Greenwich defense caps historic season with dominating performance in state final win
Dominant.
There is no other way to describe the Greenwich defense.
The Cardinals gave up 13 points in the playoffs with shutouts in both the semifinals and championship.
The elite unit surrendered 54 points during the entire season for an unfathomable average of 4.15 points per game.
In the age of spread offenses and high scores, Greenwich’s defense was historic.
That continued in the Class LL state championship, shutting out rival New Canaan 34-0 and holding the high-powered Rams offense to just 142 total yards on the day.
Unpacking the championship performance, the Cardinals limited New Canaan to 10 first downs, picked off Drew Pyne twice, sacked the Notre Dame-bound quarterback three times and held the Rams to 2-for-12 on third down conversion attempts.
It was an all-time performance and the cherry on top of one of the most incredible defensive seasons any team in CIAC history has ever had.
“This is my favorite day, ever. I think it will be my favorite day until the day I die. I love this team, I love my brothers, I love my friends, I love everyone,” Greenwich linebacker Mozi Bici said. “Our emphasis on defense is to be as physical as possible and we just came out and we just crushed them. It is amazing to have the shutout for our coaches and for the whole defense.”
Bici had six tackles in the game and one sack.
The defensive line was the focal point of the defense all season, but in the final, it was the secondary shining brightest, led by interceptions by seniors Hunter Cusimano and Ryan Raybuck.
“Unbelievable how good the secondary was. Hunter Cusimano said earlier in the week he wanted the game to be boring. He said, ‘that’s our job to not make it exciting,’ and I didn’t know what he meant but today in the third quarter, his quote made so much sense,” Greenwich coach John Marinelli said. “Ryan Raybuck is a dude. He is a dude and the best corner that I’ve coached.”
Along with his interception in the fourth quarter, Raybuck led the team with 6.5 tackles on the day.
“That (interception) felt great. We were reading the signals and I knew he was going to run a fade and I was in the right place at the right time,” Raybuck said. “We worked so hard for this since Dec. 11 of last year and to come out 13-0 with a goose egg to end it is just amazing. The first two games in the playoffs, it was about stopping the run and we put our faith in the front seven. Today, it came down to the secondary and we really stepped up as a unit. We were lights out all year.”