Because of penalties and turn-overs, the pendulum shifted from Plainville to Northwest Catholic as the Indians edged past the Blue Devils, 13-12, Friday night at Alumni Field in a Nutmeg Conference game.

Plainville’s record falls to 1-3, 2-4, as Northwest Catholic earned its first win, improving to 1-4, 1-5.

Miscues on offense were the Blue Devils demise.

"Every week there’s quite a few penalties that we accumulate during the course of the game," Plainville coach Mack Scott said. "We want to make as few as possible, but it doesn’t always work out that way."

On the Blue Devils first play of the second half, the ball was moved from the 35-yard line to the 21 after a holding penalty. Then Chris Boland hauled in a one-handed grab for the first down, but the played was called back because of an illegal man down field.

A fumble brought the Devils back 10 more yards. Facing a 3rd-and-37, quarterback Rob Lessard tossed the ball to defender Joe Robinson, who ran the rest of the way to even the score at 6 with 6:54 remaining in the third quarter.

"Those (penalties) were horrible," Plainville’s leading rusher Will Hungerford said. "We totally shot ourselves in the foot on that drive."

Luck continued to be against Plainville.

The next kickoff bounced off a wall of blockers at the 20-yard line, and the ball was recovered by the Indians. The defense ended the potential threat as Kevin Carroccia blocked the 43-yard field goal attempt.

Northwest Catholic wasted no time in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Mike Sarnese (15 carries, 92 yards), who controlled the Indians offense by executing the option, ran in the end zone untouched from 21 yards away with 10:39 left in the quarter, putting the Indians ahead 13-6.

"Mike Sarnese is a real competitor, and he played real well tonight," Northwest Catholic coach Michael Tyler said. "He did a real solid job running the offense. I was really happy with how he played tonight."

But, Plainville refused to back down.

The Blue Devils answered quickly. Highlighted by a 15-yard Hungerford run on 3rd-and-11, Plainville went 66 yards on 10 plays to score a touchdown with 7:16 left in the fourth. The missed extra point kept the Devils behind 13-12.

"Our team fights hard the whole time," Scott said.

The Plainville defense was strong, holding Northwest Catholic to three-and-out on the next drive. The Blue Devils took control on the Indians’ 48. Hungerford gained four yards and a face-masking penalty added another 5 yards to the drive. Facing 4th-and-inches, Lessard sneaked up the middle for the first down.

The Devils moved to the 31, and they looked ready to strike. But the next pass was intercepted by Pat Bonner.

"This sucks," said Hungerford after the loss. "This is the worst feeling in the world."