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Pomperaug Panthers senior Joe LaCava celebrates his birthday Nov. 23 by hauling in a 16-yard touchdown pass from Matt Lenczewski for the Panthers’ only score in the game against Notre Dame of Fairfield. (Ken Morse photo)
By Ken Morse – Special to the Middlebury Bee-Intelligencer
The Pomperaug Panthers were stunned when Notre Dame of Fairfield scored the first play of the game on a Micah Brantley to Mike Bevino 74-yard touchdown pass Nov. 23 at Ed Arum Stadium in Southbury in the annual Thanksgiving Eve matchup before a sparse crowd.
Just as they have done all season long, the Panthers picked themselves up and battled back to take the lead. Then five second-half turnovers handed the game to the 5-5 Lancers in a 27-8 loss ending the Panthers season at 3-7.
“I wish we didn’t give up that first score,” said Pomperaug head coach James Reed. “But I don’t think that put us in the tank. We just had too many turnovers. Some of it was kind of the desperation stuff.
“Any shortcomings we had as a team showed, especially in the second half, committing five turnovers. On that first touchdown of the game, we were right there on the play, but Bevino is an All-State caliber player for a reason.”
After the Lancers’ quick score just 16 seconds into the game had Pomperaug trailing at 7-0, the Panthers came out and took control of the game. Junior quarterback Matt Lenczewski (14 of 25 passing for 117 yards) engineered a 10-play drive.
Mike Murgatroyd (nine carries, 47 yards) got some running room behind seniors James Hartman, Jacob Gran and Mike Houle, along with John Dinsdale and Brendan Ciccarella.
Jake Harwell ripped off a 7-yard run and then latched onto a 13-yard pass to get the Panthers inside the 20-yard line. That’s when Lenczewski fired a 16-yard touchdown pass to Joe LaCava, helping the senior celebrate his birthday in style.
Kyle Sheehan took it straight up the gut for the two-point conversion run and an 8-7 Pomperaug lead with 6:50 left in the first quarter. Tom Satkowski (39 yards rushing) started to get in on the ground game, but the Panthers left an opportunity out on the field when a 13-play drive that generated three first downs stalled and the team lost the ball on downs.
“Our guys responded,” said Reed. “We were able to march the ball down the field but the scoring drive was the best series we put together all night.”
Notre Dame used a sustained drive the second time they got the ball, going 15 plays with Taevian Jackson (16 carries for 62 yards) doing most of the damage. But the Lancers had to settle for a Ryan Celini 26-yard field goal to retake the lead 10-8 with 9:58 left in the first half.
The Pomperaug defense was bending but not breaking as they recorded four sacks and 13 tackles for zero or minus yards. Mario Lambiase was the most effective, with two sacks and four of the tackles that went nowhere.
Lenczewski started hitting the square out sideline routes with Chris Papallo (three catches for 22 yards) and Jake Mendicino (six catches for 58 yards) picking up large chunks of yardage, but time ran out in the first half with the Panthers chasing two points and trailing 10-8 at the break.
Pomperaug came out in the second half moving the ball downfield with Lenczewski hitting Troy Harwell on a 7-yard pass play to get inside the Notre Dame 40-yard line. That’s when the Lancers went to work.
In a span of six plays that covered four Pomperaug possessions, the Lancers Tavon Simpson made two interceptions and recovered two fumbles, and Notre Dame put the game away. Simpson intercepted a pass to end the first Panthers’ drive of the second half.
Notre Dame took nine plays before Bevino hauled in a 59-yard touchdown strike from Brantley to open up a 17-8 lead. Simpson recovered the fumbled kick-off, and Bevino hit Brantley on a 30-yard halfback option pass for a touchdown as the Lancers took a commanding 24-8 advantage with 2:43 left in the third quarter.
Two plays later, Simpson again got the ball back for Notre Dame on a fumbled handoff but the Pomperaug defense was still making plays with Satkowski and Jake Harwell coming up with sacks.
“Even when we come up short, guys have been making plays and continuing to compete,” said Reed. “This is a night-and-day difference from last year because our seniors stayed the course and didn’t say, ‘forget it we are not doing this anymore.’”
Anthony Tapia, Emmett Reilly, Brian Flood and Michael Benson on the defensive front four with linebacker Mat Hadad and cornerback Elijah Brooks made big plays in the backfield, stopping Notre Dame from extending their lead.
Even on the last series of the game, when Pomperaug lost it on downs at their own 6-yard line, Notre Dame, faced with a first-and-goal, lost 8 yards on three plays and had to settle for a 29-yard field goal for the 27-8 final.
The entire team lined up along the sidelines following the post-game huddle at midfield and bid farewell to the 20 seniors who laid the groundwork for next season and helped build a solid foundation.
The seniors who played their final game in their careers at Pomperaug are Alfredo Mondragon-Velazquez, Chris Papallo, Joe LaCava, Chad Ouellette, Logan Hoivik, Kyle Sheehan, Jake Harwell, Mike Murgatroyd, Matt Hadad, James Hartman, Jacob Gran, Michael Houle, John Dinsdale, Brian Flood, Jake Mendicino, Brendan Ciccarella, Elijah Brooks, Andy Poon, Jay Consiglio and Tom Satkowski.
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