BY JERRY LIPTAK

Pembroke Academy stunned its fans and, more importantly, visiting Portsmouth with a late-game defensive stop and subsequent touchdown, beating the Clippers, 14-10, on Saturday, Sept. 8.

Portsmouth led the Spartans, 10-7, when it reached the PA 5-yard line in the fourth quarter. But four straight stops by the locals – three by Justin Muniz and the last by Ben Mitchell – turned the ball over to Pembroke.

Two plays later, with less than two minutes remaining on the clock, Muniz ran past the cornerback and behind the safety, hauling in a strike from scrambling quarterback John Natalizio near midfield and running for the 83-yard touchdown.

Pat McCormack kicked the second of his two extra points to account for the final score.

However, the game wasn’t secured until captain Doug Merrill intercepted a fourth-down pass to stop the visitors’ last-gasp drive.

Natalizio hooked up with Mitchell in the first quarter for a 73-yard touchdown, with Mitchell catching the ball 15 yards downfield and racing into the end zone.

Merrill rushed for 45 yards on eight carries, and Natalizio added 25 yards on the ground and 171 through the air.

Mitchell’s fourth-quarter, fourth-down stop, said PA head coach Dave Tremblay, was the direct result of outside linebacker Vince Verrechia’s stuffing Portsmouth’s lead blocker.

Muniz returned a kick 27 yards and recovered a fumble caused by Jon-Michael Gattuso on the 5-yard line.

Tremblay also credited Dakota Arsenault, Nathan Huntley, captain Brian Juranty, Nathan Langone, Mike Berthiume and Jose Alicia with solid defensive efforts.

The win moves the Spartans to 1-1 as they prepare for homecoming against 0-2 Kingswood on Saturday, Sept. 15, at 1:30 p.m.

“Everyone keeps saying how small we are, how young we are and how slow we are. Our kids don’t see it that way,” said Tremblay. “This is our homecoming week. The support from the students and faculty has been outstanding this season. Our boys will be ready for Saturday, I have no doubt.”