Grade 4

Newtown 47, Monroe 13.The fourth grade Newtown Nighthawks football team opened up the season against Monroe and came away with a dominating victory. Monroe got on the board early with a touchdown to start the game for a 7-0 lead, but it would be downhill from there for the Lions. Newtown answered quickly on a 21-yard touchdown run by Luke Hannan. Jeffrey Garrity ran in the extra point to tie the game. Newtown took the lead for good on its next possession when the team opened up the passing game.

QB Jack Street hit Shaine Luzietti, who broke multiple tackles for a 21-yard touchdown reception to give Newtown a 13-7 lead. Newtown pounded the running game on their next possession with strong runs up the middle by running back Eric Burbank. Jeffrey Garrity capped off the drive with a 6-yard run to give the Nighthawks a 19-7 lead at the half.

Newtown scored on its first possession of the second half when Luke Hannan outraced the Monroe defense for a 25-yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 25-7. Monroe’s offense was sent back to the sidelines after a leaping interception by Michael Haddick. Behind the blocking of TJ O’Connell, Aiden Foss, Anthony Dorazio, Nick Adams, Jameson Pears and Colton Stergue, running back CJ Demers scored Newtown’s fifth TD of the day on a 38-yard run. Jeffrey Garrity kicked the 2-point conversion to extend the lead to 33-7. Mathew Carpenter gave the Newtown offense back the ball with the Nighthawks second interception of the day. Carpenter then scored on a 37-yard run on the next drive to extend the lead to 39-7. Monroe answered back to make the score 39-13. Two plays later Garrity took it 50 yards to the house and kicked the 2-point conversion to close out the 47-13 victory.

Grade 5

Newtown 40, Bethel 13: Newtown took control of the game from the start. After receiving the kickoff, Jack Kuligowski broke the first play from scrimmage for a 55-yard touchdown. Jared Dunn then pinned Bethel deep in their own territory with a booming kickoff and after the defense held, Newtown was back to work on offense. It only took three plays before JP Iaraopoli hit Luke Wellman for a 20-yard TD pass. On the ensuing kickoff, Matt Bradbury quickly pounced on the kick to give Newtown back the ball. The Nighthawks drove the ball deep into Bobcat territory, but were denied just short of the goal line. Bethel took over on their own 3 yard line and tried to get something going with a risky pass play, but Jack Zingaro was in tight coverage and swooped in to grab the Bobcat pass and took in the interception for a touchdown, making the score 20-0.

Jared Dunn added touchdown runs of 5 and 35 yards and Jack Mulligan scored on a beautiful 32-yard reception from Iaraopoli to close out the scoring. The offense racked up 210 rushing yards and 104 passing yards, including the bruising running of Ben Pinto and Owen Meeker who helped the Nighthawks burn the clock. Jacob Riley was outstanding at center, filling in for the ailing Kyle Good.

The defense was equally dominant in shutting down Bethel. The shorthanded and overmatched Bobcats broke several big plays to get in the scoring column, but the hard-hitting Eamon Doherty (with 6 tackles) and Kevin Curry (5) led the Nighthawk defense. Miles Ricks led the special teams play with punishing hits on the Bobcat return men.

Grade 6

Nighthawks 30, Bobcats 0. Taylor Field hosted the Sixth Grade season opener Sunday morning against the Bethel Bobcats. The Nighthawk game captains were Connor Hughes, Jack Hannan, Kyle Cascone, and Gavin Connors. First quarter action saw Griffin Cross scoring the first of his two touchdowns and Shea Talbot booting the extra point. On the next play, Talbot recovered his own onside kick to end the quarter. A steady diet of Kyle Burbank to the right, aided by big runs from first year player Jack Kuhn, resulted in a touchdown. Talbot nailed the extra point. Reed Hammond made short work of the Bobcat line and had more than a few backfield tackles. The defense stepped up big by pinning the Bobcats on their 5 yard line, which led to a Kyle Cascone, Matthew Dubois, and John Albanesi safety to end the half with the score 18-0.

Tucker Garrity’s sweep left netted huge yards, and Cross ran in his second of the day to bring the score to 0-24. A botched snap and aggressive play from the Bobcat defense stymied the extra point attempt. Kuhn took a Ben Talbot hand-off the distance for the Nighthawk’s final score of the game; Talbot took a knee on the extra point attempt. Other notable plays of the game included a monster Luke Melillo to Gavin Connors connection, bone jarring hits from Daniel Mason, backfield tackles from Brandon Giglio, and a clutch last-man-to-beat stop by Shane Demers. Ryan Berard, Asani Vessup, Easton Ricks , Joseph Pagett, and Tyler Clure saw action as well. The Nighthawks improve to 1-0 and face Oxford away next Sunday at 10.

Grade 7

Newtown 36, Bethel 0: The Seventh Grade Nighthawks opened their 2012 season in grand style with a big win over the Bethel Bobcats. The Nighthawks were able to put points on the board in all facets of the game. Bethel won the coin toss and elected to receive the opening kickoff. The Bethel offense was able to move the ball to the Newtown 45 before strong defensive plays by Doug Carriero and Josh Dunn set up Bethel with a fourth and long. Bethel opted to go for it on fourth down but defensive end Connor Marlin burst through and tackled the runner for a 6-yard loss, setting the Newtown offense up on the Bethel side of the field.

On Newtown’s fourth play from scrimmage Ryan Kost completed a screen pass to C.J. Shambelan, who ran the ball 35 yards to the end zone for Newtown’s first score of the season. The Newtown defense refused to yield a first down to Bethel on the next series, in part thanks to a tackle by Doug Carriero in the Bethel backfield.

After a failed fourth down attempt by Bethel the Newtown offense set up on the Bethel 39 yard line. On the second play of the drive Simon Preston was able to break outside and run for 31 yards for Newtown’s second touchdown of the day. With a successful point after attempt, Newtown was up 14-0.

The second quarter started with Bethel mishandling a handoff, resulting in a fumble that was recovered by David Daria. Once again the Newtown offense set up in Bethel territory. On the third play of the ensuing drive Ryan Kost completed a short pass to Josh Dunn, who ran the ball in for another Newtown touchdown. After tacking on the extra point Newtown was up 21-0.

On the next drive the Bethel offense was able to make a strong push, driving the ball down into the Red Zone.

Strong defensive play by Michael Garner and Ethan Tousiant left the Bethel team with a fourth down. Bethel decided to go for it but Mark Hall and Connor Marlin were able to combine for a tackle to get the ball back in the hands of the Newtown Offense. Newtown ended the half with the ball and a 21-0 lead.

David Daria took the opening kickoff of the second half and ran 70 yards for a touchdown. With the extra point Newtown extended their lead to 28. After the kickoff the Bethel offense came back on the field looking for a spark to get back in the game. Pressure on the Bethel quarterback by Jacob Duffy forced a bad throw that was intercepted by Liam Deakin, who ran the ball for a pick 6 and finishing the scoring for the day.

Grade 8

Ansonia 8, Newtown 7: The Newtown 8th grade football team started the season off with against the Ansonia Coppers on Sunday afternoon at Taylor Field. After a stop by the Newtown defense to open the game the offense got to work on a long drive. The run game was clicking with rushes by Ben Mason, Colin McCafferty, and Ryan Marusi. Newtown moved the ball down to the Ansonia 20 yard line but the drive was stopped with a fumble. Ansonia then put together a long drive of its own; marching down to the Newtown 10 yard line in 15 plays.

The Newtown Defense, led by Mason, Adam Bell, and Jack Phelps, stopped Ansonia there. A Newtown pass from quarterback Patrick Conte to Hunter Cobb for 25 yards highlighted the next series but a holding penalty and sack caused the drive to stall in Ansonia territory. The two teams battled to a scoreless halftime. In the second half a Hunter Cobb fumble recovery gave Newtown the ball at its own 45 yard line. A pair of receptions by Steven Moccio from Conte had Newtown inside the Ansonia 5 yard line. From there it was Mitchell Savoca scoring on a 3 yard run. Again, Conte to Moccio was the connection for the extra point and Newtown had a 7-0 lead. Strong blocking on the drive from Bell, Thomas Long, Sam Pellicone, Sean Wallace, and Mitch Long helped the Nighthawks down the field on the scoring drive.

The Newtown defense held on the next Ansonia possession but a 50 yard punt by the Coppers pinned the Nighthawks inside the 10 yard line. A three and out and short punt gave Ansonia a short field on the next possession. A couple of plays later Ansonia found the end zone and with the 2 point kick took the lead, 8-7 with 2:02 left in the third quarter. The teams played tough defense in the fourth quarter and neither team could really get any offense going.

A late last drive effort for the Nighthawks ended with an Ansonia interception which preserved the victory for the visitors.