Joe Kalosky and Adam Razza once played for the same high school, Holy Cross in Waterbury.
On Saturday, the former Crusaders stood on opposite sidelines in the rain as Endicott College hosted Western New England University. The duo wound up trading touchdowns in the final quarter as the Gulls squeaked past the Golden Bears 41-38.
WNEU led 24-6 at halftime, but Endicott rallied and eventually took the lead, 34-31 with 14:08 left in the fourth quarter. The touchdown came on a 58-yard pass from Kalosky to Riley Shanley, and Shanley tallied the two-point conversion. Just over three minutes later, Razza answered for the Golden Bears with a 17-yard touchdown reception off a throw from Alec Coleman. Valentin Wagner’s extra point put WNEU ahead 38-34 with 11:01 to play in regulation.
After the WNEU score, the teams alternated on three consecutive punts. The Golden Bears tried to go ahead by six points but missed a field goal, giving the Gulls the ball with 3:17 to play at their own 20-yard line.
Kalosky marched Endicott 80 yards in 14 plays, the last a seven-yard touchdown pass to Shanley with 21 seconds left. The Nick DiCairano extra point put the Gulls ahead 41-38. Endicott converted two fourth downs on the drive, one a 33-yard pass from Kalosky to Shanley on 4th and 14, and the other a pass interference call on a 4th and 8 from the WNEU 12 with less than 30 seconds to play.
The Golden Bears tried to rally at the end, but Razza’s lateral to Peter Hoff after his fourth and final catch of the game didn’t gain anything, and the Gulls celebrated a crazy comeback victory.
The stats
Kalosky had a monster day, going 27-of-52 for 321 yards (58 long), five touchdowns and zero interceptions. Four of Kalosky’s five touchdown passes came in the second half. He also ran for 88 yards on eight carries, including a long of 37.
Razza caught four passes for a team-high 93 yards and a touchdown.
The records
Endicott and WNEU are each 7-2 after Saturday’s game. The Gulls put themselves in great position to win the Commonwealth Coast Conference football championship with one game left, this coming Saturday at home against Salve Regina.
