#MIDDLEBURY #PHS #PANTHERS
Pomperaug’s Joe Lacava, No. 40, shown here in the game against Barlow, led the way, scoring a third-quarter touchdown to cut the Panthers deficit to 21-19 against New Milford Sept. 23. The final score for this tough game, 28-19, put Pomperaug at 1-2 on the season. (Ken Morse photo)
By KEN MORSE – Special to the Bee-Intelligencer
Pomperaug fell behind 14-0 to New Milford Sept. 23 before battling back to make a game of it. But the Panthers were the victims of the long touchdown all game long.
The Panthers’ Joe Lacava bulled his way into the end zone to cut the deficit to 21-19 late in the third quarter, but it all came undone when Kendall Greene ran back a kickoff 84 yards for the deciding score, dealing Pomperaug a 28-19 loss.
“We gave up some big scores,” said Pomperaug head coach James Reed. “We also missed some opportunities. But this is the best our line has looked, and we were able to run the ball so that was encouraging.
“But the kickoff return was the dagger. That is something that needs to be fixed. I know we can cover better than that, and we will need to with Bunnell coming up this week.”
Pomperaug had opportunities they couldn’t cash in on, missing three field goal attempts from 23, 29 and 24 yards out, along with an extra-point kick. But after a tough game the week before against Masuk the Panthers did show the ability to stay in the game from start to finish and give Pomperaug a chance to succeed.
New Milford ran a gutsy offense that called for them to go for it on fourth down instead of punting the ball away. That almost backfired in the first quarter when they were pinned down near the goal line.
Faced with a fourth-and-16 from their own 19-yard line, quarterback Tyler Sullivan got a pass over the top of the Pomperaug defense, and Greene hauled it in and took it 81 yards for a touchdown.
That opened up a 14-0 lead before the Panthers battled back. With sophomore Troy Harwell in his first start as quarterback, Pomperaug began to move the chains. Senior Mike Murgatroyd got the Panthers on the board, scoring on a 29-yard run, but the missed extra point had Pomperaug trailing 14-6.
Senior Jake Harwell scored on an eight-yard touchdown run. The two-point conversion try came up short but the Panthers had closed the gap at 14-12.
New Milford lost their quarterback, Sullivan, to a knee injury only to have sophomore Gabriel Reyes come off the bench and connect with Greene on his first pass for a 64-yard touchdown to give the Green Wave a 21-12 lead at the half.
“We need to do a better job at keeping our heads,” said Reed. “We had a couple of personal foul penalties that had a huge impact. A 15-yard penalty in football might as well be a mile.
“We did make progress. The Masuk game was a blip on the radar. We know how we need to respond to stay in a game and having a little more composure will keep us out of personal fouls.”
Late in the third quarter, Pomperaug put together an 11-play drive, and senior Joe Lacava barreled in from three yards out. Senior kicker Alfredo Mondragon-Velazquez booted the extra point to make it a 21-19 game.
On the ensuing kickoff, Greene scored his third long touchdown of the game, taking it 84 yards to the end zone for the game-deciding touchdown that made the score 28-19.
Pomperaug will be back in action Friday, Sept. 30, in Stratford when they take on the Bunnell Bulldogs at 7 p.m. The Panthers will be off the following week before returning home Friday, Oct. 14, for a 6 p.m. showdown against the Stratford Red Devils.
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