Vikings Ram Fordham in big second half
AFTER LOSING its first game of the season to Stepinac last week, the St. Joseph by-the-Sea football team couldn’t afford to lose again if it wanted to keep up with the big boys in the CHSFL AAA division.
Things didn’t look promising early at Fordham Prep, as the Vikings entered halftime down six and were trailing by 13 after Fordham’s first drive of the third quarter.
But with a rousing halftime pep talk from coach Rich Clark still resonating throughout the team,
St. Joseph by-the-Sea quickly turned the game around, scoring 30 second-half points en route to a 52-38 win at Fordham University’s Coffey Field.
“He got us fired up, got us ready,” junior running back Anthony Russo said of Clark. “We took over in the second half.”
Clark felt his team wasn’t prepared for what Fordham (2-5, 2-4) was going to bring offensively, and he anticipated a better first half effort coming off last week’s loss.
“I thought our guys would have a little bigger chip on their shoulder,” Clark said. “They came out a little soft out of the gate, but they responded.”
The Vikings (6-1, 5-1) wore down the Rams defense with a Double-Wing offense, churning out huge chunks of yardage throughout the game. Offensive coordinator Tom Hensch’s game-plan — which Clark said is the reason his team has moved up to AAA — is essentially comprised of only running plays. Junior quarterback Ryan Minlionica attempted just one pass in the contest, but it’s a strategy that led to more than 475 yards on the ground.
Clark believes the Vikings have had so much success with the Double-Wing because nobody else in the league uses it.
“Teams only have a week to prepare for it,” he said. “And it’s so unorthodox with all the spread teams out there. We go the exact opposite. It gives teams some hard times.”
Russo led the way with 26 carries for 222 yards and two touchdowns, including a 65-yarder in the 2nd quarter. With junior fullback Robert Alberino injured, No. 2 running back, junior Frank Calcutta, shifted to fullback, carving out a role for freshman Damon Irizarry, who only found out about his role on Friday, but tallied 140 yards and scored two touchdowns on 19 carries.
It seems Clark pushed all the right buttons at halftime.