Before we know it the Blue & Gold Stadium stands will be packed for Friday night football, the tackles and touchdown celebrations accompanied by halftime cheer and dance routines, along with the band and color guard performances. But, before all of the pomp and circumstance, there is a lot of work to do on the gridiron as members of the Newtown High School football team work on their plays, not to mention endurance, strength-building, and stamina.

Throughout the summer the Nighthawks lace up their cleats, take on the heat — beating it as best as possible with early-morning workouts — and practice ... and practice some more. They also work out in the weight room and participate in tournaments so they are ready to beat the competition on any given football Friday.

“Football’s not easy. It’s hard and if you love it — it’s worth it. You learn a lot of life lessons, how to handle things,” said Newtown Coach Dan Farina, alluding to work paying dividends and overcoming obstacles to succeed.

The coach added that he is pleased with the attendance, how the players are taking care of their bodies, their attitudes, and attention to detail.

“It’s just a really good atmosphere our seniors have created,” Farina said of 15 senior leaders in the fold.

The Nighthawks will have some new starters, led by quarterback Marcus Gerace, a standout three-sport athletes (lacrosse and basketball) who got some varsity game snaps off the bench last fall and was the holder for kicks. The team also returns many talented players and, as always, expects to be in the mix among top conference teams — if not the best in the South-West Conference — and one of the state playoff qualifiers.

The team members will get into pads later in August and begin contact drills as they get closer to the start of the campaign. In the meantime there has been lots of conditioning and going over the X’s and O’s.

“So hopefully by the time we get there it’s a seamless transition into game week,” Farina said.

Week one is a Friday, September 12, rematch with New Canaan when the FCIAC’s Rams — the Class L State Champions — come to Newtown for a 7 pm kickoff. Last fall, the host Rams ended Newtown’s stellar season in the state semifinals.

“We’re really excited,” Farina said about the start to the slate.

Newtown will also face Windsor in their only other crossover contest. The rest of the schedule is against familiar SWC foes and it is a tough one. Masuk of Monroe, which beat Windsor for the Class MM title, and Class M runner-up Brookfield await the Hawks. And there is a matchup with Class MM semifinalist Bunnell of Stratford. New Milford might be another challenging foe, Farina believes. The rest of the slate includes Stratford, Weston, Bethel, and Notre Dame Prep.

“We’ve got a good schedule with good teams on it. That’s what we want — we want to play the best teams. We feel like we’re going to compete and we’re going to do our best to compete,” Farina said.

And the Hawks hope to continue competing into the month of December when the state playoffs unfold.

Sports Editor Andy Hutchison can be reached at andyh@thebee.com.