Jonathan Law football holds off Shelton comeback as Matthew Witteman accounts for six TDs
SHELTON – The Jonathan Law football team built a 27-point lead in the third quarter before holding off Shelton 41-35 in a thriller Friday night at Finn Stadium.
Matthew Witteman led the way by accounting for six scores, including five touchdown passes to five different receivers. He added an 8-yard TD run.
“In the [passing game], wide receivers were just winning their ones and making my job really easy,” Witteman said.
In the first quarter, after Shelton scored first on a 1-yard touchdown run by Cole St. Pierre, Witteman and the Lawmen offense marched down the field and capped off the drive with a 7-yard touchdown catch from Hunter Kendzierski on a slant.
Witteman added touchdown passes of 30 and 5 yards to give the Lawmen a 21-7 lead at halftime.
“He’s awesome,” Law head coach Ryan Pearson said. “He’s a hard worker. He’s earned all of this stuff, all of the credit he’s gotten.”
Witteman continued his production in the second half with touchdown passes of 46 and 70 yards and his touchdown run.
Then, Shelton made a comeback. The Gaels were without starting quarterback Jackson Hyner in the first half due to a team-related issue, and the Gaels’ offense struggled without him. When Hyner returned in the second half, Shelton stormed back by scoring 21 unanswered points after being down 41-14 midway through the third quarter.
“Third quarter, we started out hot, but got brought back to life a little bit,” Pearson said. “It’s good to see our kids fight to the very end, but I’d like to see it get a little cleaner.”
Hyner scored on a 26-yard touchdown run to make the score 41-21. Then, Shelton’s defense made a crucial stop after struggling against Law’s offense for much of the game.
After a bad snap on a Law punt gave Shelton the ball inside Law’s 30-yard line, the Gaels put together a short drive capped by a 1-yard touchdown run by St. Pierre.
Shelton came up big defensively again by getting an interception and forcing a fumble on back-to-back drives. After the fumble, Hyner connected with Evan Boutellier for a 23-yard TD pass, making it 41-35.
“We started falling apart a little bit, but I brought all the guys together and made sure we were on the same page,” Witteman said.
Shelton had a chance to take the lead with less than two minutes left in the fourth quarter, but the Lawmen’s defense was able to make the fourth-down stop. Law was able to run the clock out after a Shelton penalty gave it a first down.
Law, which improved to 5-2, hosts North Haven next Friday at 7 p.m., while Shelton (4-3) plays at Notre Dame-West Haven at 6:30 p.m.
Player of the Game
Matthew Witteman, Jonathan Law: Witteman accounted for six touchdowns, including five in the air to five different receivers.
Quotable
“We just got to keep getting better every week. We don’t really get much rest from here. We got a tough North Haven team and a Lyman Hall team that’s rocking right now, and you end on Thanksgiving with an in-town rivalry, so let’s just keep getting better and next team up.” – Law head coach Ryan Pearson.
Jonathan Law 41, Shelton 35
JONATHAN LAW 7 14 20 0-41
SHELTON 7 0 14 14-35
S-Cole St. Pierre 1 run (Michael Onofrio kick)
JL-Hunter Kendzierski 7 pass from Matthew Witteman (Aiden Ramos kick)
JL-Seamus Fedigan 30 pass from Witteman (Ramos kick)
JL-Daniel Rascoll 5 pass from Witteman (Ramos kick)
JL-Ali Sura 46 pass from Witteman (Ramos kick)
JL-Witteman 8 run (kick blocked)
S-St. Pierre 18 pass from Jackson Hyner (Onofrio kick)
JL-Reid Moulton 70 pass from Witteman (Ramos kick)
S-Hyner 26 run (Onofrio kick)
S-St. Pierre 1 run (Onofrio kick)
S-Evan Boutellier 23 pass from Hyner (Onofrio kick)
Records: Law 5-2; Shelton 4-3.
This article originally published at Jonathan Law football holds off Shelton comeback as Matthew Witteman accounts for six TDs.
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