By KEN LIEBESKIND
Friday night’s home football debut was a Pomperaug High School success story, a 21-13 win over Weston that upped the Panther’s record to 2-0. But it wasn’t easy.
The Panthers were first on the scoreboard Friday night with a touchdown just over two minutes into the game when the Panthers blocked a Weston punt and senior Dylan Calo recovered it in the end zone. Their second touchdown came late in the second quarter when senior running back Mike Curcio led the offensive charge, and senior Dean Guerrera ran for a 3-yard score.
Pomperaug gave up two second-quarter touchdowns. A blocked punt recovered by Weston on the 20-yard line led to Weston’s second touchdown. If it hadn’t been for Weston missing an extra point, the game would have been tied at halftime.
A Panthers third-quarter touchdown produced the eight-point victory, and the team played some hearty defense in the second half to hold off the Trojans.
Turnovers, a blocked punt and penalties hindered the Panthers’ effort. A lost fumble deep in Weston territory late in the game was a missed scoring opportunity that allowed Weston to drive for a tying score. Numerous penalties thwarted Pomperaug drives and allowed Weston drives to continue.
“We struggled with penalties that put ourselves in a bad position and should probably try not to drop the ball,” head coach James Reed said.
Nevertheless, he was pleased with the effort, saying, “Whenever we faced adversity, we answered the challenge. Toughness is answering the bell whenever we get a challenge.”
Senior quarterback Wade Prajer attributed the victory to “our established running game and the defense did a great job in the second half.”
Prajer completed a 9-yard touchdown pass to junior James Christiano for the third-quarter score. Senior Kevin Nadler kicked three extra points for the Panthers.
The win over Weston followed Pomperaug’s season-opening 14-6 victory over Bunnell. Next up is Newtown, the team Reed said is “the best team in the SWC (South-West Conference) until someone proves otherwise.” When asked about Newtown after the win over Weston, Reed said, “We know what we’re going to see. The strength of our team is our defensive line, so we hope to get into a good low-scoring affair. We need to take care of the football and avoid penalties.”
Newton is also 2-0 with high-scoring wins over Bunnell and New Milford. The Nighthawks will host the Panthers Friday, Sept. 26, at 7 p.m.
