By Dominic Mariani
They strut. They swagger. The Staples Wreckers football team trotted on the wind-swept, frigid field at Trumbull High School today to defend its Class L state championship title. And defend it they did, beating Monroe’s Panthers 31-6.
Ryan Bohling: he and Bryan Wrapp ran at will in the second half. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Betsey Lebow for WestportNow.com
Coach Marce Petroccio and the Big Blue Wrecking Crew threw everything but the kitchen sink at Monroe’s Masuk High School, and the Panthers had nothing to hurl back. Reporters on the sidelines almost unanimously had the Wreckers a two- to three-touchdown favorite.
But brows soon furrowed as the red-and-white clad visitors took the opening kickoff and marched 70 yards for a touchdown and a 6-0 advantage.
Quarterback Anthony Krize distributed the ball evenly between receivers Matt Allen and Ray Palmer as Masuk moved unimpedingly down the field. Running back Anthony Zaccarella bulled it over from the three-yard line.
Staples failed to respond on its first possession, and the crowd held its breath as Wreckers’quarterback D.J. Stefkovich limped off the field. Staples did nothing on its second possession, and the first quarter ended with the Panthers on top 6-0.
Krize chucked left and right as Masuk cruised down to the Staples six when lightning struck. Brian Levine picked off a Krize aerial on the goal line and returned it untouched for 100 yards and a score. A recently returned Bryan Wrapp converted and the suddenly resuscitated Wreckers led 7-6.
The now pumped-up Staples defense slammed the door on the Panthers’ next possession and forced them to punt. On the Wreckers next offensive Brian Bohling bolted for runs of 25, 6 and a 20-yard TD scamper that was nullified because of a holding penalty.
Masuk had no running game, and the vaunted Staples defense started to shut down the passing offense late in the second quarter. The Wreckers forced the Panthers to punt and took over the ball on their own 44 with 1:18 left to go in the half. Stefkovich rolled down the sidelines for a first down, then hit Levine at the 10.
Stefkovich again hit Levine on a textbook slant pattern with 13 seconds left in the half. Wrapp converted, and the Wreckers led 14-6 at halftime. In the second half Wrapp and Bohling began to run at will, and it became evident that Mazuk had no defense against the Staples’ running attack.
Petroccio, known as Coach P, called two fourth-and-ones inside the Wreckers’ territory on the next drive as they began a relentless assault for the next score. Stefkovich once again hit Levine for a first down on a brilliant catch between two defenders.
Levine was a dagger in the heart of the Panthers, finishing with five catches for 83 yards. Bohling took it in from 13 yards out, and the game was pretty much over as the Masuk sidelines seemed demoralized as Krize sat out most of the second half with a concussion.
The Staples’ next drive stalled at the Panthers five-yard line, but Wrapp punched over a 19-yard field goal with 20 seconds left in the third quarter for a 24-6 lead.
Stefkovich iced it in the fourth period with a 44-yard TD to R.J. Marsilio to end the game 31-6.
Ironically, Coach P and his twin brother Bill led Trumbull to a state title as seniors.
“Behind marrying my wife and my baby girl Gianna being born, this is absolutely the greatest I’ve ever felt,” Petroccio said after the game.
Obviously, Coach P still leads. And the Wreckers strut on.
