October 1, 2006Crusaders Cruise: Koummal Leads Diverse Offense in City Victoryfrom The Stamford Advocate STAMFORD -- Of the 12 passes Anas Koummal threw yesterday afternoon, none gave the Trinity Catholic High School quarterback greater satisfaction than the one that did not count, a tight spiral aimed at the early autumn sky seconds after the final gun sounded. It was an exclamation point to a 46-20 home win over Westhill, but the symbolism behind it was that much more. Erased was the bitter taste of last week's disheartening one-point loss to Darien that seemed to deflate all the preseason optimism surrounding the program. The Crusaders' offense finally got untracked, scoring on its first five possessions and operating with efficiency. More importantly, it was the first step toward a city championship, a goal that seems well within its grasp. "This was a big win for us after Darien," Koummal said. "I sat in the locker room last Friday for two hours after the game. We knew we had to come out, play well and put it behind us." Trinity served notice on its opening possession. Koummal rolled out for a 22-yard keeper on the first play, had a 17-yard run two plays later, and two plays after that found Tyler Collins in the back of the end zone for a 9-yard score. On a day when many players stepped up, no one shined more than Koummal. He was 6-of-11 for 111 yards and three touchdowns, two to Collins. Koummal also had nine carries for 90 yards and would have gone over the 100-yard mark if not for a pair of sacks. "Our offense finally came together," Koummal said. "We put in a couple of new plays and the offensive line did magnificently." Koummal was particularly dangerous rolling out, making good decisions to run himself when receivers were covered or finding them when they were not. Except for the two sacks, all but one of Koummal's runs went for between 11 and 23 yards. "Coach told me to always look deep, middle and short so I have a variety of options," Koummal said. "Last week I looked for just one pass. This week I had better eyes." Kyle Foti had a strong game, rushing for 80 yards on eight carries and catching a pass for 14 yards. Six different players scored touchdowns. Perhaps no one took greater satisfaction than Trinity coach Bryan Fox, who might have taken last week's loss hardest of all. He admitted the reason he called a 15-minute meeting the day after the Darien game was because "I did not want to go two days without seeing the kids." "I think the seniors really took last week personally and it helped having a city rival because you always get up for that game," Fox said. "We came out with an attitude of 'Let's attack.'" The contest had the ingredients and developed into a perfect storm for Westhill, which faced a familiar and angry opponent with something to prove. "They came out and executed early," Westhill coach Dick Cerone said. "We gave up too many big plays. Mentally they are ahead of us. They are at a point where they believe they can win, while we're trying to learn to believe to win. It was not a lack of effort, it was a lack of execution." The Vikings (0-3) opened the season with large losses to Greenwich and Staples, arguably the Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference's two best teams, but in many respects yesterday's defeat was even worse. Cerone said last month his team's goals for the season were to improve each week. "We did not improve," Cerone said. "We played more consistently against Staples. I thought we'd be better." The one bright spot for the Vikings was the play of sophomore running back Danny Berisha, who became a focal point of the offense. Berisha finished with 126 yards on 14 carries, including touchdown runs of 58 and 22 yards. By the time of the first one, the Vikings were already in a 20-0 hole just 10 minutes into the game. After Collins' first touchdown catch, Trinity's Nick Cortese blocked a punt and Alex Santos returned it 20 yards for a score. After Westhill went three-and-out for the third straight time, Trinity drove 66 yards in seven plays, climaxing in A.J. Nelson's 5-yard run. "Our defense has been tough all year and we wanted to come out on offense and explode," Fox said. "Anas threw the ball well and we were able to get him into the running game finally." Even the Vikings' few positive moments proved fleeting. After Berisha made it 20-7 late in the first quarter, Koummal came back and hit Chris Hawthorn, who made a spectacular diving catch in the end zone on a play that covered 31 yards. Koummal's 28-yard touchdown pass to Collins on fourth down with 24 seconds left in the half made the score 33-7. Ryan Durkin and John O'Leary added touchdown runs for the Crusaders in the second half. The Vikings' other score was a 60-yard fumble return by Tito Sanchez. "I would hope the kids are not going to get down," said Cerone, whose team travels to Danbury Friday night. "Part of what we are preaching is the challenge is not to get down." The Crusaders have higher goals and yesterday gave them a different perspective from eight days ago. "We just want to go undefeated the rest of the year, but we'll just worry about next week and McMahon," Koummal said. "Right now we all just feel a whole lot better." Copyright © 2006, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc.
 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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