Early in the second quarter of the hosts shocking 17-6 victory over the visiting Dragons, St. Paul/Goodwin Tech faced a fourth-and-1 from Middletown's 46-yard line. Dumont was supposed to try to draw Middletown offsides in an attempt to gain a first down.

But Middletown's defense refused to jump, so Dumont took matters into his own hands, and ordered the center to snap the ball, then kept it himself for the crucial first down.

On the very next play, not having learned its lesson, Middletown (2-1 overall and Nutmeg) tried to foil the fourth-year player by ordering a defense against the run.

Dumont made eye contact with fellow captain Scott McIntyre, and changed the play, and the game's fortunes, as he fired a quick slant-in to McIntyre. McIntyre caught the ball in stride and streaked past the stunned Middletown secondary on his way to a 45-yard scoring strike that put St. Paul ahead, 7-0, and sent Middletown reeling with a hurtful blow from which the Dragons never recovered.

"He called the audible there," St. Paul coach Joe Cefaratti said afterward. "And it was the perfect call."

The play was the conclusion to an 11-play, 98-yard drive for St. Paul (3-0) that came immediately after Middletown was thwarted on a fourth-and-four from St. Paul's five.

On that play, Middletown fullback Cole McDaniel (9 carries, 58 yards, 1 TD) never got a sniff of the first-down marker, and St. Paul had struck its first blow by absorbing the Dragons' 12-play, 59-yard drive that ate up 6:14 of the first quarter clock.

"Obviously, when you have a scoring opportunity in the red zone (and don't convert), that's big for them," Middletown coach Eric Marzalek. "But I thought we would still have opportunities to get in."

The opportunities weren't forthcoming in the first half, however, as St. Paul held Middletown to a three-plays-and-out possession before Dumont and McIntyre delivered an ultimately fatal blow.

Facing fourth-and-13 from Middletown's 33, Dumont threw a long spiral toward the goal post that hit McIntyre in stride as the split end crossed the goal line for a 14-0 lead.

"That was a beautiful ball," McIntyre (3 catches, 87 yards) gushed of Dumont's throw. "It was perfectly thrown, and it caught me in stride."

Marzalek admitted it was the culmination of a long week of concern, saying, "We wee concerned about defending the pass and that kind of bore itself out," as St. Paul secured all 136 of its passing yards in the first half.

The St. Paul defense stifled Middletown again, holding the Dragons to negative-19 yards in the second quarter on three possessions (no first downs), Dumont was able to convert a 31-yard field goal with one second on the clock to put St. Paul ahead 17-0 at halftime.

"Don't forget that (Dumont), (McIntyre), (tight end) Jim Shanley and (running back) Rich Caron (20 carries, game-high 72 yards) have played four years of varsity," Cefaratti said, explaining his team's early-season success. "We have the chance to explode offensively."

Middletown was unable to come back, despite a 21-yard touchdown run by McDaniel on the first play of the fourth quarter, but the Dragons were outgained 226-155 for the contest.

"We didn't play well. When you don't play well, you can't expect to win," Marzalek said. "But I thought we had a lot of opportunities in the first half to convert our passes, and if we had, I think this would have been different."