Greenwich Wins Marinelli Battle For Championship

STAMFORD, CT - Some early razzle dazzle ensured the first postseason battle of the Marinellis went in favor of youth Saturday, as Greenwich football coach John Marinelli guided his team to a 34-0 victory over New Canaan, coached by his dad, Lou, to claim the Cardinals' first Class LL championship in 11 years.

A pair of double-pass plays, including a 28-yard touchdown strike from AJ Barber to Hunter Clark, enabled Greenwich to jump to a 19-0 lead by the midpoint of the second quarter; the Cardinals never looked back.

Barber opened the scoring with 2:27 left in the opening period on a 3-yard pass from Gavin Muir, followed by Toby Trumbull's extra point kick. Less than five minutes later, Barber hauled in a 60-yard Muir bomb to provide the Cardinals a 13-0 advantage.

With just 17 seconds remaining before halftime, Muir ran in from 8 yards out, then passed to Lance Large for a two-point conversion that extended the Greenwich lead to 27-0 at intermission.

The score remained that way until Barber caught a 10-yard scoring pass from Muir with 5:11 to play, securing Greenwich's first championship since 2007.

Last year, the Cardinals dropped a 31-22 decision to Darien in the Class LL finals.

Muir completed 24 of 33 passes for 252 yards. Barber caught 10 passes for 157 yards, while Large snared eight tosses for 83 yards. On the ground, Tysen Comizio picked up 149 yards on 22 carries, as the Cardinals rolled up 443 yard of total offense.

Notre Dame commit Drew Pyne completed 16 of 32 passes for the Rams for just 106 yards. The Cardinals got to Pyne for four sacks in the contest. Quintin O'Connell and Wyatt Wilson combined for a dozen receptions for New Canaan.

Photo credit: Tim Jensen

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