Shelton quarterback Mike Brighindi has been named BlueStreak Sports Training Fairfield County Player of the Week for his performance Friday against Cheshire.

Brighindi completed 19 of 28 passes for 276 yards and one TD and in a come from behind 35-34 overtime victory on the road. Brighindi led the Gaels on an 82-yard drive in the final two minutes of regulation to tie the score, and completed six of eight for yards on the game-tying drive.

Brighindi will receive his award at 2:45 p.m. Wednesday from BlueStreak Sports Training president Matt Cole.

Nick Cortese of Trinity Catholic, the winner of the award in Week 2, was the runner up. He ran for 216 yards and five touchdowns in the Crusaders double-overtime win over Fairfield Ludlowe.

Also nominated in Week 3: Scott Benzing, WR, Brookfield; Joe Dalla Vecchia, QB, St. Joseph; Nikki Dysenchuk, RB, Darien; Chris Hines, RB, Norwalk; Matt Kelly, CB, Staples; Justin Warzoha, QB, Greenwich; and Mike Webber, WR, New Milford.

Players are nominated both by football coaches representing teams in Fairfield County. A mimimum of five nominees from a weekly fan poll are also included on a ballot, and the Player of the Week is then selected by members of the Fairfield County sports media community.

The award is presented by the FCIAC Football Blog.

The following media members voted: The following media members voted: Rob Adams (WGCH-AM), Bill Bloxsom (Hersam-Acorn Newspapers), Zachary Eastright (WSTC-AM/WNLK-AM), Dan Farrand (News-Times), Scott Ferrari (Greenwich Citizen), Andy Hutchison (Newtown Bee), Jason A. Intrieri (FCIAC Football Blog Live), Ken Morse (Hersam-Acorn Newspapers), John Nash (The Stamford Times), Matt Norlander (New Canaan News-Review), Dave Ruden (Stamford Advocate), Eliot Schickler (Westport News), Paul Silverfarb (Greenwich Post), Dave Stewart (New Canaan Advertiser), Rob Sullivan (Minuteman Newspapers), Michael Suppe (Hersam-Acorn Newspapers).

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By Michael Stenger

If there was ever an especially bad time to play the Cardinals of Greenwich, it was this Friday, when the Brien McMahon Senators traveled to Cardinal Stadium.

After coming off their first loss in 14 games inside the state of Connecticut last week against Darien, it seemed like Greenwich played with a special level of intensity. Greenwich kept their CIAC playoff hopes alive by trouncing McMahon by 40+ points, keeping them scoreless until six minutes left in the fourth quarter. The Cardinals also kept their winning streak against McMahon, making it 28 straight victories versus the Senators, dating back to 1978.

Greenwich’s offense accumulated 312 yards of total offense while having their way with the undersized McMahon defensive line for 166 rushing yards by seven different players. Erik Camacho led the ground attack with 59 yards and a touchdown, with Mike Dunster adding a 34 yard touchdown run of his own.

Quarterback Mike Lefflbine threw for 73 yards and two touchdowns on only five attempts in the first half alone, and his second half replacement Justin Warzoha threw for an additional 43 yards and a score.

Senior captain linebacker Jeff DeVico led the Cardinal defense with nine tackles, while Tim Moraghan helped the Cardinal cause with a third quarter interception.

Constant pressure was a key to the Cardinal’s defensive dominance, sacking senior quarterback Nick Blosio four times and containing the big-play McMahon passing attack to a mere 57 yards. All three completions by Blosio were to receiver Zach Ruther, who caught a 40-yard fade down the left sideline in the third quarter, McMahon’s longest play of the night.

While McMahon did manage to gain over 200 yards of total offense, they were simply unable to complete any of their drives, punting three times and turning the ball over on downs an additional four times. McMahon’s only score of the game came with six minutes left in the fourth quarter when Zaire Reiph capped a 10 play, six minute drive with a 2 yard scamper into the end zone.

Greenwich overwhelmed the young McMahon squad from the very get-go. After forcing McMahon to punt on their first possession, a 31-yard return set them up on the McMahon 36 yard line. The Cardinals then used six rushers on 11 straight running plays, completed by a 1-yard dive by Camacho.

From there, Greenwich scored on six of their next eight possessions, including touchdown catches by Ricky Riscica, Matt Grant, and Demetrius Ferguson.

For McMahon, Reiph rushed for 59 yards, and fullback Matt Restivo gained another 47. On defense, Restivo and sophomore linebacker Ryan Eaton each had 7 tackles, with outside linebacker Jermaine Martin-Riley adding four of his own. Shadram Thelusca had an interception in the fourth quarter, his third in two games.

McMahon faces 1-2 (0-2 FCIAC) Westhill next Saturday in Stamford, while Greenwich travels to Danbury to take on the Hatters.

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