#MIDDLEBURY #SOUTHBURY #PHS #POMPJUNGLE16
Pomperaug’s No. 20, senior running back Kyle Sheehan, rushes for yardage and scores the first touchdown as the Panthers go on to take a 14-0 lead at the half of the Sept. 30 game against Bunnell. The Bulldogs staged a second-half comeback to defeat Pomperaug 20-14 in overtime. (Ken Morse photo)
By Ken Morse – Special to the Middlebury Bee Intelligencer
Victory was there for the taking. Pomperaug had thoroughly outplayed Bunnell for the entire first half and held a 14-0 lead coming out of the locker room after the halftime break. Jake Harwell broke through the line and got to the Bunnell punter, causing a fumble, and Pomperaug was in business at the Bulldogs’ 22-yard line. A touchdown from the red zone would have put this game in the Panthers’ back pocket.
Four plays later the tide turned when Pomperaug fumbled, making its first big mistake of the game, and Bunnell took over at the 11-yard line. The Panthers never quite recovered, and the Bulldogs went on to stage a comeback and pull out a 20-14 victory in overtime.
“We had a great opportunity in the third quarter, and we just didn’t capitalize on it,” said Pomperaug head coach James Reed. “We are going to have to fight through some of these bad breaks before things start to break our way. We need to finish out one of these games, and we are getting closer.”
Pomperaug had things going early when Matt Hadad recovered a Bunnell fumble at the Panthers’ 32-yard line. Sophomore quarterback Troy Harwell engineered an 11-play drive that culminated in senior running back Kyle Sheehan (13 carries, 62 yards) scoring from six yards out.
Alfredo Mondragon-Velazquez booted the extra point to put Pomperaug on top 7-0 with 1:53 left in the opening quarter.
The Panthers, behind center John Dinsdale flanked by Brendan Ciccarella and Michael Houle along with Jacob Gran and James Hartman on the outside, ran a variety of rushes off tackle and up the middle to penetrate the Bunnell defense.
Six runners in all got into the fray led by Mike Murgatroyd (15 carries, 82 yards), Tom Sakowski (10 carries, 34 yards) and Troy Harwell (four carries, 27 yards) along with Jake Harwell (three carries, 12 yards) and Joe Lacava (four carries, 16 yards) as Pomperaug picked up nine first downs before halftime to take a two-touchdown lead.
The Panthers owned time of possession with 15 minutes of the first 24 minutes on offense. When they did get stopped, Jay Consiglio planted a punt that rolled out at the four-yard line, pinning the Bulldogs deep in their own territory.
Anthony Tapia, Emmett Reilly and Brian Flood put on the pressure up front, causing Bunnell to punt it away with just 2:33 left in the first half. Sheehan and Satkowski took turns rushing the ball down the field, and two time outs had Pomperaug at the Bulldogs’ five-yard line with 12 seconds remaining.
Mondragon-Velazquez split the uprights on a 21-yard field goal attempt but a penalty on Bunnell gave the Panthers one more shot at it. With six seconds left, Troy Harwell broke through the line of scrimmage on a two-yard touchdown plunge and the extra point gave Pomperaug a 14-0 lead at the break.
“They played very well in the first half,” said Bunnell head coach Sean Mignone. “Pomperaug came out with a lot of energy, and we kept turning the ball over. We started to change the momentum in the second half, and I credit our defensive coach Dave Silas for making the adjustment.”
Reed said, “That was the near perfect first half that we wanted. We need to play the full 48 minutes. I think we got a little tight after we didn’t score in that third quarter, and that’s when we started making mistakes.”
After the Pomperaug fumble in the third quarter, Bunnell took it all the way down to the Panthers’ three-yard line. Cole McGrath came up with a huge play, recovering a fumble to stop a Bunnell touchdown, and returning the ball 28 yards to set up the Panthers.
But the running game that was there in the first half was not there as the Bunnell defense was quicker to the ball carrier. The Bulldogs took over and finally got on the board as the third quarter came to a close when Zhyaire Fernandez hauled in a 32-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Tyler Phommachanh.
Pomperaug fumbled the onside kick, but the Panthers’ defense managed to hold off the Bulldogs, resulting in another Bunnell punt. However, Pomperaug was running out of chances.
With 5:35 left in the game, Bunnell cashed in again but it took them three tries. Jarrod Davis broke one for 36 yards into the end zone only to have it called back for a Bunnell penalty. Three plays later, Phommachanh hit Brett Bogdwicz on an 18-yard touchdown pass that was called back by another Bunnell penalty.
With 4:18 to go, this time it stuck when Phommachanh found Kyle Bannister on an 18-yard touchdown strike, and Avery Nunn booted the extra point to tie the game at 14-14.
On the next play, Pomperaug fumbled the ball away for the third time in the second half but fortunately got another crack at it when Mario Lambiase came up with an interception.
Time ran out and the game headed to overtime after Pomperaug took over with under two minutes left and drove to the Bunnell 38-yard line. The Panthers won the coin toss and elected to go on defense, giving Bunnell the ball at the 10-yard line to start the Kansas tie breaker.
On the first play from scrimmage, Fernandez broke to the outside and ran it in to give Bunnell the lead, but the extra point was missed to make it a 20-14 game.
Pomperaug had one last opportunity. Score a touchdown and boot the extra point for the win. The Panthers could go nowhere as the Bunnell defense slammed the door shut and Pomperaug suffered a bitter defeat, falling to 1-3 on the season.
“There are no easy answers at this point,” Reed said. “It’s frustrating as heck. We are getting closer, but no one wants to hear that. These guys look like they’ve been though a war. This bye week is coming at the best time for us to regroup.
“We are just going to have to go out there and do it one time. No one is going to get it for us; we have to go get it ourselves. We have to fight through it and we have the kids who have that fight in them.
“No better teacher than a painful experience, and we are getting a lot of education right now. I’m still confident in these kids and who we are and I know we will get through this.”
Pomperaug has a bye week Friday, Oct. 7, and won’t be back in action until Friday, Oct. 14, when they host Stratford for a 6 p.m. showdown at Ed Arum Field.
You must be logged in to post a comment.