Warde Wins Thanksgiving Day Battle Against Ludlowe, 27-12, to Take Commanding Lead in Series

The following article was written by Chris Elsberry and appeared in The Connecticut Post and The Citizen.

Ryan Brown and Brandon Bisack wanted to go out with a bang.

The two Warde seniors have had a special connection as receiver and quarterback respectively in their Mustangs careers, and with the first winning season since Warde and Ludlowe split back in 2004 riding on the outcome of Thanksgiving morning's matchup against the town-rival Falcons, they went out and did just that.

Brown, pictured below, caught three touchdown passes to earn Warde's Most Valuable Player trophy from the Fairfield Lions Club and Bisack completed 23 of 33 passes for 197 yards as the Mustangs retained possession of the Gallagher-Baynas Memorial Trophy with a 27-12 win over Ludlowe before an estimated crowd of 1,800 at Tetreau-Davis field.

Falcons tailback Chris Howell received the Ludlowe MVP trophy from the Fairfield Lions Club. "Brandon and I have been working hard all season and we wanted to end it strong," said Brown, who caught six passes for 90 yards. "We've had that connection, so we made it happen three times. I'm just happy about the win, I'm not focusing on me, I'm focusing on the bang our team made."

Trailing 12-0 just six minutes into the game, Warde rebounded, thanks to its defense, which allowed two huge plays in Ludlowe's opening two possessions -- an 80-yard touchdown run by Daleek Chambers and a 67-yard pass reception to Mitch Wyckoff, that turned into Chris Howell's five-yard TD run. After that, however, the Mustangs stopped the Falcons cold.

"I'm glad how we responded," said Warde coach Duncan DellaVolpe, whose team finishes at 6-5. "They (the defense) had no choice because if they didn't, they weren't going back out there. They settled in. Our two linebackers (Wade) Petro and (Max) Snapper played great. Everyone up front played better."

Ludlowe, meanwhile, lost a golden opportunity to take command early after those two quick touchdowns. A bad snap play on its next possession not only lost 25 yards from midfield, but that Petro recovered. Four plays later, Bisack, pictured below, found Brown (pictured below) to make it 12-7 as Chris Jones tacked on the first of three extra points.

"We just handed them that first touchdown after we lost the ball," Ludlowe coach Vin Camera said.

"We were up 12-0, with the ball, coming off a big play and we snap the ball over the quarterback's head and we never regained the momentum. We had a chance to make it a three-score game."

Instead, the Falcons never got back in synch. Bryan Azarian scored from eight yards out with 8:48 left in the half to give Warde a 14-12 lead, and then with 18 second left before halftime, Bisack and Brown connected again for a 28-yard touchdown pass that made it 21-12.

"We wanted to go out with a bang," Bisack said. "We know each other so well. We've been throwing to each other for so long we wanted to end this day on a special note."

Bisack and Brown finished the day with an 18-yard touchdown pass with 1:48 left in the third quarter.

Warde celebrated its winning record by giving DellaVolpe the ice bucket treatment on the sidelines as the final horn sounded.

"It means a lot to the seniors, we put in so much work over these last four years," Bisack said. "As a senior, you always want to win your last game."