Westhill blanked by Smith, Trumbull
TRUMBULL — Trumbull senior Corbin Smith never misses a chance to put on a show on the gridiron.
“It’s like watching Babe Ruth come up, everytime he touches the ball, everyone wants to see it,” Trumbull coach Marce Petroccio said of his senior. “Anything can happen. He is a phenomenal football player.”
Smith scored four touchdowns, two by air and two on the ground, to lead Trumbull past Westhill 44-0 at McDougall Stadium on Saturday.
A 5-foot-9, 175-pound running back/wideout, Smith gained 155 yards receiving and 77 yards rushing on the day. He also kicked a field goal and three conversion kicks. Smith has scored 13 touchdowns to lead Trumbull to a 3-1 start.
Trumbull was dominant in the previous week’s 41-7 victory over Shelton, then No. 7 in the GameTimeCT Poll. The Eagles didn’t stumble against Westhill, now 0-3. However, they did need time to grab control of this FCIAC contest.
“They did a great job taking Corbin away in the passing game,” Petroccio said of the Vikings defense. “That’s why we did some other things and finally shook him loose.”
Nick Tuccinardi ran between the tackles three times for 47 yards, and caught a 10-yard pass from Hunter Agosti, to spark Trumbull’s 97-yard drive on its second possession. Westhill’s Omari Lewis had a quarterback sack before Smith came on to kick a 31-yard field goal on the ninth play of the series.
The score went from 3-0 to 5-0 on the next play from scrimmage. Eagles’ defensive end Cooper Dayton forced Liam Barry to scramble. Xavion Richardson tackled the freshman in the end zone for the two-point safety.
Trumbull took the free kick at the Westhill 42. Smith, on fourth-and-2, got outside and went into a new gear to outrace defenders for a 34-yard touchdown. His PAT made it 12-0 with 1:19 left in the first quarter.
Agosti completed 3-of-4 passes for 45 yards to set up Smith’s 1-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. The junior quarterback finished 18 for 30 for 251 yards and three scores.
The pace slowed the next
8:35 of the half.
Westhill’s Juan Rangel had an interception and the Vikings held on downs at their 23-yard line.
Trumbull’s defense twice held, once on downs and the other when Justin McGee recovered a fumble off a snap on a punt attempt with 26 seconds left before half.
The horn that signaled that the half had sounded during Trumbull’s 4thand-12 play from the 45. Smith used it as a bell lap. He took a quick pass from Agosti and swerved his way for a score and a 25-0 lead at intermission.
“Its tough to play a team like Trumbull,” Westhill coach Aland Joseph said. “They are well coached and one of the biggest teams, with probably the best player in the state in No. 5 (Smith).”
Smith had eight carries for 77 yards, and four catches and 81 yards, at the half.
Trumbull added to its lead to open the third quarter. Agosti, who completed 7-of-9 passes in the series, connected with Owen Solano for a 21-yard touchdown. It was 31-0.
Jake Peterson, Jordan Black, Amr Othman, Dylan Moran, Jake DelFino continued to stop Westhill. Matt Inzitari blocked a punt, recovered by Moran in the end zone for a touchdown. Smith’s PAT competed the scoring, and started the running clock, with 3:03 left in the third.
Petroccio said: “We have some really great players on the defensive side of the ball. Everyone is making plays. Its nice. They threw some things at us defensively and it took the offense a little while to get going. When you can play great defense like that you have a shot at every game.”
“We have a young offense,” Joseph said. “Right now I think our strength is the defense (quarterback sacks by Jason Fazzino, Omari Lewis, Allen Robert). We knew it was going to be an uphill battle. The kids fought. That is what we ask for and will build off that.”
TACKLING PROTOCOL
Trumbull linebacker Jake Peterson had Westhill’s David Moodie in his sights. Moodie had caught a pass in
the flat. Instead of an MMA worthy body slam, Peterson opted to lift him off his feet and carry him backwards until the whistle blew to compete the three-yard loss.
QUOTABLE
“We are getting contributions from our offense, defense, special teams. We couldn’t ask for more.” — Trumbull coach Marce Petroccio