Westhill's TD in final minute wins city crown

11/22/07 by Emery Filmer, Stamford Advocate

Week 10: Black Knights 30, Westhill 34

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STAMFORD - It was minutes after the greatest game in the Stamford High School-Westhill Thanksgiving rivalry had ended and T.J. Hickey dropped to his knees near midfield, buried his face in his hands and began bawling like a young child.

The pressure of the waning moments of the game clearly did not have any effect on the Westhill High quarterback, who threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Grasty-amos with 42 seconds remaining in the game to give the Vikings a dramatic 34-30 victory before perhaps the largest crowd's ever at the J. Walter Kennedy Sports Complex. But the confluence of emotions that went barreling through his head after the game most certainly had an impact on him.

"I told the offense before we got the ball that we had one minute left," Hickey said. "I said, 'Let's leave it all out on the field.' "

If Hickey hadn't done that on the Vikings' final possession, he made sure he did minutes after the game had ended. Here's a sampling of what the senior was contemplating as he let his emotions run freely at midfield after the game.

The win gave the Vikings their first city championship since 1998.

The win gave the Vikings a 5-5 record for the second consecutive season, marking the first time in 20 years the program has put together back-to-back non-losing seasons.

The game-winning touchdown was Hickey's second of the game and gave him 30 for his career, more than any quarterback in Westhill history.

For Hickey and the other seniors, it was the last game of their careers.

"I didn't want to lose," Hickey said. "It was the last game for the seniors. . . I didn't want to lose."

The emotions ran just as high for Stamford (1-9), which was hoping to salvage a disappointing season. A win yesterday could have made losing eight of the previous nine games somewhat palatable. But 20 minutes after the game had ended, dozens of Black Knights were sitting on their bench with empty expressions.

"A win would have made the off-season better," Stamford coach Kevin Jones said. "Anytime you win your last game, it makes everything better."

That's certainly how it worked out for the Vikings.

"Making a comeback like this, and the way we did against Trinity (earlier this season), is what every team dreams of," said Hickey. "After doing it against Trinity, I definitely thought we could do it again."

Yesterday the Vikings trailed 30-22 after Stamford had overcome a 22-18 deficit on a pair of T.J. Mills-to-Chris Evans touchdown connections. Mills, who finished his career with 29 touchdowns, was 10-for-22 for 204 yards and four touchdowns and ran for a 2-yard score in the second quarter, hit Evans on a slant for a 60-yard score. The talented junior receiver then made an acrobatic catch on a Mills toss for a four-yard score and a 30-22 lead with 6:58 remaining.

"Evans is absolutely ridiculous," Westhill head coach Dick Cerone said. "That was an incredible catch he made in the end zone. The kid's a player."

Evans, who caught a 5-yard TD in the first quarter, had five catches for 93 yards while his receiving mate Josh Maignan had four catches for 100 yards. Tight end Anthony Julbes also had an 11-yard TD catch.

Stamford might have been more in command if not for mistakes (three turnovers, six penalties, three strong kick returns by Westhill).

"We made some mistakes but it definitely wasn't T.J.'s fault," Evans said. "We let each other down."

Westhill got closer when Danny Berisha, who rushed for 84 yards on 16 carries and two rushing TDs, returned the ensuing kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown, although Westhill's bid to tie failed on the two-point conversion.

"The teams went back and forth," Cerone said. "I tell the kids to not let the ebbs and flows to bother them. We really fought back today."

The Knights then went on a 10-play, time-consuming drive led by backs Marcus Dixon (72 yards on 16 carries) and fullback Brett LaMotta, that nearly wrapped up the game. But Westhill's Adler Florian intercepted Mills on a fourth down play from the Westhill 24 and returned it to the SHS 40.

After consecutive illegal-man-downfield penalties on the Vikings, Hickey dropped back and hit Grasty-amos, who hauled in a 40-yard TD catch earlier, on a slant over the middle at the Stamford 30 and the receiver exploded past the SHS secondary and into the end zone.

"It was the last game so we just forgot everything and let out it all on the line," Grasty-amos said. "(The Stamford secondary) plays real aggressive so I felt if I ran real hard at him, then broke in, it would work. And it did."

"That was the play of the year," Cerone said. "Grasty-amos made a great play and T.J. threw a great ball. He's is a real gunslinger. That's why he's the quarterback."

Hickey was 5-for-12 for 142 yards and two touchdowns. He got the 30th TD pass he wanted, but fell 86 yards short of becoming the first Westhill QB to reach the 3,000-yard passing mark.

Those weren't the numbers Hickey wanted to talk about, though.

"Going 5-5 two years in a row is huge," he said. "It's really great for the program."

"Going 5-5 in most places is nothing special," Cerone added. "But for us it's a step in the development of what we hope will be a solid program. So, we got over a little hump today."

Replacing Hickey might be a little bigger hump but that's a worry for another day.