Seymour falls at Holy Cross
WATERBURY — Holy Cross needed some time to get the offense clicking Thursday night. It left points on the board in the first half, right up to an interception before halftime. It muffed the second-half kickoff, backed up to the 14.
Tom Ligi took the next play 86 yards. The Crusaders forced two quick turnovers and never looked back, beating Seymour 35-6 at Jimmie Lee Stadium and leaping past the Wildcats in the Class S playoff race.
“We knew it was a big game. We knew it was a playoff game,” Ligi said. “We had to come out here and play.”
That long touchdown run made it 14-0 on the first play of the second half. Caden Charette’s interception set up another Ligi touchdown, the Crusaders forced a fumble on the kickoff, and it was 28-0 in a blink.
“At halftime, we said we left some touchdowns on the board. We just had to execute,” Holy Cross coach Mike Giampetruzzi said. “How many times does that happen, when you come out the first play, you score a touchdown? Not many times, but that was what we needed.
“All I said to the kids was ‘execute.’ ”
Aside from one or two plays, Holy Cross did that defensively all night. Seymour never got a rhythm and, including sacks, netted minus-16 yards on the ground.
“We really couldn’t do anything. We couldn’t run the ball. We couldn’t protect when they sent pressure, and they sent a lot of pressure,” Seymour coach Mike Kearns said.
“We had a game plan together. We liked our game plan. We thought it was the right one. We just failed to execute.”
Ligi’s 26th and final carry went 9 yards for his fourth touchdown and gave him 208 yards.
Both teams are 7-2. Seymour concludes its 75thanniversary season on Wednesday night at Woodland. The Crusaders finish at Municipal Stadium against Wolcott on Thanksgiving morning.
The CIAC quarterfinals are the following Tuesday night.
The win put Holy Cross in fourth place in Class S and at least puts the Crusaders close to clinching a playoff spot. The playoff math is a little trickier this year because games not played because of COVID-19 protocols are no-contests, so potential points aren’t in the bag until games are played, and “guaranteed” points aren’t necessarily guaranteed.
Seymour dropped from fourth to seventh. The top eight qualify.
“Points aside, we’ve got to focus on Woodland,” Seymour coach Mike Kearns said. “If we can’t beat them, we don’t deserve to be in the playoffs. At 8-2, we’ve got a shot; 7-3, it’s not going to happen.”
Ligi dragged the pile 8 yards on the first play of the second quarter to put Holy Cross on top after a scoreless and sometimes disjointed first quarter for both teams.
“(We were) trying to feel them out. They’re big and fast. They played good on tape,” Giampetruzzi said. “We just had to feel them out, get an idea of what to do and how to attack it.”
Seymour moved the ball on the next drive, but it stalled deep in Crusaders territory on a Makhai Wilson fourth-down sack.
Holy Cross marched downfield on the next drive, and though it ended on a Sean Foster pickoff in the end zone (Foster also took a Caden Drezek pass 58 yards for Seymour’s only score), the Crusaders offense had clicked.
“Finishing games has been our problem all year,” Giampetruzzi said. “We played a good four quarters tonight.”
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Tom Ligi, Holy Cross’ junior back, ran for over 200 yards, broke tackles, dragged defenders along, and had some solid defensive plays, too.
PERFECT
Kevin Matiz was 5-for-5 on extra points for the Crusaders.
QUOTABLE
“I think Ligi is one of the best backs around. He’s one of the top backs in the NVL, probably the state . ... He’s hard to tackle. He proved that tonight.” —Seymour coach Mike Kearns