GHS topped by Central 14-13 in key FCIAC battle

Written by Paul Silverfarb
Wednesday, 28 October 2009 23:01

It was the third and final game of the road trip that got the best of the Greenwich High School football team.

On a cold and misty evening at Kennedy Stadium in Bridgeport, Big Red’s offense was never able to get in sync. Throw into the mix that the Cardinals were unable to stop the Bridgeport Central High School’s running game and the result was a crushing 14-13 victory for the Hilltoppers.

“The better team won tonight,” Albonizio said. “There’s no doubt about it. They outplayed us, up front especially. There offensive and defensive lines were better than ours tonight. We didn’t have a great week of practice. They kicked our butts. We didn’t give our defense much rest because we didn’t move the ball well and weren’t consistent on offense.”

For Central coach Dave Cadelina, the win puts his football program back on the road for the class LL tournament.

“I’m thrilled,” Cadelina said. “This revives us for 2009. We have a great senior class and junior class also. It puts us back on the map. I would be lying if said that I totally expect this to occur, however I expect our kids to play at this level. To beat them is great. We’re thrilled like heck. Greenwich looked awfully good on film and were a great top five team. For us to do what we did tonight was amazing. Simply amazing.”

The Cardinals fell behind early, as Central was able to run down the field on its opening drive and found the end zone when Hilltopper’s quarterback Christon Gill threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to Lucas DeSouza for the 6-0 lead.

Trailing at the end of the first quarter for the first time this season, the Cardinals responded with a lengthy 11-play drive that ate up over six minutes from the clock. Facing a third down, Greenwich quarterback Michael Lefflbine took off to the Greenwich sideline and ran nine-yards to set up the fourth down in which Lefflbine called his own number for the one-yard pick-up and first down.

After a 10-yard completion to David Josephson and a 7-yard run by Peter Cavini, Lefflbine capped off the drive by running up the middle seven yards for the touchdown and gave the Cardinals the 7-6 lead with 3:09 to play in the half.

Greenwich had a chance to extend its lead in the third quarter. Opening the second half with the ball, Big Red converted on a fake punt when P.J. Schwabe got the direct snap and can 38 yards for the first down. However, four plays later, Big Red was facing another fourth down. Instead of booting the field goal, Greenwich went for it, but Lefflbine’s pass fell incomplete and the Cards turned the ball over on downs.

“On fourth and two I should have kicked a field goal,” Albonizio said. “I second-guessed myself. The kids thought they had a play that could get the first down. Instead we got sacked.”

Central put its ground game to work in the third quarter. Central had a 10-play, 76-yard drive, all of which were running plays, and found the end zone for the 12-7 lead with 2:46 left in the third quarter. A two-point conversion gave the Hilltoppers a 14-7 advantage.

The Cardinals got the ball on its 35-yard line and marched down the field, courtesy of a 18-yard completion to Jack Zimmerman, 7-yard pass to Colin Dunster and 30 yards in Central penalties (horse-collar tackle and unsportsmanlike conduct).

Starting the fourth quarter in style, Big Red had the ball on the Central 13 and two plays later had it inside the Central one. Facing a first down, Lefflbine took the snap and leaped over the pile of linemen en route to the end zone. However, he was met by Gill at the goal line and his monster tackle of Lefflbine punched the ball loose and Central recovered.

Although down late, the Cardinals didn’t surrender and had a 10-play, 79-yard drive that was capped off when Michael Dunster took the handoff at the Central 1 and his second effort pushing through the middle helped him cross the goal line for the score. The drive was highlighted by a 13- and 10-yard runs from Lefflbine, a 17-yard pass to Colin Dunster, 16-yard shovel pass to Michael Dunster and 10-yard completion to Zimmerman.

However, on the extra point try, the snap was low. Oliver Ostrowski’s kick appeared to be rushed due to the snap and the ball sailed wide left, keeping Greenwich trailing 14-13 with 3:05 to play in the game.

Greenwich’s ensuing onside kicked failed and the Hilltoppers were able to run out the clock to preserve the victory.

With the Greenwich loss, Big Red’s record stands at 5-1 overall, while Central has the same record.

For Cadelina, the victory against Greenwich was a dream come true. Entering his 14th year coaching Central, the Cardinals have been the team that Cadelina has yet to beat...until Friday night.

“I’ve never even beaten Rich Albonizio and that goes back to a year that he was a coach in Trinity,” Cadelina said.

Prior to the Central game, Greenwich was sitting comfortably in a class LL playoff spot. However it will be more of a challenge. With the top four teams in the class LL advancing to the state tournament, the Cards are currently ninth overall with 580 points.

The Hilltoppers jumped up to sixth overall and have 620 points. Glastonbury and Staples high schools are still undefeated on the season, with Xavier (670), Cheshire (640), Hamden (640), Central, Newtown (600), Ridgefield (590) and Greenwich each with one loss.

“That was a lot of points that we lost tonight,” Albonizio said. “We also let Central back in the hunt again. They came in with only one loss and when you play a team like Central, you need to get them while they’re down and go for the kill or else they will survive. They survived tonight.”

“We have a staff of grown men who are in tears,” Cadelina said. “Mine will come later I’m sure. After losing to Trumbull a few weeks ago, we pounded it in their heads to take back the dream of this season.”

Greenwich finally returns to Cardinal Stadium tomorrow night when they play host to Westhill High School at 7 p.m. Albonizio said that he’s confident Greenwich will be looking forward to getting back on the field and get that bad taste out of their mouths.

“We have very good leaders and it’s easy to lead when you’re winning, but now that we have some adversity, the true nature comes out,” Albonizio said. “I am expecting nothing but good things to happen when we return home.”

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