In a game that was a struggle with nothing coming easy, Greenwich High School’s varsity football team needed all of the 230 rushing yards Hector Lopez provided and the touchdown reception he produced against Norwalk in Week 2 of the 2025 season.

Lopez gave the Cardinals exactly the boost they needed against an upset-minded Bears team, which were right in it until the end of this early-season FCIAC matchup.

A senior running back/captain, Lopez ran for a touchdown to go along with his 230 yards rushing and caught a 32-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Phil Tarantino in Greenwich’s workmanlike 27-18 victory over Norwalk High School at Cardinal Stadium on Sept. 20. The Cardinals, who opened their 2025 campaign with a 31-14 triumph over non-conference rival Fairfield Prep on Sept. 12, improved their record to 2-0 by beating the Bears.

Despite the win, the head coach Anthony Morello and the Cardinals left the Norwalk game unsatisfied with their overall performance. Watching the game, along with looking at the statistics tells why. Greenwich was penalized 13 times for 120 yards against the Bears, with a number of those yards stopping drives in Norwalk territory, or keeping drives alive for Norwalk when it had possession.

Though they played well for the most part defensively, Norwalk broke several big plays on offense, resulting directly in touchdowns and on offense, third down was a bit of an issue for GHS, as it was just 1-for-10 when it came to third down conversions.

“Norwalk came to play today, hats off to coach (Mike) Forget, he’s got them on the right track,” Morello said. “They had a big win last week against East Harford and hopefully, they can make some noise in Class LL. We had really sloppy football today (vs. Norwalk). Today wasn’t about accomplishments, it was about mistakes and penalties.”

With a solid week of practice, Greenwich knows it must be in top form when it travels to Notre Dame-West Haven for a non-conference showdown Friday night (Sept. 26) at 6:30 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Park.

“It’s always good to go up and play those teams out of conference and it’s always good experience for our team,” Greenwich senior offensive lineman/captain Colin Falla said after the Norwalk game. “So, I’m looking forward to it.”

Following a scoreless first quarter, Greenwich took the lead, courtesy of its defense, early in the second quarter. The Cardinals’ drive inside the Bears 30-yard line and when Norwalk took possession, the hosts’ defense forced a safety.

Pressured by senior linebacker/captain Santi Parra, Norwalk sophomore quarterback Easton Pace threw the ball away while he was scrambling away from Parra in the end zone. The Bears received an intentional grounding penalty on the play and the Cardinals were awarded a safety and went ahead, 2-0, with 10:53 remaining in the second quarter.

On the ensuing possession, GHS efficiently moved the ball down the field, yet their drive was halted at the Norwalk 5-yard line. Norwalk gained possession and wasted little time in scoring. Pace faked a handoff ran to the left, turned the corner and dashed 95 yards down the left sideline for a touchdown, giving the Bears a 6-2 advantage with 7:58 to go in the second quarter.

Greenwich responded with a long scoring drive to take a 9-6 edge. Tarantino gained a first down with a run, as did senior running back/linebacker/captain Jack Kelly. keeping the Cards’ drive moving. With 3:41 left in the second quarter, Tarantino connected over the middle to senior wide receiver Hudson Squires for an 8-yard touchdown pass. Sophomore placekicker Michael Galano converted the extra point, with senior Lauren Judge holding the ball perfectly for him, making it 9-6 in favor of the Cards.

The Bears threatened to score late in the second stanza, but the Cardinals maintained their slim lead heading into halftime. Pace completed 14 of 33 passes for 177 yards and added another 184 yards rushing with two touchdowns to ignite Norwalk’s offensive unit.

The Cardinals did apply some pressure on him with Parra, junior linebacker Justin Carroll, senior defensive lineman Brandon Ricketts and junior defensive end Andy Stedam leading the charge.

“The defense played really good today, we were well-prepared for this team,” said Ricketts, who also noted the squad needs to be a bit more efficient in certain areas. “We have to play fundamental football, commit less penalties and just play more aggressive up front.”

Galano kicked a 26-yard field goal, upping Greenwich’s advantage on Norwalk to 12-6 1:21 into the third quarter. At the 1:37 mark of the third quarter, Tarantino hooked up with Lopez for one of the game’s best pass plays.

Protected well by the offensive line, Tarantino lofted a pass down the left sideline that was snared on the run by Lopez, who used his speed to sprint to the end zone for an 18-yard score. Following Galano’s successful PAT, GHS held a 19-6 lead.

“We had a swing play, we knew their linebackers couldn’t keep up with me and Phil fitted that ball in right and I went up and got it,” Lopez said of his TD reception.

Norwalk didn’t give in though, cutting Greenwich’s lead to 19-12 with 8:32 remaining in the final quarter.

Easton escaped the Cards’ defense, running all the way to the end zone for a 62-yard score, making it a seven-point game. Lopez made it a two-score game again, bulling his way into the end zone for a 1-yard touchdown just 28 seconds later.

His long run to the 1-yard line, keyed Greenwich’s key scoring march.

“I have to give props to our O-Line,” Lopez noted. “Coach (Bruce) Cunningham does a great job of prepping these guys every week. I want to give a shout out to the offensive line – Nick Vomvolakis, Colin Falla, Frank Kingsley, Casey Baker and Mickey Petrone.”

Indeed, the offensive linemen – Falla, Vomvolakis, Kingsley, Baker and Petrone were a positive aspect for the Cardinals in this FCIAC meeting.

“It was a tough game, we came off a big win last week,” Falla said, referring to the Cardinals’ win against Fairfield Prep. “I thought we got into our own heads a little bit today, but at the end of the day, we we’re 1-0 this week and that’s the most important part.”

For the game, Tarantino completed 12 of 21 passes for 94 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Sophomore Rafi Rabins also saw some action at quarterback late in the second half for Greenwich. The Cardinals had 378 yards of total offense, while Norwalk gained 387.

“We know what we’re capable of and to kind of get humbled like that where it’s a close game – we should have played a lot better and I think that’s going to motivate us in the future,” Falla said.

Parra, Carroll, Stedam, Kelly, senior defensive lineman Jacob Mobley, Ricketts, senior defensive back Hunter Woods numerous others helped solidify Greenwich’s defensive unit versus the Bears.

Notre Dame-West Haven, Greenwich’s next opponent is 0-2, but GHS knows it must be primed to face an unfamiliar, non-conference foe.

Morello pointed to Greenwich’s Week 3 games in recent seasons and how they need to be especially focused and tuned in this week.

“In 2021 we had a loss to Shelton Week 3, in 2022 we lost to Southington Week 3, in 2023, a last second field goal in a win against Maloney, then in 2024 it was a last drive, last minute game up in Rhode Island. We have not played well in Week 3 since pre-COVID years, so if we don’t get ourselves together and correct our mistakes, then we are going to have letdowns and we are going to be disappointed.”

“We take it as a challenge,” said junior Josh Alexandre, also a contributor to the Cards’ defensive line. “Every week we come out 0-0 and I know we are going to work a lot harder than this week and we’re going to put in the work.”

“We’re going to be prepared,” Ricketts noted. “We’re going to look at the film and come out ready to play.”

To the left, Max Townsend of Greenwich returns a kick. To the right, Townsend gets a block from Gustav Pietryka.