Calhoun Football Loses a Thriller to Wantagh

It's not often that a football team can spot its opponent 20 points in the first quarter on its home field, pick itself up off the ground and, three quarters later as the game clock runs down, bring its crowd to their feet for a standing ovation.

That's what the Calhoun Colts football team accomplished Saturday.

The Colts put a scare into visiting Wantagh and a thrill into the hearts of their fans, outscoring the Warriors 28-15 in the last three frames en route to a 35-28 near upset.

"They played their hearts out, and I told them to keep their heads up," Calhoun coach Joe Bianca said after the game.

While Calhoun (3-5) wasn't able to put a W up on the board against Wantagh (6-2), they clearly demonstrated the grit and attitude of a winning team, not to mention producing some off-the-chart offensive numbers in the bargain.

Try 306 total yards on the afternoon; 254 in the air on 19 for 30 passing, including a TD reception; and 143 yards on the ground, split between Justin Lee (60), Nick Pititto (40), and quarterback Matt Brennan (42), for three more touchdowns.

Of course a football game is four quarters long, and Wantagh put up some numbers of its own too–particularly in the opening quarter, when the Warriors scored three times and ran seemingly at will against the Colts. It was Calhoun's misfortune to run into the buzz-saw one-two running tandem of John Reicherter and Michael Sully.

Reicheter, who is big, fast and in possession of an uncanny ability to change direction in the open field, amassed 142 yards on six carries and two TDs in that quarter alone, including dashes of 66 and 65 yards that left the Colts grabbing at empty air. Sully seemed unstoppable at first as well–on four carries, he ran for a more human 19, 22, 22 and 1 yards.

Meanwhile for the Colts offense, the first quarter read like this: Punt, punt, fumble.

It was 20-0 and one might excuse those who were ready to look away.

"That first quarter was as good a quarter as we've had all year," said Warriors coach Keith Sachs–a Calhoun grad. "But we kind of gave them the momentum after that, and then they gave us a dogfight."

And then some. In the second quarter the Colts offense got untracked, scoring two touchdowns on drives of 75 and 99 yards. Brennan found the handle on the ball, opting for high percentage short passes, and mixing in enough running plays to keep the Warriors honest.

After scoring at 7:51 on a Brennan-Joe McGinley pass, Calhoun opted for an onside kick–and when Wantagh was able to muster only one first down, they punted away–to the Colts one foot line, that is.

Sounds like a big hole to climb out of, but Brennan and friends did just that, on a 17 yard drive that,  with 47 seconds on the clock, set up a razzle-dazzle fake field goal at the four yard line when Vincent Samuel took the snap, stood up and dashed to a first and goal at the one. A Brennan keeper made it a respectable 20-14 going into the half.

In the second half, the Colts game went from respectable to riveting.

Wantagh came out of the box in the second half with a fresh set of legs, but they were facing a resurgent Colts squad. The Warriors managed an 80 yard march but their hopes were thwarted by a monumental goal line stand, and Calhoun took over.

Three plays later, Reicheter picked off a Brennan pass and returned it to the Calhoun 15, and Wantagh pulled off a razzle-dazzle fake field goal of their own–and made it 28-14.

But Calhoun wasn't done yet. In the fourth quarter, the Colts capitalized on a Reicheter fumble on the Wantagh 45 with a TD drive on the back of running back Nick Pititto, making it 28-21.

And while Wantagh replied and made it 35-21, Calhoun showed everyone in the stands why they're a team to cheer. Down by two touchdowns with four minutes left on the clock, they mounted one last offensive drive–on crisp passing and the running game of Brennan that had the fans on their feet.  

With 30 seconds remaining on the clock, Brennan bulled into the end zone on a quarterback keeper, enough to give Calhoun the last word on a high energy offensive battle, if not the outright victory.

"They played hard, and the difference was that fake field goal," Bianca said. "This is a team that's gotten better and better as the year has gone on. They've come together as a team, which is what wins you games."

Calhoun will travel to Garden City next Saturday at 3 p.m. to tangle with the 7-1 Trojans in the first round of the county playoffs.