Trinity-Pawling defeats Salisbury 27-14 to clinch Erickson Championship
By John M. Benson
November 3, 2007
Trinity-Pawling won the Erickson Conference Championship the old-fashioned way, with the running of Quendel Ellison and Chris Coratti, the lead blocks from Chris Coratti and Tommy Jacobs, and the irresistible force of the powerful offensive line of Matt Colucci, Owen Fraser, Max Pitts, Dylan Quinn, Ben Eedle and Mike McCarron.
The Pride will not know until Sunday night when, where, and against whom they will play in the New England Prep School Athletic Association Class A Championship. The game will be played at a neutral site with an artificial turf field.
Trinity-Pawling racked up 275 yards on the ground, with Ellison gaining a phenomenal 195 yards on 26 carries and scoring all four touchdowns for The Pride. Coratti gained 80 tough yards inside on 14 carries, and also led the team with 13 tackles on defense.
Head coach Dave Coratti was justifiably thrilled with his team’s performance, and said after the game, “This was our kids’ best game of the year. I told them after the game that I was very proud of them, that they really stepped up. We had lost to Hotchkiss by quite a bit because we just didn’t play very well. Salisbury beat Hotchkiss, so on paper, Salisbury was the favored team, and we just really manhandled them. We controlled them on both sides of the line of scrimmage.
“We went right at them and our kids never let up. Even when Salisbury tied the score at 7-7, we didn’t have a let-down. The next time we had the ball we went on an 80-yard drive, and just pounded on them, so I was very proud of our team in this game. We were successful with our tosses and up the middle, so it was good all the way around.
“Salisbury was the best defensive team in the league coming into this game, and a lot of teams have had trouble running against them. So, I was all prepared to air it out on Saturday night. The weather kind of changed that, and after we saw that we were successful running the ball, we realized that we didn’t have to throw the ball, and we just kept running.”
In 2007, The Pride is 6-1 in league, with one loss to Hotchkiss, and as coach Coratti said, “Hotchkiss is now 2-1-2 in the league. They tied Avon, whom we beat 23-0, and they tied Kent, who we beat, so they have two ties, which really hurt them in the league standings.
The 27-14 win over the visiting Salisbury Knights was the second time in three years that the Lions have advanced to the New England Prep School Championship with a home win over Salisbury.
A lifetime resident of Pawling, Christopher Coratti, the Lions’ fullback/inside linebacker, is a product of all the youth sports leagues that his father, Pride head coach Dave Coratti, and all the other parents of Pawling make available to the youth of Pawling.
Christopher has started for his father at fullback and inside linebacker since the final four games of his freshman season in 2004. The father and son team helped Trinity-Pawling to the school’s undefeated season in 2005, the year The Pride won the schools’ first New England Prep School Class A Championship, and as co-captain and coach on the 2007 team, they are taking The Pride back to the title game of the top division for northeastern prep schools.
“Our 2005 and 2007 teams are comparable,” Coratti said. “The 2005 team might have been a little bit faster overall, but the great thing is that we have a lot of younger guys on this team, guys who will be coming back next year. Chris was really the only underclassman on the 2005 team, in terms of the starters, but with this 2007 team, we have a lot of underclassmen who will be coming back.
“This 2007 team has been a very close-knit group, very positive with very good leadership, and it has been a great group to work with.”
For three straight years, the Erickson Conference Championship and the automatic berth in the New England Championship has come down to the game between Trinity-Pawling and Salisbury, with Trinity-Pawling winning at home in 2005, Salisbury winning at home in 2006, and Trinity-Pawling winning last Saturday night for the 2007 season.
The offensive starting unit includes quarterback Aaron Gregory, linemen Matt Colucci, Owen Fraser, Max Pitts, Quinn, Ben Eedle and Mike McCarron, wide receiver Shayne Skov, and running backs Quendel Ellison, Chris Coratti and Tommy Jacobs.
Ellison scored all four touchdowns behind the jarring blocks of his offensive line and leading blockers, scoring on runs of five yards over right tackle in the first quarter to make it 7-0, ten yards on the toss left to make it 13-7 in the second quarter, a brilliant 30-yard run over his right end to make it 21-7 in the third quarter, and the finishing touch of a ten-yard run over left guard behind the lead block by Chris Coratti to give the Lions the 27-7 lead.
Ellison also set up the first touchdown with a punt return in the first quarter, when he raced 40 yards through the entire Knights’ team to set up the Lions with a first down at the Salisbury 12-yard line. After an Aaron Gregory pass to Shayne Skov took the Lions down to the five-yard line, Ellison followed Coratti over left tackle and into the end zone to give the Lions the 7-0 lead.
Salisbury answered the first Trinity-Pawling touchdown in the first quarter to tie it up at 7-7, but the Knights were held scoreless the rest of the way by the Pride defense, scoring only on a kick-off return with minutes remaining in the game to make the final score 27-14.
Coratti said he was also very pleased with the passing game, that quarterback Aaron Gregory completed enough passes to wide receiver Shayne Skov to keep Salisbury honest, five completions for 50 yards, including one two-point conversion.
But the mischievous, swirling winds and 40-degree temperatures kept the passing and kicking games of both teams summarily grounded.
The Lion defense held the Knights to just one touchdown on offense. Salisbury returned a kick-off for a touchdown late in the second half to raise their total to 14 points, but it was too late to challenge the dominanting Trinity-Pawling Pride.
The Lions’ starting defense features Owen Fraser, Dillon Quinn and Mike Pranulis on the line, linebackers Chris Coratti, Matt Colucci, Tommy Jacobs and Rob McGregor, cornerbacks Anthony Verdi and Adam Di Benedetto, and safeties Shayne Skov and Charlie Cook.
Head coach Dave Coratti and team captains Chris Coratti, Tommy Jacobs and Mark Mancuso had the Lions well prepared and keyed up to pursue the final game in the season goal of the Erickson Conference Championship.
Trinity-Pawling defeated Andover 42-26 in 2005 for the New England Prep School Athletic Association Class A Championship, the first New England Football Championship in school history for Trinity-Pawling.
Coached by David Coratti, the Pride rolled to a lead of 42-12 midway through the fourth quarter, before Phillips Andover School scored two late touchdowns against the second unit to make the final score 42-26.
In the game played at Williston-North Hampton School in East Hampton, Mass., Trinity-Pawling ran up 280 yards on the ground and 160 yards in the air to control the action with 440 total yards.
With the victory, the Lions finished the year with the perfect record of 9-0, thus completing the first undefeated, untied season at Trinity-Pawing since the 1940’s. The closest game of the season was the opening game, when the Lions prevailed 14-2 over Cushing Academy. They have out-scored opponents 247-39 on the year while gaining 275 yards a game on the ground and 175 yards in the air.
“Our players have dedicated themselves to being successful this season, and they have worked very hard to get to this championship,” said head coach David Coratti. “They have really earned all the excitement and sense of accomplishment. This is a great moment for them, and for the football program and for Trinity-Pawling School.
“It was very exciting, because we had a lot of people there. A lot of alums who live in the Boston, Massachusetts area showed up at the game. There were people from as far back as the 1960’s through the 80’s and 90’s. And all the kids’ families were there, so we really had a great cheering section of our own.” |
