrimmage or forcing the quarterback to make a tough decision.

Lawrence finished the game with five solo tackles, two of which resulted in a loss of yardage for the Black Knights. He also took down the quarterback for a sack. Wenzel ended with two and half tackles, one for a loss of yards.

“I think our defensive line played real well,” said Chrystie. “Our second level linebackers are going to get of attention because of the stats they put up but they are not going to do that with out a solid team effort. Both our offensive and defensive lines played well and controlled the line of scrimmage for the most part. When they do, these are the types of games you are going to have.”

Linebackers Walsh, Conant and Brad Walley wrapped up Windsor often as the three combined for a total of 12 tackles.

Norwich finished with a total of 326 yards on a total of 37 plays. Parrella completed three passes on six attempts for a total of 85 yards and two touchdowns. Rodriguez was the third of the three completions by Parrella. His catch was for nine yards from the line of scrimmage.

On top of Conant and Walsh’s rushing yards, Berger ran for 43 yards on three carries.

Norwich’s new kicker Matt Giglio sent all seven of his extra point attempts through the uprights to cap off each scoring drive.