By Phil Keren

Correspondent

The Nate Blasiole Show took center stage in Crestwood’s 58-26 win over Cardinal Friday night.

Blasiole rushed for 304 yards on 27 carries and scored four touchdowns in a quirky game that was a study in contrasts. Crestwood ran the ball 40 times, while Cardinal senior quarterback Cal Ciminello completed 18-of-39 passes for 308 yards and tossed three touchdown passes.

Crestwood head coach Jack D’Amato praised Blasiole for an impressive effort that included touchdown runs of 37, 41 and 35 yards.

“He is just a special runner,” D’Amato said. “He’s a tough kid. He runs through contact. He’s not afraid of contact at all. He did a great job carrying the ball, carrying the load.”

He also offered kudos to the entire offense — linemen, receivers, quarterback — for opening big holes and wide running lanes for Blasiole and fellow senior running back, Tristen Addis, who logged 130 yards on seven attempts, and three scores.

“That’s really what we preach since day 1 is blocking,” D’Amato said. “They’ve done a great job. They’ve taken that to heart.”

Addis opened the scoring with a 7-yard touchdown run on the fourth play of a 47-yard drive. After the 2-point conversion failed, the Red Devils led 6-0 just 90 seconds into the contest.

Cardinal evened the score later in the first quarter, when Ciminello scored on a 7-yard run, where he scrambled and broke a few tackles en route to the end zone.

Crestwood answered the Huskies’ score when Blasiole sprinted around the right side of the line and broke free for a 37-yard touchdown. Senior quarterback Michael Kalista ran the ball in

for the 2-point conversion to give Crestwood a 14-6 advantage with 16 seconds left in the first period.

When the defense forced Cardinal to punt, the Red Devils’ offense started a drive on its own 28- yard line and strung together a seven-play, 72-yard drive that culminated with quarterback Charlie Sommer hitting paydirt on a 12-yard keeper. Following a second failed 2-point conversion, Crestwood led 20-6 almost midway through the second quarter.

Cardinal then narrowed the gap to seven when Ciminello fired a crossing route pass to senior running back Reese Soltis, who sped away from Red Devil defenders for a 36-yard touchdown.

Just as the Huskies were starting to pick up some momentum, Crestwood took the wind of their sails with a 15-play, 80-yard scoring drive that chewed up five and a half minutes.

Blasiole’s 5-yard touchdown run put Crestwood ahead, 28-13, at halftime.

The opening drives of the second half were critical to tipping the balance toward Crestwood and starting them down the road to pulling away for a comfortable win.

On Cardinal’s first offensive play of the third quarter, they picked up a quick 15 yards after Crestwood was whistled for pass interference. Ciminello’s throw on first down was incomplete, but he connected with senior Chaise Harris for a seven-yard gain on second down. On third down and 3, Crestwood junior Wyatt Januska broke up a pass. Ciminello’s subsequent throw to Soltis on fourth down fell incomplete. On the Red Devils’ first offensive play of the second half, Addis scored on a 59-yard run to put his team ahead 36-13 (with a 2-point conversion on a run from Kalista) about a minute and a half into the third period.

“In the half, we talked about not letting up,” D’Amato said. “We’ve been in situations where we’ve let up a little bit, and we talked about not letting up, the game’s not over. We got to keep fighting. That’s what they did.”

The Crestwood defense again came through with a stop, this time forcing the Huskies to punt. After a Cardinal facemask penalty gave the Red Devils the ball on the Cardinal 41-yard line, Blasiole sped away from Husky defenders for another touchdown. When Sommer then threaded the needle on a throw to Januska, Crestwood led 44-13 with 6:21 to go in the third quarter. The teams then traded scores late in the third quarter and early in the fourth quarter. Ciminello threw scoring passes to Soltis of seven and 15 yards. Crestwood’s scoring was rounded out by a 35-yard run from Blasiole and a 21-yard scamper by Addis.

D’Amato tipped his hat to the special quarterback-to-receiver connection that was on display between Ciminello and Soltis, who finished with 10 catches for 165 yards and three touchdowns.

“The passes he was making, the catches that he made, I mean they were unbelievable,”

D’Amato said. “They were two great athletes … our guys were in position most of the night. They just made crazy plays.”