The Patriots had their way with Newton South, with 15 wins in their last 16 contests in the series going into Conrod-Carlisle High School’s visit to Newton South on October 6.
Although the Lions put up a fight and stayed in the game with some big plays, the outcome was a familiar one for Newton South as the Patriots outlasted the Lions 49-35 in Newton.
The win moved the Patriots to 3-2 on the season with a 2-0 Dual County League record heading into a big DCL showdown at Westford Academy on Friday, October 13.
Newton South’s offense came ready to play. Lions quarterback Charlie Viadro (327 yards passing with five touchdowns on the game) and the Newton South offense took only six plays to take the opening kickoff 71 yards with a 42-yard touchdown strike from Viadro to Taiga Wood, giving Newton South the early 7-0 lead.
But as much as the Lions offense came to play, it was pretty apparent early in this contest that the Newton South defense was going to have a hard time containing the Patriots offense (which had seven touchdowns in eight possessions and no punts on the game).
The Patriots responded to the Lions’ opening drive with an impressive 64-yard drive in only five plays. Senior running back Ryan DeMayo had three carries for 37 yards on the drive, including a 14-yard gallop that tied the game after sophomore kicker Sam Griswold’s point after touchdown halfway through the first quarter.
The Pats defense stepped up on Newton South’s second possession with key plays by junior Matt Carleton and seniors DeMayo, Ramir Dardy, Nick Charles and Aengus Wilson.
Surprisingly, the Lions opted not to punt at their own 37-yard line and turned the ball over on downs after a 4th down incompletion. The C-C offense wasted little time taking advantage of the opportunity. After senior quarterback Ryan Fivek scrambled 23 yards (Fivek would finish with 121 yards rushing and 3 touchdowns to go along with 131 yards passing with a touchdown), DeMayo scored again from 15 yards out. DeMayo finished with 128 yards rushing and three touchdowns to give him eight touchdowns on the season) to put C-C up 14-0, which is how the first quarter ended.
The second quarter opened with the Pats again in Newton South territory. C-C took 11 plays to go 51 yards with Fivek’s first touchdown run of the day pushing the Pats lead to 21-7. But the Lions, in a recurring theme for the contest, responded only two plays later with a 50-yard touchdown strike to cut the lead back to 7 at 21-14. On the next series, C-C decided it was their turn to respond with a big play of their own, a spectacular 46-yard touchdown run on a quarterback sneak by Fivek and the Pats lead was 27-14.
But no lead was safe in this wild affair as the Lions again hit on a big play to make it a one-score game, this time a 41-yard touchdown pass cut the Pats lead to 27-21 with 1:14 left in the half. But that 1:14 was enough time for C-C to march 61 yards on 10 plays with the half ending on an exciting 10-yard Fivek strike to junior Will Hoover (10 catches for 114 yards and a touchdown on the evening) to push the Pats lead to 34-21 at the half.
The third quarter was quieter, with both teams trading scores. First, DeMayo rumbled home from 47 yards to push the C-C lead to 42-21 (after a Fivek 2-point conversion). The Lions responded with a 17-play, 70-yard drive that ate up eight minutes of time and culminated in a seven-yard touchdown pass to cut the Pats lead to 42-28 as we moved into the fourth quarter.
Early in the fourth, Fivek’s 3rd touchdown pushed the lead to 49-28. But again, the Lions refused to go away, answering with a 67-yard catch and run for a touchdown to cut the score to 49-35. But the Pats offensive line decided that enough was enough, and the Pats ran out the clock with a 15-play, 68-yard drive as time ran out with C-C at the Lions’ 12-yard line.
