Holy Trinity loses league opener
Holy Trinity's Christopher Laviano scrambles against Fordham Prep. (Sept. 18, 2011) Credit: Patrick E. McCarthy
Chris Laviano wasn't really sure what to do with this -- the 27-6 loss to Fordham Prep, the 0-2 record, and the knowledge that no matter how good the senior quarterback has been in the past, it's a young and developing Holy Trinity team taking the field with him.
"We didn't play like a team,'' Laviano said Sunday after the Titans' CHSFL AAA opener at Fordham University. "We showed up. We went through the motions . . . We were in it and we gave up big plays.''
The Titans were very much in it and, for a few boisterous seconds, primed to make a statement. Tied at 6 with about 3:30 to go in the first half, Fordham's John Trimble dropped back to pass and, though it looked to be an incompletion, it was ruled a fumble, which Holy Trinity's Michael Williams recovered on the 50. Williams broke free but was tripped up by Logan Williamson and stripped near the goal line by Brendan Kennedy for the touchback.
"I saw the ball hit the ground,'' Williams said. "I didn't see [Williamson].''
Six plays later, James McHale, now at quarterback for Fordham, rolled right and hit Williamson in the flat for a 10-yard score and a 13-6 lead 46 seconds before halftime.
Williamson gained 68 yards on 19 carries, running for two touchdowns besides his TD catch. McHale completed 9 of 20 for 162 yards for the Rams.
Williams had 16 carries for 65 yards, and Laviano completed 15 of 28 passes for 154 yards. His play-action throw to tight end Ryan Alexander with 5:32 left in the half tied the score at 6.
"He's a great player,'' Holy Trinity coach Tony Mascia said of Laviano. "But everyone's got to realize this isn't a one-man team. We still have a lot of work to do. We're young and we shot ourselves in the foot early.''
Laviano, a third-year starter, said it was a problem of execution: "We need to make better reads, we need to protect up front.''
He went through the to-do list quietly, admitting it perhaps would take a different approach than Holy Trinity used the past two years, when it went 17-4.
"There's a definite change,'' he said. "But these are my teammates, and I'm with them all the way.''
