EIGHTH GRADE

Newtown 14, Norwalk 8

 

Cody Fischer forced a fumble and turned another fumble into a touchdown as eighth-graders pinned a 14-8 loss on the Norwalk Packers.

The Newtown defense is quickly making a name for itself, having caused six turnovers in two games. The first of the day last weekend would be recorded on the first play of Norwalk’s second possession. Kyle Vignone, charging from his safety position, stopped the tailback cold and allowed Fischer to quickly rip the ball free. Rory Noonan pounced on the fumble and allowed the Nighthawks to set up their offense on the Norwalk 24.

A few plays later quarterback Will Arndt tossed a touchdown pass to Vignone and Noonan followed with an extra point kick to put the locals on top, 8-0. And then later in the half, Sean Devaney forced a fumble which Fischer scooped and turned into a touchdown to put the ‘Hawks ahead, 14-0.

Matt Datin had a key fumble recovery in the first half.

The second half became a defensive struggle as both teams struggled to move the ball. Devaney made repeated tackles for losses while linebacker Eric McCabe gave a heroic effort to chase down a receiver that had broken free at midfield. McCabe and Rob Franzino shut down the middle of the field and Datin was disruptive defensive tackle.

Noonan and Max Nacewicz – along with Vignone, the safety – dished out some hard hits and made key tackles throughout the game.

Norwalk finally got on the scoreboard late in the fourth quarter and after the ‘Hawks botched a field goal attempt, had the ball with two minutes remaining to stage a scoring drive. But Ryan Korth dashed the Packers’ hopes when he picked off a pass with seconds left to play.

The 2-0 ‘Hawks will host the Ridgefield Raiders this weekend.

SEVENTH GRADE

Newtown 20, Hudson Valley 0

Norwalk 14, Newtown 0

Evan Noonan scored two touchdowns and Sean Ross added another as the seventh-graders blanked Hudson Valley, 20-0.

Ross scored on a 46-yard run and benefited from strong offensive line play from Kevin Dennis, Michael Cascone, Matt Vavrek, Cory Fischer,  Kevin Curry and Robbie Phillips. The defensive was tough, too, as Joe Pierretti, Mario Pizzighelli, Ross and Brendan McNamara anchored the linebacker corps and Nick Pedalino, Matt Madden, Robert Daigle and Matt Sharpe shut down the wideouts and took away the long balls.

Josh Barrett contributed a extra-point run.

The Nighthawks were on the other end of a shutout against Norwalk, 14-0. The offensive line was unable to open up many holes and had its hands full with the blitzing Norwalk defense.

Long Snapper Jeff Grasso and Noonan, the punter, were consistent all day. Barret did a great job kicking deep and backing Norwalk up as much as possible. Andrew Cebry and Sean Ross did a solid job rushing the ball.

SIXTH GRADE

Southern Dutchess 6, Newtown 0

Danny Hebert and Max Lopez rushed the ball well, but the sixth-graders had a tough time in the red zone against a large Southern Dutchess line and dropped a 6-0 decision.

Josh Villa also ran well and KC Condon caught a 12-yard pass for a big first down to spark the offense. On defense, the Nighthawks gave up a touchdown on the first drive of the game and then tightened up to keep the Packers out of the end zone for the rest of the game. Kevin Shpunt, Brian Kruger  Christian Barrett and Kory Kling all came up with big tackles to stop drives while Phillip Reynolds recovered a fumble to stop another drive.

The locals will host Ridgefield, at Hawley Field, on Sunday. Kick off is 10 am.

FIFTH GRADE

Newtown 32, Ridgefield Black 7

Chase Wurtz scored on a 55-yard run on the first play from scrimmage, setting the tone as the fifth-graders pounded the Ridgefield Raiders Black, 32-7, in the Nighthawks’ home opener last weekend at Hawley Field.

Quarterback Drew Tarantino and the offensive line of Connor Noonan, Matt White, Grant Shaw, Jimmy Leidlein, Patrick Afriyie, Tommy Gleason and Nick Strokis had exceptional performances to lead the way.

After Wurtz scored the opening touchdown (with Tarantino hitting Nick Strokis for the PAT), the ‘Hawks later converted a Ridgefield fumble into a touchdown when Wurtz rushed into the end zone again, this time from 10 yards out.

Ridgefield scored early in the second to pull to within six, but the rest of the game belonged to the ‘Hawks. Julian Dunn scored on a 25-yard gallop around the right end to close out the scoring in the first half and then opened the second half with a 20-yard touchdown to put the locals ahead, 26-7.

Cooper Gold finished things off with a seven-yard touchdown up the middle.

Tarantino added another conversion pass along the way, hitting Noonan, after Dunn’s second-half TD.

Jason Savoca, Matt Bouton, Matt Hoyt and Andrew Derrikson turned in solid performances on special teams.

FOURTH GRADE

Newtown 31, Ridgefield 0

Newtown 20, Norwalk 12

The fourth-graders were not fooling around when they put together a five-touchdown performance last weekend in a 31-0 win over Ridgefield. All the TDs were generating by the rushing attack and none went less than 15 yards.

Nick Lotrecchiano scored on scampers of 40 and 65 yards while Jaret DeVellis scored from 55 yards out and Nolan Fisher scored from 50 yards out. Max Rucinski had the shortest TD of the day on a 15-yard jolt.

Troy Frangione had an outstanding day at quarterback while Stephen Grasso, Jake Lambert, Markus Elkin, Griffin Davis, Nick Rubino, Ryan Szalay, Erik Street and Eric Cascone dominated the offensive line.

Big Bubba Condon punched out the only PAT of the game to close out the scoring for the young Hawks.

The defense – led by Colton Smith, Michael Cirone and Stephen Grasso – allowed just three first downs on the day. Shane Quimby and Jacob Burden played well in the secondary.

The win came after a season-opening 20-12 victory over Norwalk. Lotrecchiano, Smith and DeVellis combined for 250 rushing yards with Smith scoring twice and Lotrecchiano once. Condon anchored the offensive line.

Fisher had a key 25-yard run to keep a drive alive in the fourth quarter.

On defense, Lambert, Grasso and Elkin stuffed the Raven offense for most of the game while Rucinski sealed the Raven fate with a TD saving open field tackle.

The locals will host Ridgefield this weekend for their home opener.

79ERS GOLD

Newtown 13, Ridgefield Orange 6

Mike Doyle scored two touchdowns – the second with just seconds left on the clock – to lift Newtown to a 13-6 win over Ridgefield.

Ridgefield scored on its opening drive, but the Newtown defense allowed just two first downs the rest of the way. Matt Elias and Trevor Lopez controlled the outside while Ryan Sullivan and Mike Dutsar shutdown the inside. Justin Dunn and Tim Mammen shot the gaps, causing confusion in the Orange backfield.

The offense sputtered in the first half, leaving several scoring opportunities unfulfilled. But in the second half, quarterback Matt Maturo got the offense started with a seven-yard pass to Steve “Fax” Faxlanger. The offensive line, anchored by Kyle Mangold and Ryan Shaw, opened holes for Doyle’s first touchdown of the game, a 40 yard blast off the left side.

Later, Colin Thies scampered 20 yards to set up the Gold at the Ridgefield 45. The locals churned out 41 more yards to get to the Ridgefield four with seconds remaining and on fourth down, Doyle went off the right side for the winning touchdown.

Doyle then added the extra point to close out the win.