On a beautiful night of celebration of their annual homecoming event, most schools also hope for a great effort from their football team.
Game photos click here.
On a beautiful night of celebration of their annual homecoming event, most schools also hope for a great effort from their football team.
The Cardinal Huskies needed a tad more confidence. The team has a plethora of skilled athletes, but as they learn a new system this year, with different modes of operating, mistakes can happen, and such was the case in their neighborhood battle with Berkshire.
Hosting the Crestwood Red Devils for homecoming, though, things fell into place; those skilled players all had superb nights, and Cardinal defeated the Red Devils by a score of 34-14.
The Huskies have multiple athletes with speed, power and a drive to succeed at their disposal. Crestwood had a small tank in the person of junior running back Nate Blasiole. On the first five plays from scrimmage after a short Cardinal punt, Blasiole had taken his team from its own 48 yard line to the Huskies’ 10, not a good omen for the home team.
The drive stalled at the nine yard line, with a fourth down pass in a wide open left flat area eluding the receiver as he set sail for the end zone, giving Cardinal a breath of fresh air. On third down from the 18, sophomore back Reese Soltis took a quick handoff from junior Cam Ciminello, burst through a hole over left tackle, and was off to the races on an 82-yard scoring run for an early lead.
After Blasiole banged his way into the end zone seconds into the second period from the 15, the score was tied and it was time for the numerous Huskies athletes to take over.Troy Domen ran twice from direct snaps for 22 and 34 yards, the latter effort taking him into the end zone to break the tie.
He wasn’t done. Two and a half minutes later, with just 2:10 left before halftime, Domen went around right end from the Crestwood 48, cut back to the middle, and dashed to the left front corner of the end zone.
At that point, Domen, Soltis, Max Soltis and Neil Lucariello were establishing more control over Blasiole in slowing the Red Devil offense. The Crestwood back gained 154 yards on 23 carries in the first half on his way to a 224-yard, 39-carry night, but as the numbers show, the visitors’ attack was slowing down markedly, while the multiple-set offense for Cardinal was gaining control.
The tackling was better, but the Huskies offense also avoided the miscues that plagued them last week in Burton.
“That number 2 (Blasiole) is a coach’s dream,” Cardinal Head Coach Chris Perrotti said after the game. “He just keeps his legs moving all the time, and if you don’t get a good grip on them, he can hurt you.
“I think the real key tonight for us was not making mistakes. We had several turnovers last week, and you don’t do that against a good team like Berkshire. Tonight we limited mistakes, we didn’t turn the ball over at all until the very end, and everybody was spot-on in getting their assignments done well.”
As quarterback Logan Strever heals from a knee injury suffered early last week, Ciminello has stepped up for Cardinal. Using multiple formations and sets, with a good blend of motion involved before the ball is snapped, Crestwood got caught twice in the first half of reacting to those shifts, and that helped get momentum going for the Huskies.
Lucariello gradually got better shots on Blasiole, too, and his determined efforts slowed the Red Devil back, generally clogging everything else they tried. When quarterback Charlie Sommer had time to find receivers, several drops hurt the cause, or folks like Domen, Soltis and Christian Cowle knocked the ball away for incompletions. And with the Huskies controlling the ball much better in the second half, the end result was clear.
“We’re just trying to stay together as a team now,” Lucariello said. “We’re more organized now in what we’re doing, we’re all doing the job like we should, and tonight it worked out great for us.”
It was all smiles after the game for the Huskies. When asked which sport he enjoys most, Domen smiled and said he loves all of them, and proof is that, after this big game, he would then wield a big set of sticks Monday on the golf course.
“I’m just having so much fun just playing, it doesn’t matter the season, it’s just so much of a blessing to play,” he said.
Lucariello gained 103 yards on just seven carries running the ball, and his versatility showed late in the game when he took a direct snap and fired a long pass to Logan Strever, who went for a 50-yard scoring play. When your top quarterback ends up on the receiving end of passes, you have some big weapons.
Reese Soltis ran for 146 yards on eight carries, and Ciminello was the workhorse with 10 tries for 43 yards.
It should be noted that Lucariello also was named Homecoming King, joining Alyssa Luce, the Queen, in making this a special night for everybody.
A total team effort in every way.
