New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Worth the wait
Russo TD in OT gives Cheshire win over ND-WH
CHESHIRE — It took 646 days and three plays of overtime, but Christian Russo showed the Southern Connecticut Conference why he’s one of the top running backs in the league Friday night.
The senior Cheshire back rushed for 177 yards and scored the winning touchdown on the third play of overtime to lead the Rams to a 26-20 victory over Notre Dame-West Haven before a loud and boisterous crowd at Cheshire High in the return of high school football after a year absence due to COVID-19.
“My emotions took over,” Russo said afterwards. “I was crying.
It was emotional. We haven’t felt that feeling in 646 days.”
Notre Dame had the ball first in the overtime, but quarterback Matt Piechota (105 yards rushing and 194 yards passing) fumbled on the second play from scrimmage and Cheshire’s Lucas Riccitelli recovered the ball at the Rams’ 18.
“This is what we grinded two years for,” Russo said. “We needed someone to step up and make the big play.”
On the first play from scrimmage, Russo took the ball up the middle for the winning score and was mobbed by his teammates in the end zone.
“We knew we were going to run the ball four times,” Russo said. “We were going to out tough them.”
Cheshire coach Don Drust said it was more than a football game for his team.
“We’re not the anomaly. We’re not the only town that’s been through a lot, but these kids will talk about this game for the rest of their lives. After 646 days without a football game, they’ll never forget this. This is what football is supposed to be about and it feels tremendous.”
After and up-and-down first 10 minutes, Cheshire got on the board first when Micah Galloza connected on a 28-yard field goal to make it 3-0.
Notre Dame followed up with three incomplete passes and a short punt. The Rams didn’t take long as Matt Jeffery hooked up with Tristan Washington for a 23-yard touchdown pass with 12.2 seconds left in the first quarter. Along with a Galloza extra point, it was 10-0.
Notre Dame quarterback Matt Piechota finally got the Green Knights on the board with 1:47 remaining in the second quarter on a 24-yard run.
Then came a controversial ending to the first half.
After Cheshire fumbled the ball at midfield, Notre Dame marched downfield to the Rams’ 6-yard line. On third down, Piechota’s pass attempt hit the ground with 1.2 seconds left. However, the clock kept running and the referees signaled the end of the half despite Notre Dame’s protest that there was still a second left.
“We argued it and they said time had run out. No sense in arguing it after they make the call,” Notre Dame coach Joe DeCaprio said. “We’re review the film and see.”
Just as in the first half, Cheshire got on the board to start the second half. Russo scooted into the end zone from nine yards out just 1:21 into the third quarter to make it 17-7.
After Notre Dame was forced to punt, Galloza capped a seven-play drive with his second field goal of the night, this time from 27 yards to give Cheshire a 20-10 lead.
Notre Dame then fought back with two touchdowns by Jacob Staton from 9 and 35 yards in the second half to tie it 20-20 with 11:39 remaining in the game.
“That’s a good football team that makes big plays,” Drust said. “They have some dynamic players.”
The Green Knights had a chance to win it in regulation. After driving downfield from their own 14-yard line, the Rams stopped Notre Dame at the Cheshire 19-yard line when Piechota threw two incompletions, sending it to overtime.
“We had spoken all week about weathering the storm,” DeCaprio said. “We know they are tough, wellcoached and we knew it would be a difficult game. We felt if we got a few more points in the first half, things could have been different.”