November 10, 2007Cortese Helps Carry Trinity Past Stamford 20-8from The Stamford Advocate STAMFORD -It could have been the wet conditions due to the rain. Or perhaps it was the slow, season-long process of attrition which left the Stamford High School football team undermanned in Game 9 on the schedule Then again, maybe last night's temporary change in offensive philosophy was merely a calculated plan by the Stamford coaching staff, an attempt to try to beat the Trinity Catholic Crusaders at their own game. Whatever the case, Stamford appeared determined to keep it's high-powered passing attack under wraps early in last night's Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference game at Boyle Stadium. The Knights, who usually pass first and ask questions later, ran the ball on their first eight plays from scrimmage and 13 of their first 14. And it worked . . . Well, almost. "We did to them what they wanted to do to us," Stamford High head coach Kevin Jones said. Jones was referring to Stamford's opening drive, one that resembled Trinity's ball-control style and lasted nearly 10 minutes but netted no points. Jones was not alluding to the result of the game. That decision went to Trinity, which used a 152-yard rushing effort by fullback Nick Cortese to beat the Black Knights, 20-8. "Cortese is tough," said Trinity head coach Bryan Fox whose team (1-1 in city play) can retain its city championship if Stamford (0-1) can beat Westhill (1-0) on Thanksgiving. "I had his brother (Vinny) a few years ago and we made him a guard. This time we were smart enough to let the kid carry the ball." Stamford seemed to own that run-first mentality ast night, too, although Jones refutes such a claim. "It was not our plan, per se," Jones said of the ground-oriented opening drive that began on the Stamford 1. "It was combination of things. We started out at our 1, it was raining and a quarterback sneak worked on the first two plays. Honestly, we had no intention of running so much." Those first two sneaks by quarterback T.J. Mills picked up 13 yards. But ultimately the drive stalled at the TC 15. Stamford turned the ball over on downs. It was a 77-yard, 16-play drive that lasted 9:37, and earned the Knights a big fat zero on the scoreboard. "We needed points on that first drive," Jones said. "We pounded them, were beating them at their own game, and it should've demoralized them." The Crusaders bounced right back, though, with an 85-yard drive of their own. They took a 7-0 lead when quarterback John O'Leary scrambled for a 15-yard touchdown. Before O'Leary's run, Cortese carried six consecutive times. In all, the junior carried the ball 33 times for his 152 yards. "I knew going into the game that I was going to carry it 30 or 40 times," Cortese said. "The line pounded out the holes for me. I don't have blazing speed, so if not for the line I wouldn't have had as many yards." O'Leary, who added a six-yard touchdown with 2:16 remaining in the first half, added 39 yards rushing on eight attempts. And the TC defense, led by Robb Domrowski, Alex Santos and Cortese, limited the high-powered SHS offense to one score while forcing four turnovers. "We're really not a bad football team," Fox said. "We have a bad record but we've lost (three) close games (by a total of 12 points). We just need to get more consistent. I'm seeing good progress." Jones thought he, too, was seeing progress from his team in the second half. He inserted backup quarterback Mitch O'Meara but, he said, not because Mills was struggling. The Knights have become so decimated with injuries after playing one of the toughest schedules in the league that Jones had no other option than to put Mills in as a defensive back, and didn't want to play his QB both ways. So, he tried to find another way to spark his team. Another solid 71-yard drive was capped off by a one-yard TD by offensive lineman Dan Lyons, son of former SHS football coach Marc Lyons, that made it 14-8 early in the fourth quarter. "I gave it to Lyons at the one because if he scored I knew it would give us the spark we needed," Jones said. But the Crusaders finished the game the way the Knights had hoped to start it. Cortese capped off a 70-yard, 12-play march with a one-yard dive to complete the scoring. Now, the teams wait for their Thanksgiving finales. Trinity meets 6-2 Wilton while Stamford and Westhill battle. The Crusaders need Stamford to win to keep the city title trophy. They might, however, want to get another piece of hardware ready to replace it in their trophy case, just in case. "The schedule we've played wears on young kids," Jones said. "It's deflating and everybody's banged up. The kids are shot right now and can't wait for it to end." Copyright © 2007, 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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