CROMWELL — Even with a touchdown on the final drive before halftime, things felt a little too close for comfort for the undefeated Cromwell/Portland football team at the midway point of the huge Pequot Conference showdown with Valley Regional/Old Lyme on Friday night.
When the Panthers came back onto the field, making an early statement was at the top of the to-do list. Tyler Cipolla took care of that as he broke free for a 71-yard touchdown catch on the first offensive play of the third quarter to ignite the Panthers, who scored on their first four possessions of the second half to roll to a 42-21 win.
"We took an initiative to just lock in, come out and dominate the second half,” said Cromwell/Portland quarterback Michael Sitaro, who ran for 158 yards and three touchdowns to go with 182 passing yards and three more touchdowns. "We are really just one heartbeat together, everything is clicking right now and it is an amazing sight to see."
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Cipolla came into the game as the top rusher and receiver for Cromwell/Portland. The emergence of Rafael Mendez at running back has allowed the Panthers to utilize Cipolla in a variety of ways. That makes the offense even more explosive.
"Tyler is such a dynamic athlete, we can move him around,” Cromwell/Portland coach Sal Morello said. "I am sure that puts stress on a defense. He can score from anywhere on the field, he is that kind of a threat. He is as good of a receiver as he is a running back. We try to give him the ball in space, give him the ball wherever."
Valley Regional/Old Lyme scored first on a 1-yard scoring run by Charles Zelek. Mendez carried the ball four times for 44 yards on the next drive for the Panthers to set up Sitaro's 12-yard touchdown run.
Valley Regional/Old Lyme appeared to be in position to regain the lead during a 53-yard catch and run. However, a fumble at the end of the play was recovered by the Panthers. Sitaro connected with Zhyair Brown on 3-yard touchdown pass with 31 seconds remaining in the first half.
Cromwell/Portland used Cipolla's 71-yard touchdown catch, a 68-yard run by Sitaro and Sitaro's 43-yard TD toss to Brown to get some breathing room in the second half.
Valley Regional/Old Lyme quarterback Connor Dickson, who threw for 148 yards, had touchdown passes to Michael Spencer and Charles Zapatka to keep the Warriors in the game. Only down by seven points early in the fourth quarter, the Warriors came inches away from a fumble recovery. On the next play, Sitaro hit Brown for the touchdown to make it a 14-point lead.
"I was asking my coaches in the booth did he get it, was he able to recover it? Unfortunately it was out (of bounds),” Valley Regional/Old Lyme coach Phil Cohen said. "That was definitely a backbreaker. I was hoping we would get another opportunity to answer for sure."
Mendez had 50 yards on five carries, Brown had five catches and Brody Arnesault finished with five tackles and two sacks for Cromwell/Portland, which can complete a perfect run through the Pequot Sassacus Division if its beats Haddam-Killingworth on Thursday.
Zelek ran for 68 yards and also had nine tackles for Valley Regional/Old Lyme (4-2).
Player of the Game
Michael Sitaro, Cromwell/Portland Quarterback: Sitaro threw for three touchdowns and ran for three others.
Quotable
"It changes the offense tremendously. We can spread the field out, we can hit you with a deep post, a screen, a run, anything that we want to in our playbook. Coach just trusts us with it and goes with it and we execute,” Sitaro on the versatility of Tyler Cipolla.
Cromwell/Portland 42, Valley Regional 21
VALLEY REGIONAL/OLD LYME 0 7 7 7-21CROMWELL-PORTLAND 0 14 14 14-42
VR-Charles Zelek 1 run (Samuel Zelek kick)CR-Michael Sitaro 12 run (Luke Morello kick)CR-Zhyair Brown 3 pass from Sitaro (Morello kick)CR-Tyler Cipolla 71 pass from Sitaro (Morello kick)VR-Michael Spencer 5 pass from Connor Dickson (S. Zelek kick)CR-Sitaro 68 run (Morello kick)VR-Charles Zapatka 21 pass from Dickson (S. Zelek kick)CR-Brown 43 pass from Sitaro (Morello kick)CR-Sitaro 4 run (Morello kick)Team records: Valley Regional/Old Lyme 4-2 (3-2 Pequot Sassacus); Cromwell 6-0 (5-0).