The Redcoats took the opening kickoff of the second half and marched 65 yards in methodical, pain-staking bites -- 14 plays in all -- to stretch an eight-point halftime lead to 16 en route to a 30-6 opening-night win over Wethersfield.

"They wore us down," said Wethersfield’s rookie head coach John Campanello of Berlin’s drive that consumed nearly all of the third quarter. "That’s going to happen when (a defense) is on the field that long."

Berlin converted two critical fourth-down plays on the drive, the first coming at the Wethersfield 26 when Capodice, who has a number of talented backs, lined up an astonishing four receivers to the right of sophomore quarterback Jim Connelly, and ran a screen pass good for six yards on fourth-and-4 that sustained the drive.

"(They) just ran a little bubble screen," lamented Campanello of Berlin’s play call, noting he hadn’t seen the play before. "In the first game (of the season), you haven’t had a chance to scout your opponent (much)."

Connelly would finish the drive four plays later, when he rolled left for a nine-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-5 to make it 22-6 (after Joe Farone’s two-point conversion).

Capodice was thrilled with his offense’s production in the second half as the Redcoats controlled the ball (36 plays to Wethersfield’s 11), the clock (20:28 of 24 minutes), the yardage (211 yards to 47), and the scoreboard (16-0 after intermission).

"The offensive line did a tremendous job," Capodice praised. "They had a great night. Up front, they really had a great, great push."

What slowed Berlin offensively on the night were five turnovers, including an unwieldy three in a very sloppy first quarter for both teams that resulted in a total of seven turnovers.

Berlin scored its first touchdown, a one-yard Bryan Hackett (16 carries, 133 yards, 88 which came in the second half) run that was set up when Wethersfield turned the ball over at its own 23, failing to get off a punt.

Ryan Molloy stretched Berlin’s lead to 14-0 with 5:44 left in the half on the first of his two touchdown runs (the second coming with 1:19 left to put Berlin up 30-6) on a three-yard run to cap a five-play, 40-yard drive that ended an extensive period with Wethersfield started with poor field position; Wethersfield (0-1) started from its own 4-, 7-, and 1-yard lines on consecutive drives while keeping Berlin at bay.

"I thought (defensive end) Emilio Perez, (linebacker) Nick Cardoso and (linebacker) Kris Mason played pretty well," Campanello said, noting that Mason forced a fumble (and recovered another) while Perez recovered two fumbles.