NEW BRITAIN — North Haven shut out Wilton, 21-0, to win its second consecutive CIAC Class MM state championship.

Domination of all three phrases by the Nighthawks was the name of the first of three games contested at Arute Field on CIAC Championship Saturday.

North Haven coach Anthony Sagnella clutched his family tight after winning his second straight state championship game. You could certainly understand why the moment created so much emotion; but had you watched the game, you could’ve fairly hypothesized that coach Sagnella was choking up after watching the beautiful performance of the team he leads.

But first and foremost, he was humble.

“It’s great for the program, it’s really not about me,” he said when asked how he felt of his victory. “Our program has elevated its standards every year, and there was a lot of pressure on them to do this. Everyone knew we had kids coming back, that’s hard to say, ‘Hey, you guys gotta go win it again,’ but they did it . . . and I’m so proud of them.”

The first half went by at a shocking pace. It was over in no more than 45 minutes, and there was little action from both sides. Wilton’s Warriors struggled to move the ball from the get-go. Junior QB Joe Hagerty had multiple nice runs early, but the rest of his efforts were stymied by an iron wall of a North Haven defense.

The Warriors, headed by EJ DiNunzio, were no slumps defensively, either. The Warriors opened up their season by shutting out three of their first four opponents.

But all it took was a slip through the cracks for North Haven’s three-way star, Adam Pandolfi. Committed to Yale, Pandolfi starred at running back on offense, and had a huge day on special teams.

“Our special teams coach (Keith Wolkovitz) works on it every day. Our last punt of the day is trying to pin it inside the five. And since we work on it every day, it shows in the games,” Pandolfi said of the remarkable special teams performance.

While the score remained 7-0, the first of Pandolfi’s crucial punts meant that Wilton had over 90 yards to go to tie the game up.

Coach Sagnella was quick to praise the Ivy League commit: “Adam is an All-State punter, he’s unbelievable, and today he showed why.”

And with a dominant defense, 7-0 ended up being all the Nighthawks needed. The game entered the half with that score, as both teams depended on a run heavy offensive scheme, with little success.

When the teams came back out for the second half, it was still to be decided who the victor would be. But as time went on, it was obvious that North Haven came to play.

Every part of the game, when it came down to it, was controlled by North Haven. Through their play on defense and special teams, they set their offense up with countless short fields, and they finally converted on it.

Their only pass play of the entire game came on a third and inches. “I was hoping it’d be a first down. I wanted to throw the pass on a running down, third and inches was a good running down to do it, so it worked out for us,” said Sagnella of the deep touchdown pass.

It was perfectly executed, and North Haven had a two-touchdown lead. With how its defense had played until that point, it seemed nearly impossible for Wilton to procure a comeback. While the Warriors tried, their efforts only dug their hole deeper.

The Nighthawks’ second consecutive championship was within reach; and a pair of twins went out and snatched it. Twins Mikey and Brian Moran teamed up for a strip-sack fumble-six, Mikey knocking the ball loose, Brian running freely into the end zone.

With just a few minutes to go, that was all she wrote. North Haven has won their second Class MM championship in as many years.

Both grandstands were packed head to toe with fans, and the North Haven ones were loud and proud, especially after the win. It was a truly remarkable performance from all three phases of North Haven’s team at the highest possible stage in Connecticut high school football.

Coach Sagnella was proud that his team practiced what he preached.

“Complete game, we were striving for that. Our goal every year is to be the best team we can be, and try to have the best performance that we can have, and today I think we did that,” Sagnella said with a light chuckle.

It was a complete game indeed, and North Haven can proudly keep the Class MM title in their trophy case for one more year. The job, Pandolfi said, was not finished with this group of graduates, however. “I’m gonna challenge this year’s juniors next year. If we three peat, that secures a dynasty for North Haven. And that’s all I’ve got.”