Shelton held its own against the no. 1 team in the state Friday, losing to Xavier 14 – 7 in Middletown.
The win raised Xavier’s record to 6 – 0 on the season. Shelton dropped to 3 – 3 with the loss.
“I would have been happy if we won, but I’m proud of the team because we played tough,” Gaels coach Jeff Roy said. “Xavier has the best defense and we played great as a team and it’s a positive because we went toe to toe with the no. 1 team in the state.”
The Falcons scored first when Pat D’Amato hit Mike Mastrioanni for a 30-yard touchdown pass with 1:15 remaining in the half to take a 7 – 0 halftime lead.
While the Gaels struggled on offense, they played well on defense. Senior quad-captains Cody Kitson and Mike Georgalas along with classmates Theo Hopnick and Ricky Raffaele and junior Bobby Rose spearheaded the run defense. Senior Dan Guerrera broke up a few passes. In the fourth quarter, they sacked D’Amato and forced him to fumble on the Xavier 15-yard line and Shelton recovered it.
After a penalty that pushed Shelton back, Gaels senior quad-captain Jon Groth threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to classmate Shaquil Holman, coupled with sophomore Ed Groth’s kick, to tie it 7 – 7 with nine minutes left in the game.
The Gaels kept on plugging and drove downfield for the go-ahead score. They faced a fourth-and-eight at the Falcon 25 and Jon Groth tried to hit Georgalas with a pass, but Xavier defensed it perfectly to force an incompletion and the Falcons then started to drive.
Mastrioanni scored on a 33-yard run with 3:57 to go and gave Xavier the victory.
Shelton hopes to get back on the winning track next Friday when it hosts Amity.
“We have to play good defense and score some points,” Roy said.
