POMPERAUG FOOTBALL
NEWS
By Bob Reigeluth THE NEWS-TIMES
10-28-2001
NEW FAIRFIELD — These weren’t desperate times
just yet. New Fairfield High was down
by only a field goal with 24 minutes to play. So why the desperate measure of starting
the second half with an onside kick?
“We took a chance,” New Fairfield coach Jeff Castaldi said. “We wanted to
get ‘em back
on their heels a little bit and to shock ‘em.”
The Rebels’ Ryan Kuhn homed in on the skittering kick — only to have it bounce
out of his
grasp and be recovered by Pomperaug’s Ibrahim Jabbour instead.
“We lucked out on that,” Pomperaug coach Chuck Drury said.
But the Panthers were as good as they were lucky Saturday. The ill-fated onsider
enabled them to start the second half on their 47-yard line with a stiff wind at their
backs.
And from there, they mobilized their Wing-T for three touchdowns in four possessions and a
24-0 win over New Fairfield.
As wins go, it was one of the biggest in Pomperaug’s recent history. It created a
four-way
tie at 4-1 atop the Colonial Division of the South-West Conference with New Fairfield,
Pomperaug, Foran-Milford and Notre Dame-Fairfield.
And in a would-be determination of the Colonial representative in the SWC title game,
the Panthers now own the head-to-head tiebreaker over New Fairfield and can, for all
intents,
erase Notre Dame from the picture by beating the Lancers Friday night.
“This was one we had to have,” Pomperaug fullback Ken Fraser said. “And now
we have
to work even harder because we know they’ll be out to get us.”
Fraser’s season-high 106 yards on 18 carries Saturday contributed to a rushing game
that flattened the Rebels with 337 yards. Halfback Drew Robinson ran for 129 yards
on 25 carries and two touchdowns. Tailback James Cangelosi’s 10 totes netted him
95 yards — 74 of which came on an inside trap that concluded the scoring with
7:11 left in the game.
This was Pomperaug’s second 300-yard rushing game in three weeks. And Fraser
was right when he said that teams will be out to get the Panthers now, out to defend
against their running attack at all costs.
“You’ve got to play good defense, and you’ve got to be able to stop the
run,”
Castaldi said. “We showed no pension for doing that today.”
The all-purpose Rebels (6-1 overall) came in leading the SWC with an average of 34 points
per game. They were also second in defense with 10.2 points allowed per game, but they
fell to Earth Saturday.
With a Homecoming Day game there for the taking in the second half, New Fairfield
was outgained from scrimmage 274 yards to 78 in those final two quarters.
“Our secondary was making a lot of tackles,” New Fairfield defensive
coordinator Chuck Lynch said, “and that’s a problem.”
Indeed, the Rebels were constantly confounded by Pomperaug’s traps and misdirection.
And on the other side of the ball, Pomperaug’s league-leading defense took away
New Fairfield’s option game with blanket coverage of the fullback, quarterback
and wingback.
Kuhn, who came in with 809 yards passing and an area-best 11 touchdowns,
ran out of magic Saturday. He went 12-for-25 for 175 yards, but had a pair of
interceptions in the second half.
As the holder, Kuhn fumbled the snap on a 30-yard field goal attempt with
6:33 left in the first half that what would have offset Tim Keegan’s 37-yarder
8:43 into the game.
And on New Fairfield’s subsequent possession, a holding penalty wiped out a 16-yard
Kuhn-to-John Nabozna pass to Pomperaug’s 21. The Rebels didn’t threaten again.
Wingback Ryan Howley, who came in as the area’s leading scorer with 14 TDs and
had 594 rushing and receiving yards, caught four balls for 84 yards Saturday but ran for
only 13.
Pomperaug QB Bob Kulish was only 3-for-6, but two of the passes were for 12 and
18 yards to Robinson at the start of the second half and set New Fairfield up to be
pounded the rest of the way.
“We were going inside with the traps and outside with the sweeps,” Robinson
said. “Everything was working well.”
Well enough for Robinson to knife across from the 1 at the end of Pomperaug’s
first series of the second half, and for him to find the end zone on a
two-yard dive after Marc Effren’s punt positioned the Panthers on the Rebel 34.
It was 17-0 with 9:28 remaining ... and game over.
Pomperaug (6-1, 4-1) 3-0-7-14—24
New Fairfield (6-1, 4-1) 0-0-0-0—0
First quarter
P — Tim Keegan, 37 field goal, 3:17.
Third quarter
P — Drew Robinson, 1 run (Keegan kick), 9:04.
Fourth quarter
P — D. Robinson, 2 run (Keegan kick), 9:28.
P — James Cangelosi, 74 run (Keegan kick), 7:11.
Individual statistics
Rushing
POMPERAUG: James Cangelosi 10-95, Drew Robinson 25-129,
Ken Fraser 18-106, Bob Kulish 2-7. TOTALS: 55-337.
NEW FAIRFIELD: John Stadnyk 13-49, Ryan Howley 6-13,
Ryan Kuhn 5-3, Steven Deep 1-1. TOTALS: 25-66.
Passing
POMPERAUG: Kulish 3-6, 49 yds.
NEW FAIRFIELD: Kuhn 12-25, 175 yds., 2 INT.
Receiving
POMPERAUG: D. Robinson 3-49.
NEW FAIRFIELD: Howley 4-84, Stadnyk 2-16, Steve Sanchez 3-57,
John Nabozna 2-11, Steve Filmer 1-6.
