Guilford football overcomes halftime deficit to rally past North Haven, improve to 6-1

Guilford receiver Benjamin Mennone had five catches for 57 yards and scored both of the touchdowns for the Grizzlies football team in a 14-6 win over North Haven on Friday, Oct. 30, 2026. (Jim Fuller/For Hearst Connecticut Media) NORTH HAVEN - The members of the Guilford football team had an extra bounce in their steps as they ran onto Vanacore Field after a halftime break in a key Southern Connecticut Conference matchup on Friday night.Trailing by six points on the road at halftime, there was an energy that was hard to miss as the second half started.Benjamin Mennone's two touchdown catches after halftime gave the visiting Grizzlies the lead and the defense took care of the rest in a 14-6 win."We kind of settled in," said sophomore linebacker Owen Andrews, who led the Grizzlies with 10 tackles and had an interception to set up the second touchdown. "This team is a very run-heavy team, they are going to try to run it up your face and the first drive, we kind of used that to ease into it and after that, we started stopping them (with) 3-and-outs and 4-and-outs."Guilford's 1,000-yard rusher Shane Connelly, who finished with 87 rushing yards, ripped off his longest run of the game to open the Grizzlies' second drive of the third quarter, only to have the huge gain wiped out by a holding penalty. A couple of Sam Edwards runs got Guilford going. Ryan Lynch flipped the ball to Mennone and the junior receiver did the rest on a 15-yard touchdown. Jack Coyne's extra point gave the Grizzlies the one-point lead with 4:08 left in the third quarter."We knew we had to score on that drive right there, it was a huge, pivotal play in the game, said Mennone, who had five catches for 57 yards. "That play, we run it in practice a ton. We knew it was going to work. I was untouched, perfect blocking right into the end zone."After two short runs, North Haven's first attempted pass of the second half was intercepted by Andrews and returned to the 4. Lynch and Mennone connected again, this time on an 8-yard score for Guilford (6-1).North Haven had two more drives and only trailed by eight points, but couldn't move the ball. Ty Ludington's sack ended the final North Haven drive and the Grizzlies ran out the clock."We did have some spurts in the second quarter, but they were halted by penalties and that is part of the game and a part of the game that we can control and we have to tighten that up," North Haven coach Tony Sagnella said. "A six-point lead, I didn't feel comfortable at halftime.""(Guilford coach) Brian (White) did a great job adjusting in the second half. They came out and stuck it to us and that's that. We got handled in the second half."North Haven (2-5) struck first on a 16-play drive that took more than nine minutes. Four Guilford penalties helped extend the drive. Brett White had a 5-yard run to give North Haven the 6-0 lead."We had to buckle down," Brian White said. "We had a couple of penalties to extend that drive and against a team like that, that is something you can't do. We caused a couple of turnovers and had some things go our way in the second half."Player of the GameGuilford receiver Benjamin Mennone had five catches for 57 yards and scored both of the touchdowns for the Grizzlies.Quotable"We have a good bond on this team. It is a great group of guys and I love playing with this team." - MennoneGuilford 14, North Haven 6(at North Haven)GUILFORD 0 0 14 0 - 14NORTH HAVEN 6 0 0 0 - 6NH - Brett White 5 run (kick failed)G - Benjamin Mennone 15 pass from Ryan Lynch (Jack Coyne kick)G - Mennone 8 pass from Lynch (Coyne kick)Records: G 6-1, NH 2-5Sign up for the Connecticut Briefing from CT Insider. Get the biggest headlines of the day from our network of journalists around the state.This article originally published at Guilford football overcomes halftime deficit to rally past North Haven, improve to 6-1.