by Sean Patrck Bowley
sbowley@ctpost.com
BRIDGEPORT - If there was any time for apprehension, doubt or panic on the Central sideline, this was the moment.
The Hilltoppers, who had once gone 30 years without a winning season, had been in this spot so many times over the last five years only to see their title dreams crash and burn.
But this team grabbed destiny by the reins and took off.
In front of a loud and boisterous crowd at Kennedy Stadium Saturday, Central scored two touchdowns in a minute to turn a 21-18 fouth-quarter nail-biter into a 40-18 victory over rival Trumbull to secure the school's first-ever FCIAC championship game berth.
"We've worked so hard for this. We've been waiting for it," senior linesman Michael Colon said. "One of our goals was to win the FCIAC championship, now we're FCIAC West champion for the first time ever in history and I'm so proud."
Even more impressive, the Hilltoppers did it all without their best player, senior tailback Akeem Wright, who sprained his ankle in practice on Tuesday.
But this Central team proved it is so much more than one player.
Perhaps it took a surprise visit from Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown on Friday for them to realize that.
"Our hearts were out of it because Akeem wasn't playing. (Brown) Just told us one man doesn't make a team," said Central quarterback Levar Hardision, who completed 10 of 19 passes for 225 yards and two touchdowns "He told us you need a team mentality to win. We just took that to heart. He was a great inspiration."
Senior Dashawn Brown played Wright's usual role to perfection. He rushed for 179 yards on 14 carries and a touchdown.
Senior Jerry Green added 85 yards on 10 carries and scored 3 touchdowns, including a 63 yard jaunt with two 2:51 left.
Kelleray Gill caught 7 passes for 130 yards and had two interceptions.
Central will play Greenwich in the FCIAC title game on Friday at New Canaan at 7:30 p.m.
"I haven't let myself enjoy this until this point," Eighth year coach Dave Cadelina said. "I'm starting to enjoy this right now. Looking back, over the years, our goal was to get to this point. We're here right now, and we're just not satisfied with it. We want to go even farther."
Trumbull meanwhile, is all but out of the Class LL playoff picture.
"You know what? I'm proud of my kids," said Trumbull coach Bob Maffei, whose team falls to 7-2 overall and 7-1 in the West Division. "We've had a great season. We have one game left and we're going to make the best of it."
"I wish Central the best of luck. I hope they go all the way. They're great kids."
With Central threatening to run away with the game in the third quarter, Trumbull quarterback Joe Ambrosini (6 of 17, 152 yards, 3 interceptions) threw a 47 yard touchdown pass to Rick Southard, who had 4 catches for 126 yards, despite playing with a seperated shoulder.
John D'Alesio's two point conversion catch cut Central's lead to 21-18.
But, three plays, one minute and two touchdowns later, the Hilltoppers led 34-18.
"One of my assistant coaches kept saying, "Keep the pedal to the metal, keep your foot on the gas, and let's not go into the tank," Cadelina said, "We didn't want to slow down, we didn't want to use the clock, we wanted to go up again."
Sure enough, Gill returned the ensuring kickoff and, on the first play from scrimmage caught a 44 yard touchdown pass down the left sideline to make it 28-18.
Gill intercept Ambrosini on Trumbull's next possesion. Brown ripped off a 56 yard run and Green finished off Trumbull with a 2 yard touchdown.
"We wanted to stop their long plays and, in the first half, I thought we were very successful," Maffei said. "In the second half, you know, they hit a couple of long passes, we stopped reading our keys...it kind of steamrolled."
Make no mistake, this game was competitive, until Central's fourth quarter outburst.
D'Alisio scored on a 1 yard run on Trumbull's first possession.
The Hilltoppers answered when Hardision hit Jermaine Roberts for a 78 yard touchdown pass to tie to score at 7-7.
Ambrosini's 53 yard pass to Southard set up John McBride's 23 yard field goal that gave Trumbull a 10-7 halftime lead.
Central surged ahead when Brown and Green scored on back-to-back possessions late in the third quarter to make the score 21-10.
Anel Montenez led the Eagles with a pair of sacks. Kyle Lieberman had one.
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