Quick-strike offense
Gaels roll in second quarter to stay unbeaten
MONROE — It took a couple of offensive drives for Shelton to get clicking, not to mention withstanding one weird opening Masuk drive.
No. 5 Shelton did get the offense rolling in the second quarter, scoring three touchdowns in a little over seven minutes, and strong defense all night paced a 38-10 win over the Panthers at Benedict Field on Friday night.
“We made the adjustments. I mean, it comes down to coaching and who’s a leader on the field,” said Shelton quarterback Jake Roberts, who ran for a touchdown and threw for three more.
“In the first half, everyone was kind of shaky. Once we got used to the environment, we were good.”
The Gaels (5-0), who visit 5-0 North Haven in a week, had a couple of big plays on their first couple of drives but stalled soon after on both.
But Roberts’ 22-yard run up the middle got them into Masuk territory on the third drive. A 10-yard pass to Paul Ferrigno set up a 22-yard touchdown pass to Ferrigno to open the scoring.
Ferrigno caught four of Roberts’ eight completions for 70 yards, including a 26-yard gain that set up Roberts’ 15-yard touchdown run two drives later.
“They were very good. We both had two weeks to prepare for each other,” said Masuk quarterback Thomas Juliano, whose team had won two in a row going into last week’s off week.
“I just give credit to my whole team, fighting. No matter what happened, the adversity we faced, I’m happy the way we responded.”
The Panthers (2-3) visit Bunnell next week.
Shelton’s defense came up big in big spots several times. Mike Lockavitch was in on at least a couple of sacks. The defense combined for eight tackles for a loss. Juliano completed 20 passes, but six of them went for no more than a yard.
“I thought the defense played well all night. They pose some problems offensively,” Shelton coach Jeff Roy said.
“We thought the defense kind of held us in there that whole time, and then we got the offense clicking.”
Masuk chewed up most of the first quarter with a 15-play, penalty-laden drive that started on the Panthers’ 4 but stalled at the Shelton 40.
After Roberts found Jake Oddo in the left corner of the end zone for the third touchdown of the second quarter, Nolan McCarter drilled a 39-yard field goal for Masuk at the first-half buzzer to cut Shelton’s lead to 21-3, and the Panthers got the ball to start the second half.
But Ferrigno picked off Juliano on the second play, and three plays later, the Gaels were in again on a Ferrigno pass to David Yakowicz.
“I’m feeling great. We’ve got a lot of momentum right now,” Roberts said. “We’ve just got to keep fighting. Tomorrow morning, 10 o’clock, lifting. That’s it.”
Nick Andrade had a 34-yard field goal for the Gaels, and Georgio Ghazal’s touchdown run capped the scoring. Chris Tillotson caught Juliano’s touchdown pass in the fourth quarter.