By David Fierro
With Hector Lopez running around, away and through Fairfield Prep’s defense, Phil Tarantino completing clutch passes and the defense swarming to the ball, while providing hard hits throughout, there was no doubt that Greenwich High School’s varsity football team was going to earn a return trip to the destination it’s planned on reaching all season.
That destination, of course, is the CIAC Class LL Football Tournament final, which the Cardinals once again, reached in impressive fashion.
Lopez, a senior running/back captain, ran for 152 yards and two touchdowns on 28 carries and Tarantino passes for 75 yards with one touchdown, while rushing for 104 more to help power third-seeded Greenwich to a dominant 31-10 victory over second-seeded host Fairfield Prep in the CIAC Class LL Tournament semifinals on December 8th.
Greenwich, which captured the Class LL state title in 2024 with a 14-0 win over West Haven in the championship game will seek to repeat as champions when it plays fourth-seeded Southington in Saturday’s final at Veterans Stadium at Willow Brook Park in New Britain. Kickoff for the Class LL final between Greenwich and Southington is scheduled for 7 p.m. Southington punched a ticket to the Class LL final by routing NFA, 42-7, in the other Class LL state semifinal on Dec. 8th.
The Cardinals, who opened their 2025 season with a convincing 31-17 home win over the Jesuits, led Prep, 7-3, after the first quarter and brought a 17-3 advantage into halftime in the Class LL semifinals. Excelling on both sides of the ball, the Cards held a commanding 31-3 going into the fourth quarter.
“We succeeded in all three facets of the game and that’s how you win a game like this,” Greenwich coach Anthony Morello said. “Games like this, it comes down to a couple of plays. Our guys were tuned up and ready to go and we played with passion, we played with heart and we played as a team.”
Greenwich outgained Fairfield Prep, 340-199 in this semifinal showdown, while impressively controlling the clock. The Cardinals also held a 30:44-17:16 time of possession edge on the Jesuits, while mostly running the ball successfully with Lopez, senior captain Jack Kelly and Tarantino. The Cardinals bruising, physical offensive line of junior Casey Baker, senior Colin Falla, Frank Kingsley (junior), junior Michael Petrone and junior Nicholas Vomvolakis enabled the team to pound Prep’s defense with solid runs throughout from Lopez.
“We’ve been playing so great,” said Lopez, who has made a habit of producing 100-plus yard rushing games for GHS. “The whole team has come together. Every single day we work so hard in practice, we’re just ready for another state championship.”
Indeed, Greenwich began its state semifinal-round matchup against Fairfield Prep in exactly the manner it hoped to.
“It’s a cold, wintery night, you got to seize the momentum right out of the gate,” said Greenwich coach Anthony Morello, whose squad improved its record to 10-2. “The plan was to come out, score first and put the pressure on. We were a little tight early on, their defense is exceptional. But we run so many formations in practice, we work on so many things and we just executed earlier.”
The Cardinals took the lead for good on their second possession, driving 65 yards in 11 plays. Running the Wildcat Kelly ran right, eluded a pair of Prep defenders and reached the end zone. Sophomore placekicker Michael Galano kicked the first of his four extra points and Greenwich was in front at 7-0, with 3:29 remaining in the first quarter.
Fairfield Prep cut Greenwich’s lead to 7-3 when Benjamin Conelius kicked a 41-yard field goal with 47 seconds left in the opening quarter. A long pass play from senior quarterback Robert Manning to Colin Delaney set up the Jesuits’ field goal. It was all Greenwich from there, however.
Taking possession at the Jesuits’ 30-yard line after junior Justin Carroll partially blocked a punt, Greenwich needed just one play to gain its second score. Tarantino connected with senior wide receiver Hudson Squires for a 30-yard touchdown, putting GHS ahead, 14-3, with 4:28 to go in the second quarter. Tarantino lofted his pass perfectly in the air for the speedy Squires to haul it into his arms.
“We hit a hitch earlier in the game for 10 yards and the coaches, they saw that their players were biting down really hard, so they called a hitch-and-go,” Squires said of his touchdown reception. “Phil threw a perfect ball, it hit me right in the bread basket. We couldn’t have done it without the line, they blocked perfectly.”
“This team is so hungry, we wanted it all year,” Squires said of the Cardinals making it to the state final. “We’re brothers here and we want it so bad.”
Said Tarantino of is TD pass to Squires: “We saw the safety coming down, so we did a little hitch-and-go and I put it where he (Squires) could get it and he did a great job of running under it and making a play.”
Galano split the uprights for a 23-yard field goal, stretching Greenwich’s advantage to 17-3 heading into halftime. Once the second half commenced, Prep continued to have difficulty sustaining drives against Greenwich’s stingy defense.
Carroll and senior defensive end Michael Golden each sacked Manning from their linebacker and defensive end positions, respectively, while senior linebacker/captain Sebastian Parra recorded five tackles and junior defensive end Andy Stedem had two tackles resulting in lost yardage.
“I think we thrive when we bring pressure, so pressure is a big part of our defense,” Carroll noted. “They have two good playmakers on their team, so we definitely tried to shut them down and we did a good job today.”
“Our defense does what it does and they swarmed to that quarterback all night,” Morello noted.
Lopez added touchdown runs of 4 and 23 yards in the third quarter, putting Prep in a 31-3 hole. Greenwich rolled up 265 rushing yards, with Tarantino complementing Lopez on the ground with 104 rushing yards.
“I feel like our offense has really found its rhythm since the Thanksgiving game against Staples,” Tarantino said. “We’ve been motivated ever since the Wilton loss and we’ve been so locked in at practice working on everything. The line has been doing a great job giving me time to do my job and doing a great job giving Hector room to run.”
Indeed, the Cardinals head into the Class LL state final in top form with its offensive and defensive line controlling the line of scrimmage, especially the past three games. Greenwich has outscored its opponents, 105-36 over its past three games – all victories, of course.
“It feels amazing,” Parra said of earning a repeat appearance in the state final. “Ever since our first summer workout, we’ve been wanting to do this. Obviously, it’s not done yet. Our goal isn’t to make it, it’s to win it and that’s what we’re going to do on Saturday. We have to play with aggressiveness.”
“Every senior class is a different senior class and they take on a new identity,” Morello noted. “This senior class has had this goal of getting to a state championship and winning a state championship since the very beginning. They came out with the mindset at practice and just dominated today.”
“The growth that we showed up front from Week 1 from now is impressive,” Morello continued. “I rewatched the film from Week 1, we didn’t run the ball that well. We averaged two yards a carry. We didn’t move the ball like we did tonight. To see us spread the ball out and for Hudson Squires to catch that pass in the second quarter was huge. I think we’re as multiple now as we have been all season on offense and that’s keeping defenses off balance.”
“We’ve been talking about this all week, we wanted this game so bad,” Lopez said. “We wanted to get back to another state championship. We’re going back and I promise you, we’re going to get that.”
