Greenwich High rode the running skills of Kevin Iobbi to a 42-32 victory over Trumbull High in an FCIAC football match-up before a large crowd at Cardinal Stadium on Saturday.
With the victory, coach John Marinelli’s Big Red improved to 4-1 on the season.
Coach Bob Maffei’s Eagles are 3-2.
“Their number 2 controlled the game, running the rock there,” Maffei said of the 5-foot-10, 180-pound Iobbi. “He follows his blockers and blends in. He’s tough to bring down.”
The last of Iobbi’s four touchdowns was a 68-yard scamper on a first down play with 3:28 remaining. He ran for 246 yards on 41 carries.
That restored Big Red’s 10-point lead, after Trumbull had closed within one score at 35-32 on Johnny McElroy’s 24-yard touchdown pass to Peter Raverta. The touchdown came on a 4th-and-21 play. McElroy then drew defenders to him on a scramble, before finding Danny Hoffmann for the two-point conversion.
Marinelli said, “They made some plays. Defensively we anchored in, didn’t give away the rush lanes because that kid (McElroy) made some big plays with his feet. That kid is incredible.”
McElroy opened the scoring with a 20-yard pass to Hoffmann at the 9:39 mark of the first quarter. Jake Dudal’s sack of Cardinal quarterback Connor Langan forced a fumble that Zach Heche returned 25 yards to the GHS 20 to set up the score.
Greenwich responded with a scoring drive of 11 plays that culminated with Matt Morganti competing a reverse pass to Langan for four yards. Zach Moore answered Trumbull’s Ryan Ruff’s PAT with one of his own to tie the game at 7.
Greenwich took the lead with a 91-yard drive that began with one minute remaining in the first and ended when Langan threw a 28-yard scoring pass to Morganti with nine minutes remaining in the first half.
Trumbull tied the game on McElroy’s 21-yard scramble. He completed a 4th-and-five pass to Raverta to keep the 73-yard drive to paydirt a possibility.
Greenwich’s Jeremiah Harris recovered a fumbled punt at the Trumbull 37. Five plays later, Iobbi ran it in to the end zone from two yards out for a 21-14 lead.
Trumbull got the touchdown back on Markeese Woods’ 4-yard run with 3:14 left in the half. Patrick Daley took a short pass for 42 yards in the series, with Zach Lombardi making a key block.
Trumbull took the second half kickoff and smartly marched 70 yards in 10 plays before Ruff kicked a 32-yard field goal for a 24-21 lead.
Greenwich moved deep into Eagle territory before Adam Tolk stopped Iobbi on third down and Moore’s 32-yard field goal had the distance but was wide.
Greenwich’s defense pinned Trumbull’s offense and the Big Red took possession back on the Eagle 30-yard line.
Langan found Morganti over the middle with a 19-yard pop pass off play action for a touchdown and a 28-24 lead with 2:49 remaining in the third quarter.
After Ruff’s field goal, Trumbull’s offense had a pair of empty possessions.
“We stopped going after the quarterback,” Marinelli said. “In the first half we went after him. We took our rush then stepped back to limit his yards. That kid is a really good athlete. He is the best quarterback in the FCIAC.”
Iobbi ran for a 2-yard score to complete a 45-yard march, where he gained all but seven yards, and GHS led 35-24.
A Trumbull fumble at the Big Red 33 dashed one drive, but Heche got the ball back on the next play with an interception at the Eagle 43.
McElroy broke containment for a 17-yard gain on a 4th-and-6 play. He then scrambled for five yards and a late hit brought the ball half the distance to the 13.
After missing a play after being tackled while throwing the ball away, McElroy reentered the game on 4th-and-21 and worked his magic to get Trumbull back within a touchdown.
Iobbi made sure the come back went no further.