Call it a “special” night for the Shelton football team. Shelton’s special teams gave the Gaels momentum at home in a 35 – 6 victory over Hamden in raising its record to 2 – 2.
Hamden dropped to 0 – 4.
Senior Dan Guerrera in particular had the game-changing play when he returned a punt 58 yards for the touchdown with 6:18 remaining in the third quarter to extend Shelton’s lead from 7 – 6 to 14 – 6 as sophomore Ed Groth, who took the kick in place of his brother, junior Jeff Groth, kicked the extra point.
“There were a lot of blocks thrown by our special teams,” Guerrera said. “We definitely came out a little sluggish in the first half and that was a momentum-changer.”
The Gaels were clinging to a 7 – 6 lead before Guerrera’s return and it looked like it was anyone’s game. Once he crossed the goal line, Shelton looked like it was on its way to victory as it shut down the Green Dragons and moved the ball well on offense.
“The special teams picked it up and made the difference,” Gaels coach Jeff Roy said.
Things didn’t look good for Shelton on Hamden’s first series. The Dragons burned the Gaels with two big plays. Senior tailback Jordan Teague broke tackles for a 50-yard run on a second-and-10 play from his 13-yard line to Shelton’s 37. Two plays later, junior quarterback Tim Dube broke tackles for a 35-yard touchdown run with 7:13 left in the first quarter. The kick was no good and Hamden led 6 – 0.
“After the first drive, we made adjustments and the defense played well all night,” Roy said.
“On their first drive, we had trouble handling the wing because we didn’t go over it in practice, but at halftime, we made adjustments and stopped them,” Shelton’s Cody Kitson said.
Shelton made the adjustments after the drive because the Green Dragons weren’t able to move.
Kitson (13 tackles) was instrumental in keeping Hamden under wraps.
Senior quad-captain Mike Georgalas (eight tackles, two passes batted down, one pass broken up), classmates Ricky Raffaele (eight tackles) and Theo Hopnick (six tackles) and junior Bobby Rose (10 tackles) shut down the Green Dragons’ running game and made it almost impossible for them to pass.
“We adjusted to what they were running and knew where their playmakers were,” Georgalas said.
The Gaels sputtered on offense for most of the first half and punted on their first three drives.
Chris Mancuso (14 carries for 103 yards) jump started the Gaels’ only long drive of the night with a 36-yard gain. Shelton marched 80 yards on seven plays for the score with senior quad-captain quarterback Jon Groth hitting senior Ed Ostrowski for a 31-yard gain to Hamden’s 10.
Jon Groth scored on a 3‑yard run and Jeff Groth, who was hobbled by an injury after returning a punt, kicked the extra point to make it 21 – 6 with 1:52 left in the third quarter.
The Gaels scored twice in the fourth quarter to account for the final.
Daniel Guerrera returned a punt 16 yards to give Shelton a first down on the Green Dragons’ 31.
On a third-and-eight, Jon Groth (7 – 13 for 76 yards) threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to senior Shaquil Holman with 3:39 remaining in the game.
Georgalis returned an interception 55 yards for the touchdown with 1:27 to go to close out the scoring. Jeff Groth kicked both extra points after the touchdowns.
