WILTON – With time expiring, Greenwich quarterback Phil Tarantino narrowly missed his target in the end zone, giving Wilton a thrilling 7-3 victory on Friday night.

It’s the second in a row for the program over the Cardinals. Tarantino’s pass was a rare sight on a night where both teams heavily relied on their rushing attack.

After being held scoreless for the first 46 minutes, Warriors running back Dennis Dustin punched in a five-yard touchdown run, followed by a Mason Behar extra point, to put Wilton ahead with 1:30 remaining.

“Denny and Charlie came to me at halftime and said, ‘Coach, give us the ball — let us take care of the game.’ said Coach EJ DiNunzio, of quarterback Charlie Calabrese, and the aforementioned Dennis Dustin. “I said, ‘You got it.’ I went to my OC and the other offensive coaches and told them, ‘Get the ball in Denny and Charlie’s hands — that’s what got us here.’ They did exactly that, and you saw what happened.

“Those two are phenomenal players — it’s tough to defend guys like that, and they got it done,”

Though Calabrese had a big second half on the ground, he was also intercepted twice by Greenwich in key moments. The first was by cornerback Brandon Craven on the first play after following a botched fake field goal attempt on the five-yard line at the end of the third quarter.

The second pick came from corner Hunter Woods after a huge 81-yard kickoff return by Wilton Captain Alan Osta. Despite this, Greenwich was unable to capitalize, a theme throughout the night. On the flip side, although they were massively outweighed and outnumbered, Wilton found ways to move the ball and ultimately take control.

“We’re the most physical defense in the state, we’ll stand on that. It’s called heart…all you need is heart. Size doesn’t matter when you have heart,” said Osta, who had a great defensive game on top of his big kick return.

The first half of the game was fairly lackluster. Greenwich moved the ball a bit more consistently, but Wilton came up with big third down stops and got lucky with narrowly-missed 42 and 45-yard field goals for the Cards.

While the game itself was slow at times, the energy from the Wilton crowd was consistent, and after the win the mob stormed the field, flexing their muscles as one of the more passionate football communities in the region.

“You can go to the gas station, the deli, the Dunkin Donuts in town, proudly wearing my Wilton shirt, and people are talking about it… the crowd was great tonight, nobody left, and it motivates these guys to play a great game,” said DiNunzio.

Wilton moves on to 8-0, and will play Top 10 St. Joseph of Trumbull next week, in one of the most highly anticipated games remaining on the CIAC slate. Greenwich falls to 6-2 and will host Darien.