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"There are two quarters left (and) you’re playing against a great team for everything," Baccaro said. "You might think for the rest of your life that this was the greatest moment you ever had in sports."
The important thing, Baccaro continued, was that the players were smiling during his exhortation, and minutes later, the entire East Catholic sideline was grinning also.
The Eagles took the opening kickoff of the second half and drove 67 yards, capping it when senior fullback Courtland Wright (15 carries, 107 yards) plunged over from the 5-yard-line to score the game’s only points (excluding Mike McCormack’s PAT) with 8:03 left in the third quarter.
In a game where the defenses were stingy throughout, the winning drive was keyed by a 26-yard completion from Dan Belli to Kyle Marandino that brought the ball to Berlin’s 39, and Baccaro admitted the play’s significance.
"We wanted to throw a couple of passes, then get back to the running game," Baccaro reasoned, noting that his offensive strategy was designed, in part, out of respect for Berlin’s offense. "We wanted to run the ball and keep it out of (Berlin runner/receiver Jon-Jon) Morales’ hands.
Not only did East Catholic (9-1, 8-1 Nutmeg) keep it out of Morales’ hands, but it limited the Redcoats’ offense, operating without leading rusher Chris Laroche (pulled hamstring), to 19 second-half plays while keeping the visitors from paydirt.
Berlin (9-1, 8-1 Nutmeg) got a break from its punting game late in the third quarter when Tom Liberda’s punt pinned East Catholic back at its own 11-yard line.
After forcing East to punt, Berlin started at East’s 41 before driving to the 21 (after a nifty catch by Chris Schroder, who extended high to get quarterback Dan Madey’s delivery) where it faced a fourth-and-1 with 9:47 left in the game.
Tom Liberda, filling in for Laroche, carried and was hit short of the first down twice before continuing to roll off tacklers, and gain two yards that put Berlin at East’s 19. It was the Redcoats’ deepest penetration of the game.
On the next play, Madey rolled left and threw to Morales near the goal line. But Belli, from his defensive back position, made up ground while the ball was in the air, stepping in front of Morales to squash the threat.
"We had our opportunities," Berlin head coach John Capodice said afterward. "It’s all about preparation and execution, and we were prepared. We just didn’t execute."
Capodice was alluding to Berlin’s opening drive of the game when the Redcoats had first down at East Catholic’s 45, but couldn’t score after Madey was sacked.
Berlin appeared poised to score later in the quarter when Madey hit Liberda for an 18-yard completing (Laroche delivering an excellent block in pass protection on the play), but Belli recovered a fumble on the ensuing play at his own 24, and East Catholic had dodged another threat.
Late in the first half, East Catholic recorded a golden opportunity when the snap to Liberda in punt formation sailed over his head. By the time he retrieved it, East’s Tracy Deleston (a force defensively all game long) blocked the punt, and East had the ball at Berlin’s 14.
But the defense was at its best, forcing East Catholic into a 34-yard field goal that the Redcoats’ blocked with 19 seconds remaining before halftime.
"Last year we had the best athletes in the conference and they proved it," Baccaro said after his club grabbed a share of its second consecutive conference title. "This year we have a bunch of working class kids. They’re not that fast, they’re not that big, but they like each other, they play together, and they deserved what they got today."
East Catholic unofficially clinched a spot in the Class LL playoffs, while Berlin, as of late Saturday, clung to third place in the Class MM division. The Redcoats’ fate likely won’t be sealed until Thanksgiving Day.
