Trinity Football Holds Off Westhill

STAMFORD, Conn. – The question for the Trinity Catholic football team entering the season was whether it would change its style with the departure of 1,000-yard rusher Mike Rivas. Shaquan Howsie and his teammates answered resoundingly Saturday with 276 yards rushing against Westhill, and the Crusaders needed every one of them in a 28-22 Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference victory.

Howsie, a junior fullback, banged inside for 125 yards and a touchdown while Jeff Cortese added 64 yards and two TDs to lead the Crusaders in their season opener. Trinity salted the game away by killing the final 7:42 minutes with a 15-play drive that ended on the Westhill 22 yard line.

The Vikings overcame a slow start behind quarterback R.J. Cooper, who threw three touchdown passes. Westhill trailed 28-7 before two fourth quarter scores brought them back.

"I can't say enough about the offensive line,'' said Howsie, who rushed for 78 yards in the second half. "I love all those guys. We just wanted to play Trinity Catholic football and keep attacking them."

Westhill fumbled on the first play from scrimmage and Trinity's Mike Palomba recovered. Three plays later, Cortese scored on a 8-yard run. Howsie's 2-yard-run capped a 7-play drive to put the Crusaders up 14-0. Michael Davis scored on a 1-yard run to give Trinity a 21-0 lead with 2:18 left in the first half.

Westhill, which had managed little to that point, struck when Cooper hit Davell Cotterell for a 42-yard touchdown pass. Cooper found Cotterell out of the backfield and the speedy running back did the rest, outracing the Trinity secondary.

Cortese's second touchdown, a 2-yard run to cap a 14-play, 63-yard drive, gave the Crusaders a 28-7 lead with 4:46 left in the third quarter. Howsie carried seven times on the drive for 42 yards, and appeared to put the game on ice for Crusaders.

Early in the fourth quarter, Westhill scored when Cooper found Dylan Moye on a 72-yard touchdown pass. After Trinity went 3-and-out, the Vikings struck again when Cooper and David Engle hooked up on a 12-yard touchdown pass. Cooper then hit Yveson Cassamajor with a two-point PAT.

Trinity took the ball and ran out the clock, with Davis converting by the nose of a football on a fourth-and-four and again on a third-and-8 to keep the drive alive.

"There's no question we didn't want to give the football back to them,'' Trinity coach Pete Stokes said. "I had no doubt they would score. I've been through enough of these games to know it's never over."

Westhill was hurt by three turnovers–Palomba recovered a fumble and had an interception–but showed resiliency by coming back in the fourth quarter. Coach Dick Cerone also seems to have found a weapon in Cooper, who is a dangerous runner and thrower. He completed four passes for 127 yards and added 39 yards rushing. Part of Westhill's problem was Trinity's ball-control offense, which limited the Vikings to less than four minutes of possession in the second half.

"We thought Trinity was a little bit tired in the fourth quarter and we might be able to take advantage of it,'' Cerone said. We just couldn't get the ball. We had some chances to get them stopped, and they managed to hang on to the ball. I'm proud of my kids. Down three scores, they could've given up. They battled them until the end.''

Contact Tom Renner at trenner@mainstreetconnect.us.

 

 

 

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