Nonnewaug football opens its 1st season in the NVL with a hard-fought win over Oxford
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WOODBURY - Juniors PJ Galullo and TJ Rubsamen are two veteran players for a very young Nonnewaug co-op football team that's navigating its first season in the Naugatuck Valley League.
That duo combined to help the Chiefs claim a hard-fought 12-6 win over Oxford on Friday night at Nonnewaug High School. It was the inaugural NVL game and season opener for Nonnewaug.
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"It was a good move for us to put our program in there," Chiefs coach Scott Lynch said.
An aesthetically pleasing game it most certainly was not, but a win's a win from Nonnewaug's point of view.
"It was ugly, but we got the job done tonight," Rubsamen said.
"It feels great to be in the NVL. We worked hard to get here, we deserve to be in the NVL," Galullo said. "We're a young team, but we're pushing through and we're getting there."
Nonnewaug has a very young team after losing 19 of 22 starters from last year's 11-1 Class SS semifinalist squad. It needs its few veterans like Rubsamen and Galullo to step up, and they did Friday night.
Rubsamen, who threw an interception that Oxford's Harrison Dorosh returned 40 yards for a touchdown with 2:46 left in the first half, threw a 24-yard scoring pass to Galullo to tie the score at 6-6. There were just 27.5 seconds left, and the teams entered halftime tied, 6-6.
It stayed that way until Chance Salisbury's 4-yard touchdown run at the 3:12 mark of the third quarter gave Nonnewaug a 12-6 lead. Galullo picked off a pair of passes in the fourth quarter to make sure that lead held up.
"Having a guy like PJ, who is one of the returners, one of the starters from last year on that defense, be able to step up, grab two picks to seal the deal while we're pinned deep in our territory, that's huge for us," Lynch said.
Galullo's first interception was a sliding catch at the Chiefs' 4-yard line with 8:34 left in the fourth quarter on a fourth-and-10 play.
"I thought it was an incompletion, that's why I was arguing where the ball spot was," Lynch said with a smile. "He comes up huge."
The second interception also came in the red zone, but with just 1:42 left in the game. Nonnewaug ran out the clock after that to clinch a historic win.
"Game-winners. Turnovers win games," Rubsamen said. "I had a pick I'm not so proud of, they got up. We got picks, we got up. Turnovers win games, defense wins games."
"Whenever they would pass, they would go to the outside, and I took advantage of that," Galullo said. "I just have a whole view of the field at safety, and I just (capitalized on) that."
Rubsamen talked about the swarm mentality that the defense has at all times, and it was never more evident than on a goal-line stand in the latter part of the first quarter.
Oxford had the ball, first-and-goal at the Nonnewaug 4. Three plays gained just two yards for the Wolverines, who had fourth-and-goal at the 2. Oxford quarterback Jax Opotzner took the snap and ran to his left, but Salisbury tripped him up on the way to the end zone.
AJ NeJaime and Beau Thomas helped finish the play at the 1-yard line.
Player of the Game
PJ Galullo, Nonnewaug:The junior safety intercepted two passes in the fourth quarter to seal his team's historic victory.
Quotable
"We've got to get off the field. Execute, and anything can happen. Just because they're down there doesn't mean it's an automatic touchdown. Just because we're down there, it doesn't mean we have an automatic touchdown. You've still got to execute, still do your job. Do your 1/11th, and good things happen." - TJ Rubsamen on Nonnewaug's goal-line stand.
Nonnewaug co-op 12, Oxford 6
OXFORD 0 6 0 0-6
NONNEWAUG 0 6 6 0-12
O-Harrison Dorosh 40 interception return (kick failed)
N-PJ Galullo 24 pass from TJ Rubsamen (kick failed)
N-Chance Salisbury 4 run (kick failed)
Records: Nonnewaug 1-0; Oxford 0-1.
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