September 26, 2005

Crusaders Playing Smash-mouth Football

by Max Mercy
Chief Editor

The Trinity Catholic Defense is playin' smash-mouth football.

In Saturday's 20-14 victory at Darien's new field, the Blue Wave were limited to zero or negative yards on 10 plays, were turned back twice from inside Trinity's 20 yard line, and turned the ball over three times.

Vinny Cortese had 15 tackles and Mario Pirilozi had three sacks to lead the charge. Aland Joseph, Andrew Shannon and Matt Taccone each had 11 tackles.

Offensively, the Crusaders took care of things when it counted. With eight minutes to go and the ball on their own 3, they drove 90 yards in 5 1/2 minutes to eat the clock and all but wrap up the game.

Senior Captain Gene DeVito had 14 points, catching a touchdown pass and rushing for another. The CrusaderNation Player of the Week finished with three catches for 75 yards. Quarterback Anes Kummal threw for 110 yards and tacked on almost 100 more rushing. He threw for a TD and rushed for another. Running back Eric Stevens carried the load with 11 carries for 47 yards

The special teams units also came up huge. AJ Nelson returned the opening kickoff 60 yards to start the game inside Darien 20. The ensuing kickoff was fumbled and recovered by Ryan Reed setting up score number two for the Crusaders. The Crusader punt and punt-return units out-gained their Darien counterparts by a total of 37 yards.

The Crusaders are 1-1 walking into Westhill for an intra-city bru-ha-ha this Saturday.

2005 News Stories

 

Big senior defensive tackle Vladimir Joseph swims by an offensive lineman in a 28-20 home victory over Fairfield Ludlowe on October 29, 2005. (CrusaderNation.net / Dana Maul)

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Junior defensive tackle Santiago "Teggy" Steele wraps up a Darien rusher as his
teammates look on. The Crusaders beat Darien 20-14 for their first victory of the year on September 24, 2005. (CrusaderNation.net / Dana Maul)

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Junior center Cory Johnson prepares to snap the ball to fellow classmate
Anes Koummal in a 28-19 victory over Westhill on October 1,
2005. (CrusaderNation.net / Dana Maul)

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The Crusader offensive line pushes Bassick around in the mud. The Crusaders
dominated Bassick in a 42-6 win on October 15, 2005. (CrusaderNation.net / Dana Maul)

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Senior wideout Rob Hawthorn races downfield to block as junior fullback Eric Stephens
busts up the middle after taking the handoff from Anes Koummal. The Crusaders beat
Darien 20-14 on September 24, 2005. (CrusaderNation.net / Dana Maul)

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2005 All-FCIAC East Offense

Row 1, Left to Right: Eric Wells, Bassick; Willie Epps, McMahon; Pete Raymond,
McMahon; Bill Beattie, Fairfield Ludlowe; Roger Bel, Ridgefield; Andrew Derito,
Ridgefield; Tyler Kirchoff, Ridgefield

Row 2, Left to Right: Dave Chervansky, St. Joseph; Vlad Ducasse, Stamford; Chris
Patterson, Stamford; D.J. Stefkovich, Staples; Bryan Wrapp, Staples; Gene
Devito, Trinity Catholic; Simon Kloeckner, Ridgefield.

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2005 All-FCIAC East Defense

Row 1, Left to Right: Joe Luchesi, Danbury; Greg Sabo, Danbury; James Taylor, Danbury;
Tom Donovan, Ridgefield; Scott Hiller, Ridgefield; Tom Cody, St. Joseph; Rick Piccirillo, St. Joseph

Row 2, Left to Right: Zach Sadler, St. Joseph; Alex Joseph, Stamford; Lonson Becker,
Staples; Brian Levine, Staples; Wyatt Moss, Staples; Dylan O'Shea, Staples; Vinny
Cortese, Trinity Catholic; Roland Carrington, Westhill

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