Cusanelli making his mark at FDU

College football games have what The College of New Jersey's longtime football coach Eric Hamilton called on Friday night an "ebb and flow" with many turning points.

But one constant that helped Fairleigh Dickinson to its first-ever football victory over TCNJ, 42-41, was a determined surge from the defensive line led by junior tackle Nick Cusanelli of Brick. His effort complemented the offensive efforts of his college teammate and former high school teammate at Brick Township, Bill Winters, who amassed 415 net offensive yards and accounted for six touchdowns — four rushing and two passing.

"Coos did a great job. He's a fireplug, one of the hardest working kids on the team," said FDU coach Rich Mosca of the 5-feet, 10- inch, 250-pounder.

Although the game featured a lot of scoring, Cusanelli and his mates kept the deficit no greater than six points at any time. It avenged last year's 53-7 setback commandeered by another Brick resident, junior quarterback Chris James out of Brick Memorial, who was back calling the signals for TCNJ on Friday.

"This was very surprising," said Cusanelli. "But we had a great camp and have two new coordinators on offense and defense. We molded well and, even in the face of a deficit in the fourth quarter with a little over a minute left, we still pushed through."

Cusanelli did his part to keep his team in range with seven tackles, second highest on the team, including a sack and two tackles behind the line of scrimmage. Cusanelli, a starter at defensive tackle as well, led the team in tackles for losses with eight and had three sacks. He also recovered a fumble when TCNJ advanced to FDU's three-yard line with five minutes left in the second quarter and leading, 17-14.

"This year I'm shooting for all-conference defense," said Cusanelli. "My strength went up a tremendous amount and I definitely worked on that and on my hands to be a better defensive football player."

And Cusanelli was happy to see his high school teammate, Winters, excel in the Jersey Devils' biggest football victory in a long time, the first in eight meetings between the two schools.

"We grew up together and played together. We lifted and worked hard together," said Cusanelli. "I'm proud of Bill. He's like a brother."

Their former high school coach Warren Wolf said he is "not surprised" that both players were so effective in what they did. "Both are outstanding players with fine leadership qualities," said Wolf. "This gives us momentum. We were picked by our conference to go 0-10," said Cusanelli.