DERBY - Neither football team had a win. Neither had much manpower. Neither played like it Thursday night.
GNH and Derby, a combined 0-7 in the standings with a combined 50 players between them, combined for 86 points in a Naugatuck Valley League shootout at DeFilippo Field that grew hotter as the night chill settled along the steep slopes of the Leo F. Ryan Athletic Complex.
The Gilbert-Northwestern-Housatonic co-op pulled away to a 50-36 victory with three straight fourth-quarter touchdowns after the Red Raiders, trailing for most of the night, had rallied to take a 1-point edge late in the third.
GNH headed home to Winsted at 1-4, while Derby fell to 0-4.
This game featured two quarterbacks with a flair for the dramatic. GNH junior Trevor Campbell set the tone with a 72-yard scoring bomb to Airyn Berube on the first play from scrimmage and went on to engineer six more scoring drives, capping two with TD runs of 2 and 32 yards.
His counterpart, Derby senior Abner Barillas-Rivera, was even more electric, throwing three long scoring passes to Vincent Nuzzo (48 and 71 yards) and Angel Figueroa (58). Barillas-Rivera, engineering a third-quarter comeback that turned a 21-14 deficit into a 28-27 lead heading into the fourth quarter, also broke free for a 59-yard TD run.
Barillas-Rivera's two-point run after a 39-yard cutback special by Jayson Williams gave the Red Raiders their lone lead of the night with 3:39 left in the third quarter.
GNH answered with TD runs by Jacob Robles (9 yards), Campbell (32) and Jadiel Perez (7) on three consecutive possessions in the final frame, a game-icing surge fueled defensively by a fourth-and-long stop at midfield and an interception by Greg Harris.
This game also featured two teams playing well above their human resources. Both have thin rosters. GNH has 30 players, Derby only 20. With only 13 players available last week, Derby postponed its Oct. 10 game with Kennedy.
This story will be updated.
Player of the game
Trevor Campbell: The GNH quarterback hit Airyn Berube with a 72-yard TD pass on the first play of the game, then led his team on six more scoring drives, finishing two with runs of 2 and 32 yards.
Quotable
"Derby, they're better than an 0-4 record. Their quarterback No. 1 is a phenomenal athlete." - GNH coach Scott Salius on the Red Raiders and senior QB Abner Barillas-Rivera.
GNH 50, Derby 36
GNH 13 8 6 23-50
DERBY 0 14 14 8-36
GNH-Airyn Berube 72 pass from Trevor Campbell (Michael Lai kick)
GNH-Max Buzzi 1 run (kick failed)
D-Vincent Nuzzo 48 pass from Abner Barillas-Rivera (pass failed)
GNH-Campbell 2 run (Campbell run)
D-Nuzzo 71 pass from Barillas-Rivera (Jaheer Sanders run)
D-Barillas-Rivera 59 run (pass failed)
GNH-Jadiel Perez 1 run (kick blocked)
D-Jayson Williams 39 run (Barillas-Rivera run)
GNH-Jacob Robles 9 run (Campbell run)
GNH-Campbell 32 run (Lai kick)
GNH-Perez 7 run (Robles pass from Berube)
D-Angel Figueroa 58 pass from Barillas-Rivera (Barillas-Rivera run)
Records: GNH 1-4; Derby 0-4.
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This article originally published at Gilbert-Northwestern-Housatonic football outslugs Derby in NVL shootout.