WESTPORT, CT—The Staples Wreckers football team won their second FCIAC Championship in the last three years by defeating the Greenwich Cardinals at home, 31-27.

The Wreckers came into the game undefeated at 8-0, sizing up against the equally dominant 8-1 Cardinals.

At 4:45 in the first quarter, the Wreckers found themselves up 3-0 on a Robbie Wolf ’12 field goal—but not for long. The Cardinals scored with 11:47 before halftime.

Resilient, the Wreckers burst ahead for a long drive in the 2^nd Quarter, with Nick Kelly ’13 finishing off the drive for a 9-yard touchdown run with 6:40 to go.

But the Cardinals had weapons of their own.

Shane Nastahowski, the Cardinals’ senior captain, had some huge runs towards the end of the 2^nd Quarter, and the Cardinals converted on a 4^th and 1. Greenwich Quarterback Liam O’Neil ran the ball in for a 1-yard touchdown, which put the Cardinals up 14-10 by halftime.

“We knew we had to come out strong in the second half,” said senior safety Vasili Tziolis.

The third quarter opened with some excitement on the Wreckers side of the ball. Following a great punt return by Zach Mitchell ’12, the Wreckers stormed downfield. With 2:36 to go, Jack Massie ’14 threw a touchdown pass to James Frusciante ’13 after a 24-yard run by Joey Zelkowitz ’13 down to the 9 yard line.

But the Cardinals answered right back.

With 1:40 to go, Liam O’Neil threw a lateral pass to Joel Arroyo, who then threw another lateral to Alex McMurray, who then ran untouched for a 54-yard score. Stunned, the Wreckers ended the third quarter still down 3 points. When the Wreckers got the ball back, Massie then threw an interception at around midfield, and the Cardinals scored again (but missed the extra point) to make the score 27-17. The Wreckers then got the ball back again in the 4^th Quarter, knowing they needed to dominate until the end if they wanted to pull out a win.

“Being down two scores in the 4^th Quarter, that’s never what you want,” said wide receiver coach Jack McFarland. “But we bounced back.”

After several nice runs from Quarterback Jack Massie, Nick Kelly scored again on a 1-yard touchdown run with 7:00 to go in the game to make it 27-24. The Wreckers then came up clutch by stopping the Cardinals with 5:15 to go and took over on downs. Vasili Tziolis had arguably the most important tackle of the game on the Cardinals 3rd down, as the Cardinals lost yardage and were forced to punt.

Needing a touchdown, the Wreckers attempted several pass plays that were broken up. On a crucial fourth down conversion, Frusciante caught a high pass and set the Wreckers up on Greenwich’s own 24.

Three plays later, Massie threw the go ahead touchdown to captain Peter Bonenfant ’12. The tight end’s score put the Wreckers ahead, 31-27 with 1:21 left in the game.

After several flags were thrown on the ensuing kickoff, the Wreckers iced the quarterback with a few timeouts of their own. They stopped the Cardinals with 15 seconds to go on the fourth down, and held on for an exciting comeback victory.

“This team has a lot of heart,” said Kelly, who was awarded MVP. “Winning the FCIAC Championship on Thanksgiving, it’s amazing. The feeling’s unreal.”

When asked what sparked his team in the second half, Kelly cited head coach Marce Petroccio’s halftime inspiration.

“He told us to keep fighting until the end, and that’s what we did,” said Kelly.

Wide receiver Zach Mitchell, who had several key catches in the first half, said that the team was ready to perform and carry out a victory in front of over 3500 people in the audience.

“We had complete confidence in ourselves and we knew that if we kept persevering, we’d get the win,” said Mitchell. “There was never any doubt.”

The Wreckers look to carry this momentum into the State tournament, where they will fight to return after last year’s crushing elimination in the 2^nd round.

But for now, they’re soaking in the FCIAC title.

Said an excited Tziolis, “I see this team come together at the end, and I know why we’re champions.”

***

Final:

Staples 31, Greenwich 27

S  3  7  7  14

G  0  14  7  6

Records: Staples 9-0; Greenwich 8-2