Monroe-Woodbury defeats Valley Central
Montgomery. Nicholas Calderone scores the touchdown to put the Crusaders ahead, then seals the victory with an interception in the Vikings' end zone.
| 23 Sep 2019 | 12:00
Eddie Fennessy (#42) hit field goals of 33 and 22 yards in the Crusaders' 20-13 victory over Valley Central. (
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Jack Rumbler (#69) brings down a Viking running back.
Nicholas Calderone (#22) scores on this 50-yard touchdown to give the Crusaders the lead
Nicholas Calderone celebrates his interception of a Viking pass to preserve the Crusaders' victory
On Friday night, Sept. 20, the Crusaders looked to turn their season around when they traveled to Valley Central to face the Vikings.
The Crusaders took the opening kickoff and drove down the field to the Viking 25 yard line where Edward Fennessy hit a 33-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead.
Peter Mastropolo kept the Crusader’s next drive alive with a first down run on a fake punt.
Anthony Campione capped off the drive when he muscled his way in from the five and, after the PAT, the Crusaders had a 10-0 lead.
The Vikings scored when Tyler Villani caught a 29-yard touchdown pass but Crusader Camron Adams pounced on the fumbled extra point attempt and the Crusaders held a four-point lead.
With :03 left in the half, Fennessy hit a 22-yard field goal to give the Crusaders a 13-6 half time lead.
In the third quarter, the defense’s took over as the two teams exchanged punts.
With 8:30 left in the game the Vikings scored on an Andrew Laux one-yard touchdown run; the point after touchdown kick tied the score.
In the last eight minutes of the game, Nicholas Calderone made two big plays that may have turned the Crusaders' season around.
First he took a hand off and broke around right end, found a tremendous hole and cut all the way back across the field for a 50-yard touch down run to give the Crusaders the lead.
Then with 4:24 left in the game, he made a leaping interception of a Viking pass in the end zone to preserve the Crusaders' victory.
The Crusaders 20-13 win brings their record to 1-2 on the season.
Their next game will be against the Middies of Middletown on Friday at home.
- William Dimmit