Shelton Football Holds Off Fairfield Prep For 20-13 Victory

According to Shelton football coach Jeff Roy, nothing has come easy for the Gaels this season.

That again was the case Friday night at Finn Stadium as the Gaels held on for a 20-13 victory over Fairfield Prep after building a 20-0 lead early in the third quarter.

We made the plays whe we had to and we got the win," said Roy, whose team improved to 6-2 heading into next week's game against Cheshire.

With 8:46 left in the third quarter, Ed Groth booted a 38-yard field goal to give the Gaels a 20-0 lead. It meant that Prep (5-3) had been outscored 97-0 in 10-plus periods against Hand (42-0), Xavier (35-0) and Shelton.

But the Jesuits responded with a textbook 16-play, 76-yard that consumed six minutes to climb within 20-7 on Christopher Golger's 12-yard touchdown run straight up the middle.

"I'm very proud of the way they played in the second half," Fairfield Prep coach Tom Shea said. "We're down 17-0 (at the half) and a lesser team would have put their tail between their legs. I said, 'Boys, you got to grow up, you got to become men,' and they did."

After forcing a three-and-out, Prep put together a 10-play, 59-yard march, pulling within 20-13 on Shane Dempsey's 7-yard TD scamper around right end on 4th-and-1.

There was still 8:23 remaining, and suddenly the Jesuits had a fighting chance.

"They're a good football team," Roy said. "Give them credit. They made some adjustments at halftime and they didn't quit. They came out in the second half and played hard and got back in the game."

After giving up one first down, the Jesuits forced another punt, but couldn't sustain a drive this time.

With nearly five minutes remaining, Shea elected to punt, hoping to get abother possession. However, before the kick, the Jesuits burned their final timeout and they never saw the ball again.

Starting at the 9-yard line, the Gaels killed the final 4:36 by pounding the ball behind quarterback Frank Camerino, who rushed for 53 of his 137 yards on the final drive.

"The last drive was just gut-check time," Roy added. "We told the offensive line, that's been our bread-and-butter all year.  We're not throwing the ball, we're running the ball. We got to get two first downs, and the game's over."

Shelton opened the game with a smash-mouth drive, grabbing a 7-0 lead on Jagger Kalagian's 8-yard TD run. However, it turned out to the Gaels' only offensive touchdown of the night.

The Gaels converted two costly Prep turnovers into 10 points, including Kalagian's 32-yard fumble return for a touchdown that made it 14-0 with 43 seconds left in the first quarter.

Other than that, Prep only allowed a pair of field goals, although the Jesuits couldn't do much on offense in the first half, managing only 93 yards. Shelton also had a touchdown called back.

"We easily could have been up another touchdown or two," Roy said. "I was still worried at halftime. I wish we had those extra touchdowns on the board."

After Groth kicked 27-yarder to make it 17-0 with 9:28 left in the half, the Jesuits showed signs of life, but they came away empty after reaching Shelton's 8-yard line.

"Our defense has been playing tremendous all year," Roy said. "We work a lot on the goal-line defense.  We've had more goal-line stands this season than I've seen I think in all my years of coaching."

Shea suggested the Jesuits may have given the Gaels too much respect in the first half. The second half, however, was a  different story. A 20-point deficit was just a bit too much for the Jesuits to overcome. The Gaels gained 195 yards in the first half and were held to 111 in the second.

"This was the first big game we've played in a few years against an excellent team, on the road, tough place to play. Maybe in the first half our kids were a little star struck by the whole thing. We regrouped and said we could play with these guys. I think we showed that in the second half."

On the Jesuits' final possession, Brewster nearly connected with John Hand on a deep route, but the ball bounced off the hands of the receiver, who was open in the secondary and might have been able to go the distance.