St. Joseph bounces back in big way

Written by Bill Bloxsom, Sports Editor
Wednesday, 04 November 2009 13:50

The helmet from the New Canaan defender was aimed at St. Joseph quarterback Joe Della Vecchia’s chest when the Cadet signalcaller scrambled before attempting a pass on Oct. 24.

Tackled from behind, Della Veccia’s legs buckled slightly, and the helmet in turn smacked him under the chin, knocking the junior briefly out of the game.

Della Vecchia returned to the game, ultimately won by the Rams, 35-25, in a battle of previously unbeatens, and then led St. Joseph onto Tetreau-Davis Field against Fairfield Warde in a must-win game on Oct. 30.

Della Vecchia completed 18-of-30 passes for 280 yards and two touchdowns and ran the ball eight times for 83 yards and another two scores, as the Cadets overwhelmed the Mustangs, 49-18.

St. Joseph (5-1) will host Norwalk (2-5) Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Dalling Sports Complex.

The Bears are coming off a 34-8 victory over Warren Harding High.

“We were worried during the week because Warde is a good team and I thought there might be a little hangover from New Canaan,” Cadet coach Joe Della Vecchia said.

“The kids were quiet before the game...real focused. They came out of the locker room ready to play.”

Nick Pulaski, Russ Renfer, Nick Adzima, Ryan Taylor and Mike Marini led the surge up front from the outset, as St. Joseph moved the chains twice on their first possession before losing the ball on downs.

Warde (4-3) had used a running attack to forge those four wins, but the Cadet defense wasn’t having any part of it.

Tony Civitelli (nine tackles) was particularly bullish with his style of play and an empty Mustang series got the ball back quickly.

Della Vecchia threw a laser to Pat Mulligan, who caught the seam pass in stride on the Warde five and ran into the end zone to complete the 44-yard touchdown.

Casey Olayo’s PAT gave the Cadets a 7-0 lead at the 7:34 mark of the opening period.

Renfer tipped an Eric Burns pass slated for the middle and Mulligan intercepted the ball and returned 12 yards to the 40.

The drive stalled, but the Cadets kept hitting with Tom Walczyk and Tim Izzo especially imposing from their tackle positions.

Tyler Matakevich had a 29-yard run to close out the first quarter and hurdled the goal line on a one-yard plunge to give St. Joseph a two-touchdown advantage to open the second stanza.

Matakevich finished with 102 yards rushing on 16 attempts and had a team-leading 11 tackles.

Warde tallied, with Burns completing a pair of long passes to set up an 11-yard touchdown pass to Terrell Walden.

St. Joseph stayed on the attack with Matakevich locking up Warde defenders with a pair of moves for 22 yards on the Cadets next play from scimmage.

A 14-yard swing pass to Matakevich was followed by Della Vecchia’s 17-yard touch pass to Joe Burns for a score up the right side.

Olayo’s PAT made it 21-6 with 6:20 left in the first half.

Another three-and-out, with Pulaski, Pat Magee, Trevor Dalling, Nick Prutting, L.J. Hunt, Sean Chinova and Erik Cranston leading the way, led to a quick march for another Cadet touchdown.

Matakevich took a screen pass and followed Renfer and Adzima up field for a 37-yard pickup.

George Nation, who caught three passes for 77 yards, latched onto a crossing pass for 14 yards to the Warde 13.

Two plays later, Della Vecchia scrambled in from eight yards out and Olayo’s conversion kick at the 2:53 mark gave St. Joseph a three-touchdown lead.

Chinova intercepted a first-down pass on Warde’s ensuing possession, and the line gave Della Vecchia all the time he needed to connect with Nation for a 43-yard gain to the Mustang two.

Matakevich ran it in from there, and after the PAT, St. Joseph went to the locker room ahead, 35-6.

Warde scored on its first possession of the third quarter, but Kevin Nichols did a great job covering Pulaski’s punt to pin the Mustangs deep the next time their offense took the field.

Hunt, Civitella and Mulligan made plays to keep them bottled up, and with a short field to work with, St. Joseph went ahead 42-12 on Della Vecchia’s three-yard run.

Civitella capped the Cadet scoring with a 16-yard run in the fourth quarter and Olayo’s made it seven straight successful conversion kicks.