Heading into its bye week undefeated – that’s the perfect position Greenwich High School’s football team is in after enjoying a Happy Homecoming Day game against Danbury this past Saturday before a packed house at sunny Cardinal Stadium.

The Cardinals are in the situation they were hoping for after four weeks of their 2024 season thanks to another highly impressive effort in which they excelled in all aspects.

Senior Hector Lopez ran for three touchdowns, senior M.J. D’Angelo threw a scoring strike and Greenwich blocked two punts for touchdowns on its way to recording a resounding 42-14 Homecoming Day triumph against Danbury. Greenwich, which edged Bishop Hendricken in its home-opener on September 27th is 4-0 so far this season.

Cardinals senior center/defensive lineman Peter Vomvolakis appreciated that atmosphere attached to the Homecoming game.

“It feels really good, the whole town is watching us,” said Vomvolakis, who anchored the Cardinals’ stellar play on the line of scrimmage. “We said it during the week, the whole town is going to be here. We were going to get a lot of support, so it was fun. It was packed, so it was a great experience. There’s a great amount of culture here, a great amount of tradition, so it was really nice to see.”

Some members of Greenwich’s championship 1974 team attended the game and talked to the current Cardinals squad prior to their game against FCIAC foe Danbury.

“We were treated to the Class of 1974 that was with us in the locker room before the game and they joined us on the way up,” Greenwich coach Anthony Morello said. “We were able to honor them. Mike Ornato Jr. (the son of GHS former head coach Mike Ornato) was at our team breakfast and addressed the team. It’s great to see that 50 years of Greenwich football has past and the tradition is still intact. It was a special moment for the program.”

Once the game commenced, the Cardinals didn’t waste much time seizing control.

On the game’s opening possession, senior quarterback M.J. D’Angelo dropped back to pass and found a wide open Matthew O’Donnell for a 58-yard touchdown. Senior placekicker Julian Ravina converted the point-after attempt, giving Greenwich a 7-0 lead just 1:12 into the first quarter.

“It was motion, the safety went running with the motion, the linebacker went with him too and I was wide open,” O’Donnell said of his long touchdown reception. “M.J., he knows where to put it and I just caught it and went to the house.”

The Hatters (0-4) took possession and efficiently drove down the field – all the way to the Cardinals’ 1-yard line. Hatters sophomore quarter Jake O’Keefe completed passes to sophomore John Callari for a sizeable gain, while senior running back Joel Garia gained a first down with a long run, putting the ball in the Red Zone.

However, on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line, Greenwich’s defense stiffened. Receiving a significant push up front, the Cardinals stuffed a Danbury running play for no gain and the home team took over at its own 1-yard line, still with a 7-0 advantage.

Greenwich increased its lead, steadily driving 99 yards for its next score. D’Angelo completed passes to O’Donnell and junior Hudson Squires for first downs, before Lopez capped the long drive with a 6-yard touchdown run at the 1:04 mark of the first quarter, putting the Cards on top, 13-0.

“I thought we did a lot of things well,” Morello said. “We had a 99-yard touchdown drive. That was really exciting for the offense. A lot of guys touched the ball today, which was nice to see.”

The Cardinals’ defense set up the squad’s next TD. Senior cornerback Noah Steele intercepted O’Keefe, giving GHS the ball in prime field position – the Hatters’ 13-yard line. Several plays later, Lopez burst through Danbury’s defensive line for a 3-yard scoring run. On the ensuing 2-point conversion attempt, D’Angelo connected with O’Donnell on a pass play, upping Greenwich’s edge to 21-0 nine seconds into the second quarter.

Danbury’s best moments came on its ensuing drive. Garcia and senior Joel Ochoa each had receptions for first downs. Later in the drive, O’Keefe threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to sophomore Gabriel Oliveira, bringing the Hatters to within 21-7 with 5:09 to go in the second quarter.

That’s the closest the visitors got however. Greenwich’s special teams was indeed, extra special on this day, directly giving the team two touchdowns. Junior Julian Sorilla blocked a Danbury punt that was returned by junior Chase Inesta, putting GHS ahead 28-7 with 29.8 seconds to go in the second quarter.

Once the third quarter began, Greenwich’s defense began putting a significant amount of pressure on the Hatter’s signal caller.

Junior linebacker George Szele, Inesta and Vomvolakis combined for a sack, halting the Hatters’ opening drive of the third quarter. Then, the Cards’ special teams stepped up again. This time, the Carroll brothers ignited the unit, with Jack Carroll blocking a punt and sophomore Justin Carroll pouncing on the ball in the end zone, giving Greenwich a commanding 35-7 lead with 8:22 remaining in the third quarter.

“Our punt block team is going to get a lot of credit, I can’t remember when we had two blocked punts for touchdowns in the same game,” Morello noted. “Special teams have been great all year. “We treat that the same as we do offense and defense. Hats off to coach (John) Woodring for all he does all week. We knew they had a great kicker but to get not one but two today was awesome and really gave us a jolt of energy.”

Lopez capped Greenwich’s scoring, reaching the end zone on a 34-yard run with 5:27 left in the third quarter. Danbury’s second score came in the game’s final minute, as senior Andres Reinoso hauled in a 7-yard touchdown pass.

“We had to come out physical,” Jack Carroll said of the defense’s stellar performance. “We know they’re a well-coached team, so we just stuck to our technique.”

Said Morello: “We allowed some big first downs defensively in the first half, we have some things to correct there. But overall, I was really pleased with the win.”

The Cardinals continued their pattern of starting games quickly.

“I feel like we’ve been coming out swinging, so I have no doubt in everybody to be ready when the time comes,” D’Angelo said.

Greenwich’s quarterback spread the ball around to several receivers – O’Donnell, senior Blake Martin, Squires and George Minchin.

“It was a team win, we definitely kept switching up what we were going to do and I feel like it worked,” D’Angelo said.

As for his TD pass to O’Donnell, D’Angelo said: “We dialed up a good play and he was open, so I hit him.”

One of the key aspects to holding Danbury’s offense in check was stopping its running game.

Cardinals senior defensive lineman/linebacker Max Marek, who was active throughout, liked what he saw from the unit.

“We set really high expectations for our defense,” Marek said. “We work really hard during the offseason and season, so our coaches expect a lot out of us. In the first half we could have been a little bit better overall. But we came in during halftime and we said to ourselves, ‘we’re better than this.”

“We came out and we dialed in on all the small details,” Marek continued. “We faced a couple of scrambling quarterbacks, so we were prepared with the scrambling quarterbacks.”

Following its bye week, GHS will host Wilton on Oct. 18 at 6 p.m.

“it feels really good to go into the bye week 4-0,” Vomvolakis noted. ‘We’re definitely not going to take this bye week lightly. We’re going to get to practice every single day during the week, we’re going to work as hard as we can work and we’re not going to take it lightly.”

“It’s a great feeling but that’s not our goal,” Marek said of the team’s record. “Our goal is not to be 4-0, it’s to win a state championship. Our train is rolling and this is just a stop along the way.”

“We’re going to take the week to recover and then we’ll be back at it the next week against Wilton,” Jack Carroll added. “They’re a good team, so we’ll be prepared.”

M.J. D’Angelo throws a touchdown pass to Matt O’Donnell.