No. 8 Staples football beats Wilton behind swarming defense, 2 interceptions from Dylan Lust

Staples celebrates a touchdown against Wilton at Wilton High School on Oct. 30, 2026. (Scott Ericson/Hearst Connecticut Media) WILTON – The Staples football team did what Top 10 teams want to do on the road, putting together a dominant defensive performance Friday night to beat Wilton 24-7 and stay near the top of the Class LL playoff standings.The Staples defense smothered Wilton all night with multiple sacks and two interceptions apiece by Dylan Lust and Nate Maurillo. Three of those interceptions set the Wreckers up in good field position, leading to the first two scores of the game and then a field goal in the second half.Lust made up for two previous drops on near interceptions earlier in the season with his two picks."The defense has really stepped up this year and it is 11 guys to the ball every single play," Lust said. "I have had two dropped picks this season, but coach believed in me and put me in a good opportunity to make plays."Nick Triscari scored the first on an 11-yard run in the first quarter and Grant Bozeman got in on a 2-yard dive in the second to put the Wreckers up 14-0 at the break.A 38-yard field goal by David How followed Lust's second interception.Staples capped their scoring with a 7-yard touchdown run by Bozeman in the fourth quarter.Wilton coach EJ DiNunzio said his team had too many turnovers and penalties to beat Staples, the No. 8 team in the GametimeCT Top 10 Football Poll."It was terrible," DiNunzio said. "I have to be honest, we are not talking about sophomores, it was some of our senior guys making silly mistakes. You can't turn the ball over and have bad penalties against a good team."Wilton is 3-4 and outside of the top eight in the rankings who qualify for the Class MM playoff field. Things do not get any easier for the Warriors who travel to face No. 3 ranked Greenwich next Friday at 7 p.m., before hosting No. 1 New Canaan the following week.Staples is 6-1 and is No. 3 in the Class LL playoff rankings."Our defense does a great job week in and week out," Staples coach Matty Jacowleff said. "We preach playing with a get there mentality and swarming to the ball."Staples will travel to Norwalk next Saturday for a 2:30 game against the Bears in a game that will be played at McMahon High School.Player of the GameDylan Lust, Staples: His two interceptions set the tone and led to 10 points for the Wreckers.Quotable"We have a running joke that our linebackers can't really secure interceptions. In the bye week, we did some receiver drills with the linebackers and try to cross train them after seeing opportunity after opportunity hit the ground. (Lust) really embodies the the fire and passion we play with in Staples football." – Staples coach Matty JacowleffStaples 24, Wilton 7STAPLES 7 7 3 7-24WILTON 0 0 7 0 - 7S-Nick Triscari 11 run (David How kick)S-Grant Bozeman 2 run (How kick)S-How 38 field goalW-Dennis Dustin 15 pass Connor Harlacher (kick good)S-Bozeman 7 run (How kick)Sign 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 No. 8 Staples football beats Wilton behind swarming defense, 2 interceptions from Dylan Lust.