WATERBURY – Twice in the last four years, the Holy Cross football team has come close to beating Ansonia, only to see the win slip through their fingers in the game’s waning moments.
On Friday night at Municipal Stadium’s Ray Snyder Sr. Field, the Crusaders had the lead late and were able to put the Chargers away for a 48-37 victory. Holy Cross beat Ansonia for the first time since 2009. Both teams are 4-1 heading into the Naugatuck Valley League’s bye week.
“It feels great. We worked hard all week, and we’ve been preparing for this moment,” Crusader senior running back Nate Craft said.
“It feels awesome. All year, since last year when we lost to them, we’ve been thinking about this game,” said senior quarterback Brady Lombardo said. “The whole year, and now that we’ve actually won, it feels so great.”
Ansonia won last year’s meeting, 28-26, at Nolan Field. In 2022, the lead changed hands seven times before the Chargers secured a 31-28 win over the Crusaders at Municipal Stadium. On Friday night, it was Holy Cross’ turn to win.
“It’s been a long time, and we’ve had a lot of battles in the past couple years,” Crusader coach Mike Giampetruzzi said. “For these guys to finally get a win, and these seniors, they’ve been through the two-point or the three-point losses and those things, but I’m really happy for that group.”
Craft had a monster game with four touchdowns, including rushing scores of 27 and eight yards on back-to-back third quarter drives to turn a 29-28 deficit into a 42-29 advantage. Craft had a 65-yard touchdown on the game’s first play from scrimmage, and he later scored on a 34-yard catch and run from senior quarterback Brady Lombardo.
“We have a lot of talent,” Craft said. “When our receivers are getting covered, it’s going to open up the run game, and like I said, I can’t do it without my O-line.”
Lombardo, despite being knocked out of the game on two different plays, threw touchdown passes of 34, 64, 47 and one yard to Craft, Tyler Smith, Michael Stradford and Dae’Sean Graves.
“Yeah, I had the wind knocked out of me, but regardless of that, my O-line played great,” Lombardo said. “Without any of them, we can’t do our job. We can’t get the ball to Aaden (Hall), Dae Dae, Nate Craft, Tyler Smith, Michael Stradford, without out the line. It all starts there, that’s where our success starts.”
The offensive line is made up of left tackle Terrell Inabinett, left guard Kyler Booker, center Nolan Corriveau, right guard Johan Hernandez and right tackle Caleb Corriveau.
Ansonia junior running back Tymir Taylor scored three total touchdowns, two on runs of four and five yards, and another on an electric kickoff return to open the second half. Jacob Branch scored on a 14-yard touchdown run, and Antonio Pinto added a rushing score from two yards out.
“Our offense played hard. I thought we did some good things on offense, I thought we did some bad things, but hats off to Holy Cross,” Ansonia coach Shane Kingsley said. “I thought they were more physical than us at the line of scrimmage at times, especially on defense, and they deserved to win.”
Taylor’s kickoff return for a score, and Pinto’s extra point, put the Chargers ahead, 29-28, just 14 seconds into the third quarter. On the ensuing Crusader possession, Craft had a 23-yard catch and run from Lombardo, then ran 27 yards for the go-ahead score.
Player of the game
Nate Craft, Holy Cross: The senior running back set the tone for the Crusaders, running 65 yards for a touchdown on the first play from scrimmage on the way to a four-touchdown performance.
Quotable
“They’re a great defense, physical, but at the end of the day, our receivers just got open, I gave them the ball, and they made plays.” – Lombardo talking about his team’s win.
Holy Cross 48, Ansonia 37
ANSONIA 8 14 7 8-37
HOLY CROSS 14 14 14 6-48
H-Nate Craft 65 run (Justin Smith kick)
A-Tymir Taylor 4 run (Taylor run)
H-Craft 34 pass from Brady Lombardo (Smith kick)
A-Antonio Pinto 2 run (Jacob Branch run)
H-Tyler Smith 64 pass from Lombardo (Justin Smith kick)
A-Branch 14 run (run failed)
H-Michael Stradford 47 pass from Lombardo (Justin Smith kick)
A-Taylor 80 kickoff return (Pinto kick)
H-Craft 27 run (J. Smith kick)
H-Craft 8 run (J. Smith kick)
A-Taylor 5 run (Mekhi McNeil run)
H-Dae’Sean Graves 1 pass from Lombardo (kick blocked)
Records: Holy Cross 4-1; Ansonia 4-1.
This article originally published at Holy Cross football beats Ansonia for 1st time since 2009 on Nate Craft’s 4-touchdown night.
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