September21, 2008Running Wild: Crusaders Run for 438 Yards in Big Win Over Westhillfrom The Stamford Advocate STAMFORD - If your idea of a good scholastic football game is watching a team pound the ball downfield, then you would have loved Trinity Catholic's performance in an intracity battle against Westhill Saturday. The host Crusaders ran the ball 62 times for 438 yards on the way to a 46-18 romp against their crosstown rivals. Westhill picked up 182 yards running, but used the quick strike method with 73 yards coming on one TD run and 66 on another. What a difference a week made for Trinity Catholic. Last week it was able to collect 158 yards on the ground against Darien, but 128 of those came from Nick Cortese while quarterback Steve Scalero connected on 3 of 7 passes for 7 yards. In a dominant display of power running, Cortese bettered his rushing statistics from opening week, collecting 239 yards on 31 carries while scoring four touchdowns yesterday. And he got plenty of help from fellow running backs Mike Rivas (120 yards on the ground) and Vince Carter (93) while Scalero threw for a pair of touchdowns. "We wanted to be more balanced this week," Trinity coach Bryan Fox said of his club, now 1-1. "We just tried to come out and see what was open and take whatever they gave us." What Westhill ended up giving them was the ground game, but not because they wanted to. "We knew Cortese would push the ball up the middle but we were dominated somewhat inside," Westhill head coach Dick Cerone said. "They weren't tricky but they executed very well. We have Westhill took an early lead when Lawrence Jackson recovered a Cortese fumble on the opening play and four players later, Adler Florian connected with Henry Graves from four yards out for a touchdown. Trinity came right back with its punishing ground attack, running six times for 43 yards before Scalero connected with Rivas for a 22-yard TD and David Arana added the PAT. After forcing a punt, Trinity went back to its ground game for 67 yards and then Scalero found R.J. Calo wide open in the end zone for a 21-yard score. "When Westhill brought the safeties up to help against the run we were able to go with the pass," Fox said. "We were just taking what they gave us." Trinity had a 19-6 halftime advantage after Cortese scored on a 5-yard run and John Schule recovered a fumble to halt a Westhill scoring opportunity. "We were still in the game at halftime but we couldn't stop the running game," Cerone said. "And we were much too inconsistent on offense." After forcing a punt early in the third quarter, Trinity marched 66 yards on seven plays capped by a 10-yard Carter run. Westhill answered back as Daren McNeil raced 64 yards for a score to reduce the Trinity margin to 25-12. "We get one touchdown and then we weren't able to stop them again," Cerone lamented. The Crusaders came right with a five-play, 90-yard drive with Cortese, who had four carries for 69 yards during the drive, scoring from 11 yards out. Scalero added a 2-point conversion run for a 33-12 lead. The advantage went to 39-12 with a 4-yard Cortese score while Westhill answered with a 73-yard TD run by Danny Berisha. Berisha, Westhill's dynamic running back, finished with 96 yards on 10 carries. A 14-yard TD run by Cortese and an Arana conversion completed the scoring. "We weren't great in the first half but I think we had a great second half," Fox said. "Westhill has some outstanding running backs who showed they can take it all the way on any play and we were able to contain them for the most part. Now we have to get ready for Fairfield Ludlowe," he said of the next opponent. "We have a lot of work to do to get better," Cerone said. "We have to work on offense, defense and special teams and we have to get things together before we meet Platt Tech next week." Copyright © 2008, 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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