DANBURY – For the last decade, the Danbury football team has been looking for the signature win in the FCIAC that proves it belongs among the league’s elite. It finally got that win Friday night as quarterback Jake O’Keefe used his arm and his legs to lift the Hatters to a 17-10 win over No. 6 Staples, knocking the Wreckers from the ranks of the unbeaten.
It was Danbury’s first win over Staples since 2014.
Danbury celebrates beating No. 6 Staples in Danbury on Oct. 9, 2026. (Scott Ericson/Hearst Connecticut Media)
“It feels great and feels like it has been four years coming,” said O’Keefe, who has started for Danbury since midway through his freshman season. “I am just so proud of them, and it is something we have always had on our mind and we knew we could come out and beat them, and we did it.”
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O’Keefe ran for the game’s opening touchdown on an 11-yard run, capping an 85-yard drive before Staples ever saw the ball.
“I don’t think we have scored on the first drive this year, and we did it,” O’Keefe said. “We knew it would set the tone for the rest of the game.”
O’Keefe was out for last week’s loss to Ridgefield because of a concussion suffered against St. Joseph.
Danbury moved to 2-2, but this win was about more than being .500.
“It means everything,” said Danbury coach Augie Tieri, who took over the program in 2018. “These boys have worked so hard for this and we know that almost every week we are playing a top-10 team because we play in the FCIAC and we are proud to do that.”
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The Wreckers, who fell to 4-1, have not been 5-0 since they went unbeaten in the 2012 regular season.
Staples coach Matty Jacowleff put the loss on himself.
“Credit to Danbury, that is a huge win for that program,” Jacowleff said. “They had a plan, they were prepared and they have fantastic players. I need to do a better job putting our players in a position to be successful. I feel like if I did a better job preparing our players, we would be in a different position than we are right now.”
Staples got a first-quarter field goal by David How from 35 yards for its only points before halftime.
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Danbury pushed the lead to 14-3 on a 20-yard pass from O’Keefe to John Callari in the second quarter.
The Wreckers cut the lead to 14-10 on an 80-yard pass from Grant Bozeman to Levi Belzer in the third quarter, but could not sustain any more drives the rest of the game.
Belzer also had two interceptions for Staples.
Staples’ only fourth-quarter drive to reach deep into Danbury territory ended with an interception by JJ Reyes with 4:14 left. Reyes’ return helped set up a 17-yard field goal by Jorge Ceballos, Danbury’s only score of the second half.
Player of the game
Jake O’Keefe, Danbury:
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His two touchdowns were huge, but his poise is what won the game for Danbury, especially getting the Hatters off their own goal line on two separate occasions.
Quotable
“(O’Keefe) is just so tough. He hung in the pocket and made some unbelievable throws tonight, and there are not many kids in the state that can make those throws. The poise he showed the two times we had to dig out of our own end zone, we don’t win the football game without getting out of those situations. He made some big plays down the stretch, and that’s why he is a big-time quarterback.” – Danbury coach Augie Tieri.
Danbury 17, Staples 10
STAPLES 3 0 7 0-10
DANBURY 7 7 0 3-17
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D-Jake O’Keefe 11 run (Jorge Ceballos kick)
S-David How 35 field goal
D-John Callari 20 pass from O’Keefe (Ceballos kick)
S-Levi Belzer 80 pass from Grant Bozeman (How kick)
D-Ceballos 17 field goal
Records: Staples 4-1; Danbury 2-2.
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This article originally published at Danbury football beats No. 6 Staples for 1st time since 2014, gets signature FCIAC win.
