St. Paul stunned Middletown by taking a 21-7 lead in the first quarter. The Falcons were in the game until midway through the fourth quarter when the Dragons took a 41-27 lead with 7:15 left to play.
"No, I'm not happy with how we played," said Middletown coach Eric Marszalek. "I'm happy with the win and I'm happy we're 6-0, but there were many things St. Paul does that we prepared for but didn't execute.
"I don't think we were flat; we seemed as excited to play as we were last week, but it may have been a combination of things. We knew they were 1-4 coming in and that we had scored 60-something points against them last year. But it makes no difference why; we just didn't play well."
But things looked very different from the East side of the field.
"I thought our kids played great," said St. Paul coach Jude Kelly. "I was very proud of them as a team. We had some great individual performances. We just lost the game because we need to learn how to make the plays you need to make to win. We did have some big plays, but we also hurt ourselves and you can't do that and win."
Things started well for MHS as Reggie Allen ran back the kickoff 26 yards to give his team great field position at the Middletown 45. Three plays later, Allen (six carries, 84 yards) ran for a 35-yard touchdown. With Case Garner's kick, Middletown led 7-0.
But as quickly as you can say 'what's happening?' St. Paul scored three touchdowns to take a 21-7 lead.
Marcus Aiken (25-for-134) returned the kickoff following Middletown's TD to the 42-yard line. When MHS was hit with a personal foul call at the end of the run, the Falcons were in business at the MHS 43. Five plays later, quarterback Brian Kaczynski hit Aiken for a 14-yard touchdown and with Ryan Moore's kick, the game was tied.
Some 104 seconds later it was untied when an Ephraim Watson punt was blocked and lineman Jordan Durica picked it up and ran 12 yards for the touchdown that put St. Paul ahead. Two minutes later, St. Paul scored again. This time Kaczynski hit Moore (six catches, 104 yards) from 45 yards out and with 3:29 left in the first quarter, St. Paul led 21-7.
"I was very pleased that our kids kept up the enthusiasm on the sideline," said Marszalek. "We didn't panic; we felt confident we'd get things done. I think we have a very mature football team and that showed."
Middletown began to climb back in the game when, with 1:42 left in the quarter, Watson hit Lorenzo Baker from 35 yards away to bring MHS to within a touchdown at 21-14.
After that, it was Watson and Baker who took over. Watson was 5-for-9 for 62 yards, but it was his rushing that was a key part of the MHS offense. The QB ran 16 times for 124 yards. And Baker had his biggest game of the year, running for 201 yards on 22 carries.
"Ephraim was key today," said Marszalek. "His ability to balance Lorenzo is important. He's slippery and he's tough at the end of the run."
Middletown got even in the second quarter when Baker scored on a 1-yard run, the final play of a seven-play, 69-yard drive.
MHS took the lead in the third quarter, but wasn't able to tuck this one away until late in the game. The go-ahead touchdown was set up when the Dragons blocked a punt, recovering the ball at the 11-yard line of St. Paul.
Four plays later, Baker scored on a two-yard run. The one touchdown lead became 35-21 at 5:26 of the third when Watson ran 45 yards for the touchdown. With Garner's fifth consecutive PAT, Middletown had a 14-point lead.
But not for long.
A poorly executed squib kick - which went only seven yards - gave St. Paul great field position. The Falcons turned it into points when they scored on a five-yard pass from Kaczynski (10-for-22, 125 yards) to Davon Davis. The point was missed, but the lead was down to 35-27 with five seconds left in the third.
But MHS put the game away on two fourth quarter TDs, the first a 38-yard run by Watson and the second a 44-yard burst by Baker.
Aiken ran back the ensuing kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown with 2:40 to play, but it was the proverbial too little, too late.
Kelly was enthused about Aiken and Kaczynski.
"His whole demeanor, his attitude and positive outlook, his aggressive play are all the little things that a winning program needs," said Kelly. "I also think that my quarterback is improved. He hasn't played quarterback before this year, but he's a student of the game."
Middletown plays Northwest Catholic, which stunned previously unbeaten Berlin 34-6 Saturday, this Saturday at 10:30 a.m. at Fathers' Field in West Hartford.