By Kim J. Harmon

In the old comic strip Shoe, Perfesser Cosmo Fishhawk was writing up the football scores and, at one point, had such trouble finding the right verb that he was forced to make one up.

Dekreneflicate.

That word works as well as any other describing the nearly indescribable way the Nighthawks crushed the Lions of Foran, 50-20, while looking – at times – just a little bit uninspired one week after a huge win over Immaculate.

“I don’t think we came out as fired up as we should have,” said senior Kyle Tobin, who scorched the Foran defense for 252 yards (239 in the first half alone) and four touchdowns. “It took us a while to get started.”

A little while, really. The Nighthawks, after all, did score on their first drive when Adam Hayden (7 carries, 138 yards) reached the end zone on a two-yard burst with 6:11 left in the first quarter.

But it was an eerily quiet sideline on the Nighthawks’ side of the field – quiet, that is, until Tobin (who scampered 50 yards on Newtown’s first play from scrimmage) raced through a gaping hole off tackle with 2:29 left in the first period and scored 32 yards later.

Then the ‘Hawks were okay.

More than okay.

That lead was extended to 20-0 with 11:31 left in the second period when Jon Werbeck intercepted a ball at the 13 yard line and took it back 87 yards for a touchdown (Matt Saunders caught the two-point conversion pass).

Foran trimmed the lead to 20-6 when Kelsey Cabral took the first handoff once the Lions got the ball back and took it 63 yards through the ‘Hawk defense for a touchdown.

But much in the manner of the Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em robots, Tobin took the first handoff once the ‘Hawks got the ball back and ran 41 yards with it before being taken down at the Foran 36 yard line. Eight plays later, with 6:45 left in the half, Tobin was jogging three yards through the line for the touchdown and a 28-6 Newtown lead.

It didn’t take nearly that long the next time the ‘Hawks had the ball.

Just one play, actually.

With slightly more than two minutes to go in the half, Tobin took the ball on his own 21 yard line and danced through one of the stunning runs of the 2000 season. He started with the pitch, cutting up the middle, juking right to the sidelines for about 20 yards, dodging and sliding left to the first hash mark, and then straight down the rest of the way for the score.

It brings to mind what Hall of Fame quarterback Norm Van Brocklin said of Elroy ‘Crazy Legs’ Hirsch, “You’ve heard of people who zig or zag. Well, Elroy also had a zog and a couple of zugs.”

With the touchdown, Newtown led 36-6.

But was hardly finished.

Pete Engel picked off a Foran pass moments later to set the Newtown offense up on its own 33. It was Nick Savino’s chance to earn a little face time in the spotlight, first going seven yards on a reverse, tossing a 25-yard option pass to Saunders, and then catching a 23-yard pass from Rich Petretti. It was Petretti who finished off the drive with 14.2 seconds left in the half, giving the ‘Hawks a shocking 44-6 lead with a three-yard touchdown run.

Tobin would get just four more carries the rest of the way (one of those was a five-yard touchdown run with 9:47 left in the third quarter) and Hayden would get just two more.

Hayden’s first carry of the second half went for 38 yards. His second (after Foran scored on a 93-yard run by Chris Morse) went for 90 yards and both of those accounted for the majority of the 138 yards the senior would accumulate on the night.

After the 90-yard run, a magnificent effort that saw Hayden stopped three times at the line before finally breaking free. He went from the six yard line to the four yard line at the other end of the field.

Most of the starters were done at that point.

From then, it was a chance for guys like Tom Ryan, Kevin Whipkey, Shawn Gleason, Kyle Nowak, Sean Speer and Steve Santanello to run with the football. Whipkey had the best run of all, a 25-yard effort, but ultimately nothing came of it.

No, the only scoring left in this one was a 40-yard touchdown catch by Morse with 8:33 left in the fourth quarter, but by then it was too late to matter at all.

With the win, the ‘Hawks went to 7-1 but still needed Bunnell or Masuk to lose in order to give them a chance at a berth in the South-West Conference championship. Neither did, as Bunnell defeated Pomperaug and Masuk defeated New Milford.

Now, the only hope the ‘Hawks have is if Bunnell defeats Masuk next weekend (and the ‘Hawks defeat New Milford), for if Newtown and Masuk are tied at 7-1, the ‘Hawks would get the bid based on strength of schedule.

The SWC championship would be Friday, November 17.

 

Foran 0       6       6       8       - 20

Newtown     12     32     6       0       - 50

 

I.      First Quarter

N – Hayden, 2-yard run (pass failed)

N – Tobin, 32-yard run (pass failed)

I.      Second Quarter

N – Werbeck, 87 yard interception return (Petretti pass to Saunders)

F – Kelsey Cabral, 63-yard run (kick failed)

N – Tobin, 3-yard run (Hayden pass to McCarthy)

N – Tobin, 79-yard run (Petretti pass to McCarthy)

N – Petretti, 3-yard run (Tobin run)

Third Quarter

N – Tobin, 5-yard run (kick failed)

F – Chris Morse, 93-yard run (pass failed)

Fourth Quarter

F – Chris Morse, 40-yard catch  (pass good)

 

Individual Statistics

 

RUSH ATT  YDS   TD

Kyle Tobin    16      262     4

Adam Hayden 7        138     1

Kevin Whipkey        4        21      0

Matt Saunders         1        9        0

Nick Savino    1        7        0

Sean Speer    3        4        0

Rich Petretti  1        3        1

Shawn Gleason         1        1        0

Kyle Nowak   1        0        0

Steve Santanello       2        0        0

Totals        37     435    6

 

        CMP  ATT  YDS   TD

Rich Petretti  2        4        38      0

Nick Savino    1        1        25      0

Totals        3       5       63     0

 

RECEIVING REC  YDS   TD

Matt Saunders         1        25      0

Nick Savino    1        23      0

Matt McCarthy        1        15      0

Totals        3       63     0