The Shelton High School Gaels improved their record to 3 – 3 as they scored early and often in a 42 – 7 rout of the Fairfield Prep Jesuits at Finn Stadium Friday night.
Shelton coach Jeff Roy said he could not be happier with the team’s performance. The Gaels played to their best abilities on both sides of the ball, Roy said.
“We did everything well. We executed on offense. Our passing game was good, our defense, with the punt block, and special teams played well,” Roy said.
Shelton wasted no time scoring as quarterback Raymond Pendagast threw a 45-yard pass to junior wideout, Dan Guerrera, to set up a Joel Youd 10-yard touchdown run helping the Gaels take a 7 – 0 lead over the Jesuits early in the first quarter
And Shelton showed no mercy.
On their very next possession, Pendagast aired it out one more time for a 50-yard touchdown pass to Paul Piccirillo, giving the Gaels a 14 – 0 lead and Pendagast over 100 passing yards in the first quarter.
The only bad thing for the Gaels was a missed 35-yard field goal which bounced off the left upright giving the Jesuits good field position before going three and out. The Gaels quickly made up for the missed field goal as Joel Youd blocked the punt and linebacker Cody Kitson recovered the ball in the endzone for a touchdown.
On the next possession, Shelton’s defense showed their sticky hands as they stripped the ball, with Robert Milne returning the ball 34 yards for another seven points driving the Gaels’ lead to 28 – 0.
And all of this happened before the second quarter.
Early in the second quarter, Pendagast threw his third touchdown of the night to Mike Georgalas for 37 yards, pushing their lead to 35 – 0.
After a Tom Brady-esque quarter Pendagast was benched so that backup John Groth could see some varsity time.
Later in the quarter, Dan Guerrera picked off the Fairfield Prep quarterback which set up a Shaquill Holman 68-yard dash to the endzone to further extend the Gaels lead to 42 – 0.
After halftime the Jesuits were able to put points on the board after Fairfield Prep quarterback Brewster had a 28-yard touchdown pass to ensure they were not shut out.
Early in the 4th quarter, rain turned the game into a back and forth battle that did not allow either team to score.
While Fairfield Prep suffered their sixth straight loss, Shelton is begging to turnaround a troubled season. They take on Hillhouse next week.
The writer is a Shelton High School student.
