After four weeks of grueling practices the 2014 youth football season got underway on Sunday, and the 11U Panthers started strong with a 32-0 victory over Cumberland.
The Panthers made a statement early on with their first offensive play with great blocking by Ryan Schino, Phil Costantini, Gianni Palumbo, Caleb Visnicky and Kenneth Irizarry allowing running back Peter Bibby to go 20 yards for a Panther touchdown. On the Colts’ next drive, Emma Salzillo made a touchdown saving tackle. Later in the drive, Joey Legault, Antonio Gemma and Sebastian Annicelli showed their toughness by forcing a fumble inside the 20-yard line as the Colts were knocking on the Panther end zone. After the Panther recovery, the Panther offensive line paved the way for running back C.J. Ragosta to get to the outside and take the ball 85 yards for the Panthers’ second touchdown of the game.
In the second quarter, the Panther defense once again came up big with an interception by Jake Martino, who took it to the end zone for a touchdown. On the conversion, receiver Thomas Zednick made a diving catch to give the Panthers a 19-point lead. The offense continued to show its ability to move the football down field with a 30-yard run by Peter Bibby and a 20-yard run by quarterback Joey Acciardo.
The second half saw the Panthers defense continue to shut down the Colts’ running game. The offense was dynamic with a 30-yard touchdown run by Rozellio Jones. Jones also caught the conversion pass from Acciardo, capping off a 32-0 win for the Panthers.
Great efforts by Todd Dilullo, Domenic Petrarca, Gian Souza, Raymond Beaumier, Brando Coico, Connor Diamantino, Nicholas Keller, Johnathon D’Angelo, Jack Russo, Troy Nicotra, Robert Joseph, David Andreoli and David Silva kept the Colts scoreless.
The 11U team travels this Sunday to take on the defending Super Bowl champion Fall River Falcons, in Fall River, Mass.
Panthers 12U opens with
lopsided win
The Johnston Panthers 12U team started its season with a 51-20 victory over the Cumberland Colts on Sunday.
The Panthers won the toss and elected to kick off putting their defense up first. The defense was strong, with an interception by Tim Isom putting the Panthers offense on the field. On the first play quarterback Zack Lavergne pitched the ball to Tom Comella, who ran it in for a 37-yard touchdown. The extra point by Comella was good for a quick 7-0 lead.
The defensive line of Joey Patterson, Nicholas Guenette, Tom Colombo and Anthony Marsella were tough on Cumberland’s next trip, helping force a four-and-out. Once again, the Panthers scored again on their first play. This time it was Nic Comella who ran for a 39-yard touchdown with Tim Isom scoring the extra point. The Panthers were now up 14-0.
The Panther defense had some great tackling by Joey Charette, Aidan Scott, Arion Kennedy and Jacob Martins. The Colts fought back and scored on a long 45-yard bomb. But the extra point was denied. The Panthers led 14-6.
On Johnston’s next drive, Lavergne handed the ball off to Tom Comella for a 20-yard gain and then Nic Comella sliced through the Colts defense with a 40-yard touchdown to put the Panthers up 20-6.
The defense rose to the occasion with tackles by Patterson, Martins, Marsella, Kennedy and Jacob Mainey. On the next series, the Colts quarterback threw an interception and Nic Comella ran it back for a 51-yard touchdown. Lavergne ran in the extra point to make it 27-6.
Led by Justin Salvator, Sebastian Brooks and Michael Ferreria, the Johnston defense stood strong again. Once the offense came back out Tom Comella handed the ball off to Lavergne for a 15-yard gain and Comella broke tackles on the next play for another Panther touchdown and a 33-6 lead.
Christian Olasanoye, Edwin Bercian and Anthony Gawlik led the way on defense in Cumberland’s next series, but the Colts managed to find the end zone to make it 33-12. Cumberland then came up with a stop and scored again just before half, making it a two-score game.
In the second half, the Colts kicked the ball to Nic Comella, who ran it back for a 70-yard touchdown. He was sprung with great blocks from Kennedy and Martins. The next Colts possession ended when Kennedy had his first career interception. Isom ran the ball for a 75-yard touchdown increasing the panther lead to 45-19.
Charette recovered a fumble from the Colts offense, setting up another Johnston drive. Martins had a 10-yard run, Lavergne added a 25-yard run and Isom finished the drive with a 20-yard touchdown run for the final 51-20 margin.
“The boys played great in all three phases of the game,” said head coach Tom Comella. “I am very proud of all of them.”
The Panthers will hit the road Sunday for Fall River, Mass., where they’ll meet the Fall River Falcons.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here