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Nothing was going to deter the scrappy Redcoats from completing their mission -- a victory in head coach John Capodice’s debut.
The Redcoats turned two first half interceptions into touchdowns Sunday and tenaciously held off a late surge to present Capodice with a 12-7 win on the artificial turf at NFA.
The word that coursed through the Berlin ranks was that the gratifying road win was a tribute to an off-season of dedication to a program seeking to maintain its pride in the face of adversity.
"We knew we were in for a tough task. Last year they just pushed us around," Capodice said. "We got back into the weight room. We made a commitment in February and it’s good to see the kids’ hard work pay off.
"We’re back."
Senior Dan Madey, starting his first varsity game at quarterback, guided a new offense assigned to execute Capodice’s multiple sets. Madey, who led the Redcoats in tackles as an undersized linebacker last year, adapted to his leadership role with vitality.
"We put in a lot of time in the weight room and we were in passing leagues all summer," Madey said. "We never stopped."
The Wildcats, their offensive line dwarfing the Redcoats’ front, sought to establish a pounding ground game behind hard-charging sophomore Nick Murphy. When a penalty and fumble forced them to the air, Bryce Buffaloe picked off a James Bishop pass at the NFA 39.
On second-and-10 from the 28, Madey flared to John Brummell. He faked a defender to the ground and broke a tackle to give the Redcoats a 6-0 lead with 5:07 left in the first quarter.
"Brummell is a special player," Capodice said about his long, lean, athletic receiver. "He’s only a junior, he transferred in from New Jersey and he’s got a chance to be a special player on both sides of the ball."
The Wildcats drove inside the Berlin 30 on their first possession of the second quarter. Faced with a third-and-8, Bishop was picked again when Tom Liberda stepped in front of an NFA receiver.
"They took advantage of the mistakes we made," NFA coach Steve Robichaud said. "We made mistakes on our blocking schemes. Both the passes we threw in the first half were intercepted. It’s going to come down to the team that makes the fewest mistakes."
On the next play, Madey faked a handoff up the middle and slipped it to Liberda, who raced 73 yards through a gaping hole off tackle for the score.
"It was a misdirection play," Capodice said. "He hits the seam and he goes. We have guys who can make plays in space and we’ve got to get them space. That’s our game."
Berlin defensive tackle James Neurath made two strong defensive stands in the third quarter that helped keep the Wildcats off the board. The Redcoats defense also received crucial contributions from Travis Wright, Jay Catalano and Madey to maintain the two-touchdown lead heading into the final 12 minutes.
NFA finally scored with 3:17 to go when Chris Winn bulled over from the 4, capping a 13-play, 65-yard drive that consumed over 6 minutes. The extra point cut the lead to five and Capodice hoped that the failed two-point attempts after his touchdowns wouldn’t cost him.
Berlin went three and out and punted to NFA, which had 72 yards to traverse with no timeouts and just over a minute left. Buffaloe jumped on a fumble after a completed pass at the Berlin 46 to seal the win.
The play that will lead the weekly highlight reel came on the first play of the fourth quarter. On a third-and-10, Madey fired a lateral pass to Nick Catalano who hit Brummell downfield for a 38-yard gain.
"That was the play of the game," said Capodice, the successor to legendary coach Al Pelligrinelli who stepped down after 27 years. "It’s a risk but sometimes you’ve got to throw the dice and hope it comes up your number. We thought we needed a big play, we worked on it and the kids executed it."
