STAMFORD — It has been a long time since the Greenwich football team has had to deal with recovering from a loss — nearly two years in fact.
In the aftermath of their tough 27-21 defeat against Darien last weekend, the Cardinals have continued to look forward.
With quarterback James Rinello passing for three touchdowns and six different players reaching the end zone, Greenwich defeated Trinity Catholic/Wright Tech, 49-8, Saturday at Gaglio Field in Stamford.
It was a nice rebound game for the Cards (5-1), who got back on the winning side of the ledger.
“Obviously that was a tough, heart-breaking loss and it came down to the final play, but we can’t really dwell on that,” Rinello said. “We still have the regular season to go and then the playoffs. We can’t get ourselves heart-broken over one game.”
WEEK 8 FOOTBALL SCOREBOARD
“The kids did an excellent job of showing a positive attitude in practice, but it was a harder week of practice that we’ve had,” Greenwich coach Anthony Morello said. “A lot us were hanging our heads after last week, we were a little dinged up and we also had SATs that we were contending with today. But the kids showed a positive attitude and we did a lot of motivating.”
Greenwich’s James Rinello hits AJ Barber with a long pass #cthfsb @GameTimeCT pic.twitter.com/vKw0QNiwcK
— Dave Stewart (@DStewartSports) November 2, 2019
Rinello played a starring role in the first half, when Greenwich scored six times for a 34-point halftime advantage. The QB finished with 219 passing yards and connected for a pair of long touchdowns — one for 59 yards to Kobe Comizio and one for 54 yards to AJ Barber. Mason Muir also had a 2-yard TD reception.
Spencer Hartley ran for a pair of TDs, and Johnny Alexandre and James Babb each ran for one.
Defensively, Will Montesi had an interception and fumble recovery, and Jack Cook had two picks.
Greenwich’s Stephen Hartley scores his second TD against Trinity #cthsfb @GameTimeCT pic.twitter.com/0HCVkD9UTv
— Dave Stewart (@DStewartSports) November 2, 2019
The Crusaders (0-6) made some noise. After the Cards had taken a 14-0 lead in the first quarter, Trinity marched 70 yards on 13 plays and scored on a 10-yard run by Michael Barrett. Quarterback Matt Dougherty then hit Evan Field for the two-point conversion to cut the deficit to 14-8.
As always, the Crusaders battled throughout.
“That’s the thing about these guys — they’re always going to fight,” Trinity coach Tom Broschardt said. “I always tell them that’s their point of difference with any other team in the league. These guys are tough kids who will always fight. If you keep punching, you’re going to knock somebody out.”
Barrett in particular had a solid game, rushing for 75 yards on 20 carries and scoring Trinity’s lone touchdown.
Michael Barrett scores on a 10-yard run for Trinity #cthsfb @GameTimeCT pic.twitter.com/0iAVV9UHuZ
— Dave Stewart (@DStewartSports) November 2, 2019
“Michael Barrett played a helluva game today,” Broschardt said. “He’s a tough football player, he’s a tough kid and I can’t say enough good things about him. He works hard, he’s comes to practice every single day ready to work, and it shows on game day.”
Greenwich had to deal with a few new pieces in the puzzle, as three offensive linemen made their first starts.
Senior Nick Addision started at left tackle in place of David Nasimi, who was taking the SAT, while junior Maurizio Arango started at left guard, and sophomore Will Janis started at right tackle because of injuries.
“All the linemen know what they’re doing and we have tons of guys who can step in,” Rinello said. “It’s really like plug and play. They did a great job for me today; they didn’t let me get hit at all.”
Greenwich’s Will Montesi makes the pick after a few tips. #cthsfb @GameTimeCT pic.twitter.com/epYUQDv6Av
— Dave Stewart (@DStewartSports) November 2, 2019
After Trinity had scored to make it 14-8, Greenwich wasted no time reasserting itself, as the next play from scrimmage was a 54-yard touchdown strike from Rinello to Barber.
After a Montesi interception, the Cardinals scored again on a three-yard run by Alexandre to make it 28-8, and Greenwich rolled from there.
Trinity was left still hunting for its first victory, but motivation won’t be a factor moving forward as the Crusaders host city rival Westhill for homecoming next week.
“Every week is big, but obviously for the guys this is a little bit bigger because it’s the rivalry game,” Broschardt said. “A lot of these guys grew up together playing in each other in leagues, so this is a big, big week. They’d better come to practice on Monday focused because I know Westhill will. Teams play up for rivalry games like that.”
PLAYER OF THE GAME
James Rinello, Greenwich. Rinello turned a low snap and a scramble into a 59-yard touchdown pass to Kobe Comizio to get the Cards started in the first quarter. He finished with 224 passing yards and three touchdowns.
QUOTABLE
“We had the next man up philosophy and Trinity is a perfect example of that. That’s a program that doesn’t have a lot of players but they find ways to compete every week. So it’s next man up. We had three new offensive linemen starting and to have them thrown right into the fire like that, they stepped up big time.” — Greenwich coach Anthony Morello
