By Tony Bellissimo
Behind a bend-but-don't break defense and a strong ground attack, Calhoun won the battle of the locals on the gridiron Saturday afternoon, beating visiting Kennedy 17-0 in the Conference II opener.
Phil Medici ran for 88 yards on 18 carries, and Mike Cullen ran for 43 yards on 19 attempts and caught a 20-yard touchdown pass from Jimmy Pinto in the fourth quarter to seal the Cougars' fate.
"We did some nice things out there today, and it was especially nice for the defense to get the shutout," Colts Coach Joe Corea said. "We made some mistakes that we'll have to correct for next week, but I think overall we played pretty well."
Calhoun dominated the time-of-possession in the first half, but came away with only a 35-yard Rustin Kluge field goal. "We hurt ourselves early with penalties," Corea said. "We had a touchdown
called back on an illegal procedure, and we had a few other penalties we can't afford to keep committing."
The Colts ran 34 offensive plays in both halves. However, Kennedy's defense stayed tough for the first two quarters, led by Tony Vozzolo and Drew Stadler.
"I thought we were in decent shape after stopping them to open the third quarter," Kennedy Coach Craig Papach said. "But we didn't move the ball too well and they got into a rhythm running the ball."
As Calhoun's yards on the ground mounted, so did Kennedy's injuries. According to Papach, the Cougars finished the game with under 20 bodies."We sustained a few injuries and one suspension that are probably going to hurt us against South Side next week," Papach said.
Behind the offensive line work of Greg Lawrence, Dennis Chambers, Lee Tinner and Carlos Martinez, the Colts kept the chains and the clock moving in the second half. Todd McAdams (30 rushing yards) capped a long scoring drive with a four-yard touchdown run midway through the third quarter to make
it 10-0.
"We kept running the ball because it was working for us," Corea said. "The offensive line stepped up, and that's a good sign."
Defensively, Calhoun was led by Luke Chicco (three interceptions) and Chris Medici (11 tackles). Kennedy's Jack Popper led all receivers with four receptions for 90 yards. Calhoun travels to Port Washington this Saturday at 2 P.M. The Vikings beat Division in their opener, 13-8. Kennedy visits a confident South Side team at 2 P.M. The Cyclones beat Elmont, 28-8.
