Football: Kinnelon has their rally knocked down

KINNELON — Few imagined it would come down to this: the Kinnelon Colts, facing a fourth and 15 from their own 24 yard line, attempting to complete a remarkable 19-point comeback in under seven minutes against their cross-highway rivals, the undefeated Butler Bulldogs as time ticked down in the fourth quarter.

Quarterback Sean Robbins took the snap, dropped back to pass, and scanned his receivers, looking for Connor Villante streaking across the middle of the field three yards past the first-down marker.

But he wasn’t the only one who noticed Villante, and just as the ball reached the receiver’s fingertips, Butler safety Ryan Minogue hit him, jerking him away from the football and sending the Butler sideline into celebration.

It was the perfect play, executed flawlessly on the Colts’ part, said Kinnelon coach Kevin White after game, but it was also a perfect play by Minogue.

"We figured that with the double post (patterns) that you’re gonna’ stretch the safety and have a little bit of a window…but (Minogue) made a hell of a break on the ball, and he made a great, great play," said White. "The quarterback threw to the right place, the receiver got to the right place, and the kid just made a great, violent collision."

But as in all football games, although the last play might be the most memorable, the final score — in this case, 28-22 in favor of the now 4-0 Bulldogs — was decided by a collection of big plays, misplays, penalties, and missed opportunities on the part of both teams.

For White, however, it was his offense’s inability to get into a rhythm in the first half that became the deciding factor.

"I thought the most important thing is that we’ve got to get points on the board, because that builds as much confidence as anything," he said. "Cause if you walk away from a good drive with nothing…they walk off the field sky high, and you’re dejected."

That’s what happened to the Colts (2-2) time and time again throughout the first and second quarters after a strong nine-play, 65-yard drive led to a 22-yard Evan Argiriou field goal to give Kinnelon a 3-0 lead early.

From there, however, the offense fell into a pattern: five plays, then a punt, three plays, then a punt, seven plays, then a punt.

To the Colts’ defense’s credit, though, Butler was no different, and had little success against the stalwart unit until late in the second quarter when quarterback Chris Heredia scored on a two-yard dive. A two-point conversion followed, and gave the Bulldogs an 8-3 lead.

Butler opened the second half fast, however, and scored with on a 66-yard touchdown throw from Heredia to receiver Jason DaLattiboudere that gave them a 15-3 lead.

The Colts would answer later on when, on a first-and-goal from the nine yard line, a scrambling Robbins would hit Sean Walsh in the endzone for a touchdown. The extra point failed, but left the Colts within striking distance at 15-9.

Butler took back over later in the game, however, and scored on a 27-yard-run by running back Ryan Cirillo early in the fourth. On the next drive, they converted a Robbins fumble on a failed option into a 16-yard touchdown pass from Heredia to DaLattiboudere.

It was only his team’s natural grit, White said, that held them together while down 28-9 with seven minutes left.

"No one can ever say that Kinnelon does not play hard for the entire time…there aint’ no lying down here," he said, adding that he told his guys to "just keep playing" regardless of the deficit, because "you never know what happens."

In Kinnelon’s case, the nearly impossible happened as they scored on the first play from scrimmage when Robbins, on a first and 10 from his own 31, hit Joe Presti on a slant that the senior receiver broke for 69 yards and a score.

Walsh would recover the ensuing perfectly-placed onside kick, and five plays later, Robbins would take a quarterback keeper three yards for the team’s second score, bringing the score to 28-22 and setting the stage for the dramatic ending. Robbins finished with 236 passing yards and three touchdowns.

But regardless of the fact that the Colts didn’t pull of the miracle, White was proud of his team for never laying down, and, had the ball bounced differently on a few plays, it would have been the Colts celebrating.

"We knew we were up against a hell of a football team, and with a tight game like this, it’s a play here, a play there," he said.

Never was that more true.

Email: janoski@northjersey.com