By Evan Rodriguez
NEFJ Contributor
WALLINGFORD, CT – The moment was real for Coach LJ Spinatto and the Choate Wild Boars on Saturday afternoon, as the team took on the Brunswick Bruins at Class of ‘76 Field for the Leon Modeste Bowl.
It was truly a battle of titans, as the home squad came in with an unbeaten record and Brunswick with a lone loss to Phillips Exeter Academy in late October. With plenty of future college talent on both rosters – including all four of Connecticut’s Notre Dame commits – it was expected to truly be a nail biter to the very end.
Yet, when the final whistle sounded, it was Choate that hailed victorious with a dominant 27-9 victory, grabbing a massive win for their entire team and especially their seniors.
For the duration of the contest, it truly was the close contest that many fans expected. The first blow of the game came via a seven-yard run from senior Jeremiah Washington to make it 6-0 after Choate missed the extra point. That blunder would come back to haunt the Wild Boars as both teams closed out the first half. Despite some stellar Choate defense that stumped the offensive attack of the Bruins, Brunswick still managed to sneak in two field goals to tie the game at six. That second one, a 47-yarder from senior Ollie Reynolds, came with just a second left on the clock.
Where things truly started to heat up was during the second half. With Choate winning the opening coin toss and opting to defer, the ‘Boars received the ball and proceeded to go right to work. Washington soon has a 26-yard reception for his second touchdown of the game, putting Choate up 13-6 after the extra point.
Defense remained the name of the game for Choate, not letting anything fly for the Bruins. Throughout the duration of the second half, the only points that Brunswick could grab came from a lone 31-yard field goal with under 10 minutes to go.
A 30-yard reception from Choate’s Carson Hill set up another red zone opportunity for the Wild Boars, an opportunity that they’d capitalize on with a 15-yard run from Michael Dunmore to put the team up 20-9 with 5:40 to go, all but icing it.
A 27-yard quarterback scramble from Choate’s own Mustafa Mozawalla put the game out of reach and secured a second consecutive 9-0 season for the Wild Boars.
Following the win, coach Spinatto had nothing but praise for his opponents when preparing for them throughout the week.
“That’s an unbelievable program. Great head coach. Great assistant coaches like us. Really evenly matched game today. We just got on top of a few more,” he said.
However, what meant the most to the Choate coach was getting the win for his senior class, an opportunity that made Spinatto emotional during a message to the team on Friday.
“I’m just happy the boys went out and played their best game against the best opponent on the biggest stage,” he added.
