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Like Xavier had to do Friday night, Middletown was forced to deal with the absence of a key player. Xavier was missing Amari Spievey due to injury and the Falcons persevered. Middletown was forced to go without their starting quarterback, Antiwon Carr, who managed to get himself suspended for an in-school infraction, and the Dragons also overcame adversity.
MHS did that with a clutch performance from running back Korey Speller, who was switched to quarterback a couple days ago.
"I thought Korey was great," said Middletown coach Eric Marszalek. "It was just this week that he had taken any snaps. He made some mistakes that you’d expect from a kid who never played quarterback, but he did some great things, too."
Speller was 8-for-19 for 89 yards, and should have had better stats, but four of his passes were dropped, including a sure touchdown pass to Mike Bradley. He was also Middletown’s leading rusher with 83 yards in 17 carries.
"I was very happy with our effort today," said Marszalek. "We played very hard. There wasn’t much not to like today. I’m very pleased."
Middletown led all the way and took a 31-8 lead into the fourth quarter. Enfield made it interesting, converting a failed fourth down attempt by MHS in the middle of the field into a touchdown, and converting an interception into another score with 3:53 left in the game.
Enfield had the statistical edge, 262 to 242 yards, but 133 of those yards came in the fourth quarter after Enfield found itself down by 23 points.
Middletown took a 2-0 lead on a safety when the ball was snapped over punter Bob Caplette’s head and through the end zone with 8.8 seconds left in the first quarter. Middletown immediately made it 9-0 when Speller ran 53 yards for a touchdown on the first play from scrimmage following the free kick.
The Blue Dragons took a 16-0 lead on Speller’s eight-yard run that capped a six-play, 55-yard drive at the 6:47 mark of the second quarter. But Enfield briefly got back in the game on a 64-yard run by Jaime Smith and a two-point conversion run some 65 seconds later.
MHS answered that score with a pretty 24-yard TD pass from Speller to Bradley with 1:41 left in the half, a score that was set up when Bill McGarrah blocked a punt deep in Enfield territory. With a penalty on the PAT, Marszalek opted for the two-point conversion and got it on a dive by Speller.
Middletown seemingly put the game away with four minutes to go in the third when Andre Privott returned a punt 94 yards for a touchdown. Hettrich’s kick made it 31-8. But in the fourth, Enfield scored on a 47-yard pass from Dan Pliszka to Dom Lindo at 10:14, then scored again on a 19-yard pass from Pete Kelley to Lindo at 3:53.
Enfield got the ball back with a minute and half left on a fumble, but Ephraim Watson picked off a pass with seconds left to end the Raiders last drive.
"We didn’t quit; we have big play capability," said Enfield coach Jay Gaucher. "But we have to get better. Our special teams took the day off today. We had a punt blocked that led to a touchdown and we gave up a touchdown on a punt return. Those were two big plays."
Marszalek surprised Enfield when he went for the first down at midfield early in the game -- it worked -- and he continued to do it, only punting deep in his own territory and on fourth and long.
"I want to be aggressive," he said. "I want my kids to know that being aggressive is a good thing and I think when I’m aggressive, it sets a tone. We’re a young team that’s trying to figure out how to play football and that’s one of the things I’m teaching them."
Middletown (1-0) is home with Farmington Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
