Sternberg's touchdown a stunner for Barlow

STAMFORD - It was a play so rare and dramatic that Joel Barlow High players will be passing on details of the story for years to come in Redding.

Trinity Catholic was celebrating a blocked 26-yard field goal attempt by Barlow kicker
Alex White that would have put the Falcons up 24-21 with less than 10 seconds left in the game. And as the Crusaders were celebrating, Barlow captain Steven Sternberg picked up the loose ball at the 12-yard line, jogged around some stunned teammates and into the end zone for a touchdown with :03 left to lift the Falcons over Trinity Catholic 28-21. "I figured I might as well do something. I picked it up, and no one was touching me, so why not (run to the end zone)?" Sternberg said. "I figured I'd see what would happen, and if it was a touchdown, cool. And if not, it's still a tie game." Since the kick was blocked by a swarm of Trinity Catholic players behind the line of scrimmage, the ball was ruled live. Had it been an extra point attempt instead of a field goal try, neither team would have been able to advance it. "You just get happy as a coach because for years you preach to these kids that you play until the whistle," Tynan said. "You don't stop until you hear that whistle, and if you see the ball on the ground, you pick it up. I guess they've listened." The touchdown by Sternberg was not the only big special teams play for the Falcons. Trailing 13-7 at halftime, sophomore kicker Greg Colby
opened the second half with a squib kick that bounced off Trinity Catholic Kyle Galatro was recovered by Barlow sophomore Dan Mercede at the Crusaders' 36. Barlow (4-2) responded with a five-play drive that was capped by a Sean Delany 25-yard scoring run to give the Falcons its first lead of the game. Colby attempted an onside kick on the ensuing kickoff, but he recovered the ball just before it could travel the required 10 yards, giving Trinity Catholic possession at Barlow's 49. And later in the quarter, Sternberg came up with an interception on a fake punt designed to look like the ball had been kicked. "It is a cliche, but special teams has got to be a third of your game," Tynan said. "The turnover to start the second half, that's a huge play. It really got the momentum going." Trinity Catholic (3-3) tied the game after the four-minute warning, when running back Eric Stevens scored from four yards out, then moved the pile and barely crossed the goal line for the two-point conversion. Barlow then went on a 64-yard 12-play drive for the winner. On the eighth play, a fourth-and-inches from the Trinity Catholic 17 , Barlow quarterback Ryan Brown managed to draw the Crusaders offside to get a new set of downs. The win was only the second in six tries for an SWC team in an FCIAC crossover game, and the first since Masuk beat Brien McMahon on Sept. 16. "We've been talking about it all week, and wanted to prove that there's another football league in this county. They've got good football teams over here, but we play good football in our league, too," Tynan said. "This one was for the SWC as well as for Barlow, and we wanted to make sure everyone knows it."

Barlow7 0 7 14 - 28

Trinity Catholic13 0 0 8 - 21

First Quarter

TC - Gene DeVito 24 pass Anas Koummal ( Kenny Holbert kick)

B - Sean Delany 15 run (Alex White kick)

TC - DeVito 43 pass Koummal (kick failed)

Third quarter

B - Delany 25 run (White kick)

Fourth quarter

B - Steven Sternberg 2 run (White kick)

TC - Eric Stevens 4 run (Stevens run)

B - Sternberg 12 blocked field goal attempt return (White kick)



Barlow: Delany 17-119, Ryan Brown 14-86, Anthony DeSalva 17-48, Sternberg 4 (-4).

Trinity Catholic: A.J. Nelson 8-54, Kyle Foti 7-26, Koummal 3-8, Stevens 1-4, Santiago Steele 1-4, Matt Taccone 1-2.


Barlow: Brown 5-11-0-55

Trinity Catholic: Koummal 9-12-1-133, Foti 0-1-1-0


Barlow: Delany 1-13, T.J. Dugan 1-13, J.J. Contessa 1-11, Sternberg 1-10, Jeff Dineen 1-8.

Trinity Catholic: DeVito 4-83, Stevens 2-16, Rob Hawthorn 1-28, Foti 1-6, Taccone 1-0.