Pats score 30 unanswered to avoid upset against Islanders

By Jacob Marrocco
Posted 11/3/15

The Pilgrim football team spotted Middletown a 20-0 lead before using running back Owen Kelly’s 305 rushing yards and impenetrable second-half defense to steal the win on senior night, …

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Pats score 30 unanswered to avoid upset against Islanders

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The Pilgrim football team spotted Middletown a 20-0 lead before using running back Owen Kelly’s 305 rushing yards and impenetrable second-half defense to steal the win on senior night, 30-20.

Senior Kelly scored all four of the Pats’ touchdowns and had six runs of 25 yards or longer on the night. Senior Darren Grant also played a big role for Pilgrim (5-1 in Division III), intercepting a pass to seal the game and recovering a key fumble at the start of the second half. The Pats outscored the Islanders 24-0 in the second half.

“It’s tremendous, they’ve been the catalysts of our offense and catalysts of our defense,” Pilgrim head coach Tom O’ Connor said of his seniors. “David [McMullen]’s the quarterback on offense, a lot of the big runs Kelly’s had is because Darren’s setting the edge for him. [Grant] calls the plays and he’s our go-to guy on defense and Kelly and Dave have both come up and assist on the outside with him, and they’re lockdown corners, too.”

Middletown (1-5) began the second half with a 20-6 lead and the ball after deferring on the opening kickoff. On a second-and-14, running back Christopher Smith rushed into the right side of the Pilgrim defense, where he was stripped. Grant fell on the loose ball at the Pats’ 45 to set the Pats up with strong field position.

Two plays later, Kelly made the Islanders pay. Kelly found a hole in the Middletown defense and sprinted 45 yards untouched into the end zone. McMullen’s pass to Grant converted the two-point try, cutting the deficit to six, 20-14.

The Pilgrim defense was nearly untouchable in the second half, allowing fewer total yards (19) after the intermission than it did points in the first half, as Middletown tried to increase its lead.

“We made a couple physical adjustments, but the kids, their mindset is [as] a second-half team,” O’Connor said. “I can’t figure it out, if I could, it would not be happening this way. I’m happy it happened that way, but I would prefer starting out shutting them down right away.”

After forcing a turnover-on-downs at the Pilgrim 29, the Pats offense went to work again. Kelly’s 29-yard dash put Pilgrim in Middletown territory at the 35, before another rush of 25 yards set his team up in the red zone. On the next play, Kelly split the Islanders’ defense down the middle for an eight-yard score. McMullen’s keeper gave the Pats their first lead of the night, 22-20, with 1:22 to go in the third quarter.

“He has unbelievable vision,” O’Connor said of Kelly. “I think that’s his biggest attribute. He doesn’t always go where the play says. The line gets helmet on helmet, and they know [if] they stay on their block, he has a chance to sprint and bring it every time he touches the ball.”

Middletown and Pilgrim punted back and forth on the next couple series before the Pats gave the ball back to the Islanders with solid field position at their 47. On the first play, though, McMullen stepped in front an Ethan Mello pass to the right and intercepted it. Pilgrim would not score, but the defense once again did its job.

The Islanders, though, would get another chance. After Grant’s sack forced a punt, Pilgrim took over at its own 27. Ty Weldon-Martin took an end-around handoff on the first play from scrimmage, but he fumbled and the Islanders recovered.

An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the Pats pushed the ball up to the Pilgrim 12 with a fresh set of downs, but the defense wouldn’t budge from there. Benjamin Brower and Smith were both stuffed on runs to make it third-and-9 before Harry Quinones rushed for a loss of three to set up fourth-and-13.

Mello threw a pass high and out of bounds on the left sideline incomplete, but Kelly was called for interference. The threat was still averted, however, as Mello’s fourth-and-8 pass also fell harmlessly to the grass.

“It’s the second half, they don’t believe anyone can score on them,” O’Connor said of the defense, which has not allowed a second-half point since giving up a touchdown to Narragansett in the third quarter on Oct. 16. “That’s when they’re at their best. When everyone else is tired, and they’re still ready to roll. That’s a trait I’d like to figure out, and we’ve been working on it.”

Kelly and the offense went to work again, aiming to kill the final two minutes and 50 seconds on the clock. He and fellow running back Sean Cooney both delivered first downs, forcing Middletown to burn a couple timeouts. On a second-and-5 from midfield, Kelly gashed the Islanders’ defense for a 50-yard touchdown run. McMullen’s keeper to the right pylon made it a two-possession game, 30-20.

On the Islanders’ next and final possession, Grant would intercept Mello’s pass to ice the win.

The powerful Pilgrim offense came out slow, allowing the Islanders to jump out to an early lead. After a quick three-and-out from the Pats, Middletown went to work with help from running backs Brower and Smith.

Brower had rushes of 19 and seven yards on the first drive to send the Islanders deep into Pilgrim territory at the 33. Two plays later, Smith rushed past the middle of the Pats’ defense and into the end zone for a 29-yard touchdown. The two-point conversion failed, but Pilgrim trailed 6-0 five minutes into the action.

Middletown onside-kicked or squibbed almost the entire night, and early on it paid dividends. On the ensuing kickoff, the Islanders recovered the live ball at Pilgrim’s 33 to set up with good field position. Brower would punch it in from the 1-yard line six plays later to extend the lead to 12-0.

Pilgrim’s offense continued to stall. It gave the ball back to the Islanders on downs during its next drive after quarterback David McMullen just missed the first down marker at Middletown’s 32. The next drive would also result in a turnover-on-downs after Kelly was stuffed on a fourth-and-goal run at the 3-yard line.

The Islanders then marched 97 yards down the field on a 10-play drive to push their lead out to three scores. On second-and-12 at the Middletown 46, Smith ripped off a 29-yard run up to the Pilgrim 21-yard line. A late hit penalty on the Pats helped push the ball to just outside the 10. Brower crossed the goal line from three yards out a couple plays later, and the successful two-point conversion made it 20-0 with 1:26 to go in the first half.

Pilgrim was able to strike before the half, though, and it was thanks to Kelly’s legs. On just the second play of the Pats’ final drive before the break, Kelly rushed down the left sideline 53 yards past the Middletown defense to get Pilgrim on the board.

That would just be the beginning to his eye-popping performance, making it 13 touchdowns in the past four games.

The Pats will host cross-town rival Toll Gate (3-3) for their Homecoming game this Friday at 7 p.m. at Pilgrim. The Titans are still fighting for a playoff spot, while Pilgrim looks to keep pace for the No. 1 seed in Division III.

“We have to stay focused,” O’Connor said. “The team on the hill is our new rival. We’re not done with Vets, and they’re not with us, by any stretch of the imagination, but we’re already switching, not focus, but it looks like [the Titans] will be our Thanksgiving rival. We’d like to start out against the team on the hill with a proper attitude and mindset going forward.”

Kelly said that the Pats are “real amped up” to face off against the Titans.

“There’s a lot of problems between the two [teams] I guess,” Kelly said with a pause and a smile. “So we’re looking forward to it.”

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