Late Flurry Propels Northwest Past Berlin

People will see the 20-3 final score of the Berlin-Northwest football game, played Friday night at Scalise Field and think the Indians cruised to an easy victory over the host Redcoats.

They would be wrong.

"There was no cruising here tonight," Northwest coach Mike Tyler said. "This was a dog fight from the first play until the last."

Berlin had the better of the play in the first half, making seven first downs to just one for Northwest Catholic.

After a scoreless first quarter, Devin Silverman made a 44-yard field goal to open the scoring with 11:14 left in the second quarter. Little did the Redcoats know, but that would be the only points they would score all night.

Berlin drove to the Northwest 3-yard line and had a third-and-goal but a loss moved the ball back to the 9-yard line. Silverman attempted a 26-yard field goal but hooked it.

Berlin's defense played solidly all night long and was especially impressive in the fist half.

At halftime, Northwest had just 22 total yards from scrimmage. Quarterback Tyler Calitri was 1-for-7 passing for six yards at half.

Northwest had to try something different. That something different was putting junior running back Nick Gaynor in the wildcat formation, taking direct snaps from center. The Indians took the second half opening kick-off from their own 27-yard line and marched down the field, thanks to great blocking up front and Gaynor's 11 carries. Northwest also converted a big fourth-and-six on a pass play. But Berlin's defense stiffened forcing a 22-yard field goal by Christian Farrell to tie the score 3-3.

With the score tied at 3-apiece in the fourth quarter, Berlin faced a fourth-and-one on its own 30-yard line. Berlin went for it but Justin Gombotz was stood up by the middle of the Northwest line.

The Indians went back to the wildcat and Gaynor carried six straight times to get the ball down to the 9-yard line. Northwest's Farrell kicked a 31-yard field goal to take a 6-3 lead with 5:56 to go.

Trailing for the first time in the game, Berlin quarterback, sophomore Mitchell Williams, looked a little rushed. Less than a minute after the field goal, Williams was picked off by Gaynor, who returned it for a 33-yard touchdown and a 13-3 Northwest lead with 5:07 left.

Williams was picked off on his next pass attempt but the Berlin defense held. Northwest picked off Williams a third time on the next possession and returned the ball to the Berlin 13-yard line. Two plays later Gaynor scored again for the final margin of 20-3.

Gaynor finished with 86 yards rushing on 22 carries. Calitri went just 3-for-12 passing for 29 yards.

Tommy Undercuffler led Berlin in rushing with 60 yards on 11 carries. Williams finished 11-for-24 for 167 yards but had the three interceptions.

"It all starts with the line," Tyler said. "We have some weapons and we can do some different things but of the line doesn't work hard and do the job it doesn't mean anything. I thought our line both on offense and defense played really well.

"We have a very determined team here and they are working hard to be a good football team. Berlin is a great program and has been for what seems like forever. To beat them here on their home field will hopefully be a big boost to our confidence."

Gaynor said, the Indians loss earlier this season to Bloomfield might have been a good thing.

"You don’t want to lose and that was tough to lose in overtime," said the junior. "We knew we had to work a little harder and we saw the mistakes that we made. Berlin whooped us pretty good last year so this is a sweet win."

Berlin coach John Capodice said the loss is just part of the growing process for his young team.

"They had more veteran players than we did especially on the offensive and defensive lines," Capodice said. "This was our first competitive game and we hung in there really well. I knew points were going to he hard to come by and that the margin for error was very small but we were right there. We'll go back, look at the tape and get ready for the next one. The rest of our schedule is going to be tougher and we are on the road for most of those games."

Capodice said Williams will only get better at quarterback.

"We're asking him to do a lot and what is he 15?" Capodice said. "He made some mistakes but he competed hard. He's only a sophomore and hasn't played in a game like this before. They have 19 returning starters and we have two so this was just another step for us to grow."

Both teams are now 4-1. Berlin plays at Rockville Friday while Northwest plays host to Plainville Saturday.