Northmen no match for Gastel, Cavs

North Smithfield/MSC falls to 1-2 in Division III

PROVIDENCE – In the end, the Juanita Sanchez/PCD/Wheeler Co-op club walloped North Smithfield/MSC combined unit, 45-14, count at Conley Stadium on Saturday night.

It did so on the strengths of outstanding senior receiver/kicker/punter Dennis Gastel’s ability to score in a variety of ways – all told, he racked up more than half of his team’s points (23) by his lonesome – and classmate Elijah Matthews, who again proved to be perhaps the most elusive quarterback in the state.

Still, NS/MSC mentor Wes Pennington refused to look at the negatives during his postgame comments.

“We played against a very good football team, so now we know where we need to get to,” he told his troops matter-of-factly after the Division III-A showdown. “I like the fight (in you guys); sure, we made some mistakes and they took advantage of them, but I like the fight!”

After his rather short speech, he indicated, “We’ve got to take this, learn from it and get better. I think there were times we broke from assignments, especially defensively – not holding positioning, not be disciplined, etc. With a team like that, if you’re not disiplined, they’re going to make you pay.

“We paid, but not at the expense of our season,” he continued. “We never stopped playing; the kids played hard-nosed, start to finish. You know what I liked best? They showed they cared. I’ve had teams in the past who’d get behind and couldn’t care less. These guys have heart, plenty of it. “That’s a good sign.” Gastel, a Lincoln product who attends Wheeler, fashioned yet another astounding contest, hauling in two passes for 67 yards and two touchdowns, snaring another toss for a two-point conversion, nailing five PATs and returning a blocked punt 92 yards for another paydirt.

Oh, and it should be noted he averaged nearly 57 yards on his six kickoffs, and ripped his lone punt 42 yards.

“The kid’s phenomenal,” Pennington stated. “What a talent! He definitely can play in college.”

Matthews has a rather fair outing himself, producing 61 yards and two TDs on eight keepers, and completing three of nine passes for 78 yards and two scores.

The Cavaliers (4-0 overall, 3-0 league) needed little time – in fact, 2:02 – to score first, that on Matthews’ 35-yard option keeper off right tackle. It ended a mere four-play, 63-yard drive, one in which the QB notched 41 himself.

Gastel snagged the two-point conversion toss for the 8-0 advantage.

But the visitors began to show their mettle shortly thereafter. After freshman Pasquale Camastro bobbled a high snap on a punt, he fumbled, and Sanchez recovered at the 18. NS/MSC stuffed the first three downs, and – astonishingly – Gastel’s 34-yard field=goal try sailed wide right. Now that doesn’t happen often. Following another three-and-out, Matthews returned a Camastro boot 41 yards to the Northmen’s 17.Three snaps after, Matthews tried to find Gastel on a 10-yard hitch in the right section of the end zone, but junior Xavier Croteau broke it up.

JS nevertheless tacked on another score on the first play of the second period when senior Antonio Estrada sacked Puccetti in the end zone for a safety. The Cavs also took advantage of the resulting 17-yard free kick when senior Odarlin Garo plunged over from the three with 9:45 remaining before the break.

Thanks to junior Chris Marsella’s 25-yard return of the ensuing boot, not to mention classmate Jason Meriwether’s 48-yard reverse down the left sideline, NS/MSC took it down to the JS 3 before Puccetti’s third-and-goal toss fell to the ground.

Camastro lined up for a 21-yard field goal to slice the deficit to 17-3 with 5:54 left, but Matthews blocked it. The pigskin caromed into Gastel’s hands, and he sprinted 92 yards down the right stripe to make it (with his PAT) 24-0.

A 19-yard punt delivered head coach Steve Nadeau’s bunch more stellar field position – this time at the 34 – and Gastel made a diving stab of a Matthews’ pass on a slant for the 31-0 cushion. That’s how both entered the half. The hosts converted on its first possession of the third quarter when, facing a third-and-17 situation from his own 44, Matthews scrambled for his life, hopped left and found Gastel wheeling up the left sideline. The two connected, and the latter finished off a 56-yard touchdown reception.

JS also scored on its next possession, but it may cause issues in the near future. After a Camastro seven-yard punt (in an attempt to keep the ball from the Cavs’ terrific returners), Matthews closed a six-snap, 25-yad drive with a six-yard keeper around right end.

On the play, however, he may have suffered a concussion, though he did walk off the turf under his own power. One thing’s for sure: He didn’t play another down.

The Northmen’s Marsella answered that TD with a 62-yard return to the Cavs’35, and sophomore Hayden DePault snatched a four-yard screen pass from Puccetti near the end of the third to stop the shutout.

With 4:12 remaining in regulation, Marsella took a handoff and ran behind his right tackle, sliced back across the grain and hustled 45 yards down the left sideline to help the Northmen keep the score respectable.

Marsella achieved a career night of sorts, notching 62 yards on 10 carries and 122 more on kick and/or punt returns. Then again, junior fullback Daniel Henley plowed for 76 yards on 14 touches.

“Our goal is to make the playoffs,” Pennington said. “We haven’t made the postseason the past two, so naturally, that’s our primary focus. With this being a rather young team, that’s good to shoot for because we’re going to have almost everybody back next year. We’ll gain valuable experience.”