November 25, 2005Wilton Tops Trinityfrom The Stamford Advocate STAMFORD -- At a time of year when most high school football coaches are wearied from the rigors of a long season, Wilton High School's Tim Eagen yesterday had the enthusiasm that usually greets the start of a new year. The Warriors had just completed a dominant 20-0 win at Trinity Catholic, the team's first on Thanksgiving Day in a decade. More importantly, their fourth straight victory made them 6-4 and gave Eagen his first winning record in five seasons as head coach. If Eagen was offered the chance for another 10-game schedule yesterday, it seemed like he would have signed on. "At this point we are playing so well in all facets of the game," Eagen said. "We played with confidence and did not turn the ball over the last month. I'm proud of my seniors because we wanted to get them a winning season. At 2-4, it didn't look good." One of those seniors, David Damato, scored on a pair of 14-yard runs and threw a touchdown pass. But it was the Warriors' control at the line of scrimmage that was the deciding factor on a mud-covered field. Wilton rushed for 213 yards, while its defense, led by tackle Dan Stebbins, held Trinity to 87 total yards, almost half of which came on one pass play. "Teams have had trouble running the ball on us all year," Eagen said. "Wilton has always prided itself on playing good defense." Trinity suffered its second successive loss but still finished with a 5-5 mark. It was a stark improvement over a year ago, coach Bryan Fox's first at the school, when it finished 2-8 after an 0-8 start. More importantly the Crusaders, yesterday notwithstanding, have a renewed confidence they can carry into next season. "I'm proud of our seniors because I think they made a good step forward with the program," Fox said. "Today, Wilton jumped on us early and they just outplayed us. That was the bottom line." After falling behind 14-0 early in the second period after the Warriors' scored on two of their first three possessions, the deteriorating field conditions made it nearly impossible to pass the ball. Anas Koummal, the Crusaders' quarterback, completed 7 of 11 passes, but for just 60 yards. Koummal often had little time to find open receivers: he was sacked five times. "It hurt not being able to throw," Fox said. "And they overpowered us on the offensive and defensive lines." The wet, muddy track was a factor before the game even started: the opening coin toss had to be repeated when the first coin got lost in a big puddle at midfield. By the end of the day it was impossible to make out the numerals on Wilton's white uniforms. Wilton's first possession, which started on the Crusaders' 46, resulted in a taut five-play drive. The first four were carries by fullback Chris Koslowski, which accounted for 32 of his 55 yards. On the final play, from the 14, Damato faked to Koslowski, and when the defense bit the quarterback pulled the ball back and raced untouched into the end zone. When the Trinity defense started focusing on Koslowski, Wilton started relying on Damato, who had a team-high 15 carries for 67 yards, and Brian Ingold, who carried 10 times for 73 yards. Sean Clancy and Koslowski set up the Warriors' second score, combining for six straight rushes before Damato, on an identical play from his first score except he went to his left, made it 14-0 with 9:03 left in the half. Trinity's best chance came on the ensuing possession, when it recovered a fumbled punt on Wilton's 35, setting up a bizarre sequence. Two straight penalties moved the ball back to Trinity's 38. On third-and-33, Koummal found Dave Macari behind the defense for a 42-yard gain. Runs by John Foti and Koummal brought the ball to the Wilton 9, but Koummal was sacked on back-to-back plays by Tom Sinchak and Stebbins to end the threat. "That hurt there," Fox said. "Maybe it would have made it a little closer, but to be quite honest we didn't have any offense." Wilton's final score, midway through the third quarter, came on Damato's only completion on three attempts, a bobbling 20-yard catch in the left corner of the end zone by Matt Murray. "When we were struggling earlier this year, instead of worrying about winning we started worrying about our skills," Eagen said. "We worried about getting better and the wins would take care of themselves." Fox, a bottom-line coach, admitted overall satisfaction with the season, but with a caveat. "I just told the juniors that if they are ready to sign up for another 5-5 season don't come back," Fox said. "If you look at it logically this year wasn't a success unless we make the next step next year. If we take it and add to it, it was a good stepping stone."
 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)
 Junior defensive tackle Santiago "Teggy" Steele wraps up a Darien
rusher as his
 Junior center Cory Johnson prepares to snap the ball to fellow classmate
 The Crusader offensive line pushes Bassick around in the mud. The
Crusaders
 Senior wideout Rob Hawthorn races downfield to block as junior fullback
Eric Stephens
 2005 All-FCIAC East Offense Row 1, Left to Right: Eric Wells, Bassick; Willie Epps, McMahon;
Pete Raymond,
 2005 All-FCIAC East Defense Row 1, Left to Right: Joe Luchesi, Danbury; Greg Sabo, Danbury; James
Taylor, Danbury;
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