Twice as nice: Staples wins second straight FCIAC football crown

Written by FCIAC
Thursday, 22 November 2012 20:47

For the second consecutive year, the Staples Wreckers are holding the FCIAC football championship plaque, after defeating the Greenwich Cardinals, 48-30, on Thanksgiving Day at GHS.

Staples held off a furious comeback bid by the Cardinals, who rallied from a 34-14 halftime deficit with 16 unanswered points in the third quarter.

Clinging to the four-point lead, Jack Massie gave Staples some breathing room with a 46-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, and Joey Zelkowitz scored on a 22-yard run to ice the game.

It was the seventh FCIAC football championship for the Wreckers.

Zelkowitz earned game MVP honors as he set an FCIAC championship game record with 317 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 20 carries. That broke the old mark of 229, set by Steve Longo of Greenwich in 2001.

“This team has the heart of a lion and so do they,” Staples head coach Marce Petroccio told MSG Varsity’s Jesse Quinlan. “Like Apollo said in the movie (Rocky), there ain’t gonna be no rematch. The only way I hope to see Greenwich again is in the state finals.”

“We got caught with a couple of starters off the field at times and they took advantage of it,” Greenwich head coach Rich Albonizio told Paul Silverfarb of the Greenwich Post. “Staples is hard to stop. They could throw the ball, they could option and they are big up front. We wanted to wear them down a little bit. I thought we had the momentum and I thought they were struggling a little bit, but they are a good team and took advantage of our mistakes.”

Staples (9-0) and Greenwich (8-1) have both qualified for the CIAC Class LL tournament, which begins with the quarterfinal round at 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 27. Staples, the No. 1 seed, will host No. 8 West Haven (8-2), while No. 6 Greenwich plays No. 3 Xavier (9-1) in Middletown.

Story and Photo links

MSG Varsity: Sweet FCIAC repeat for juggernaut Staples

MSG Photo Gallery by David Hahn

Greenwich Post: Greenwich football falls to Staples in FCIAC championship game

The Hour: Zelkowitz, Wreckers run past Cardinals for FCIAC crown