SOUTHBURY — Almost certain the host Pomperaug Panthers were going to rush the football, Newtown High School's defense knew what was coming, right? Well, not exactly. The Panthers' triple-option offense left enough uncertainty that the Panthers were able to churn up yardage and burn time off the clock en route to a 24-7 win over the Nighthawks on a windy September 25 night.

Pomperaug's ground-game offense was its best defense; the Panthers easily possessed the ball for two thirds of the game, if not more, and held onto the pigskin for almost all of the second half, pulling away late in a game that was 12-7 after two quarters of play. This marks the Panthers' first win over Newtown in a decade and a half, spanning a dozen matchups. The Panthers improved to 3-0 and the Nighthawks fell to 1-2 this season.

"Hats off to them. They did a great job. They did a great job possessing the ball in the second half," Newtown Coach Dan Farina said.

The triple-option offense, giving the quarterback two choices, to pitch or hand the ball off, as well as the option to run it himself, was tough on the Nighthawk defense, especially when Panther QB Josh Coughlin did the running. Coughlin carried 18 times for 121 yards and a pair of scores.

"They did a good job running it," Farina said of the Panthers' execution of the triple option.

Newtown's coach also said his defense did a nice job containing the Pomperaug fullback but not the QB. "We didn't tackle the quarterback when we needed to," he said.

A fumble on Newtown's second possession of the night led to the Panthers taking over at the NHS 39 yard line with 3:57 to go in the first quarter. The Panthers converted the turnover into points with their first touchdown just 1:44 later. Newtown's Aidan Calle blocked the extra point kick and it was 6-0 Panthers after one quarter.

Newtown's defense had its moments and kept the Nighthawks in the game early on. The Panthers were knocking on the door — first and goal at the five yard line — and were stymied by the Hawk D. After forcing a turnover on downs, NHS, likewise, was halted and punted from its own end zone. A strong punt return gave the Panthers terrific field position at the NHS 20 with 7:09 left before halftime.

Once again, great field position led to a short drive and quick score as the Panthers doubled their lead with 5:15 to go; Newtown stopped the two-point conversion.

Newtown was limited by the wind but did try to air things out a few times. Quarterback Jack Colonel completed a pass to Andrew Moran for a big gain, and a clutch fourth down conversion kept the drive alive. Facing fourth down and five yards to go at the Panther 30, Colonel completed a pass to Cam Kullgren that turned into a 14-yard gain. Luke Gagnon capped off the drive with a nine-yard rush into the end zone. Spencer Maddox hit the extra point kick and it was 12-7 with 2:46 left in the half.

Neither team scored and both teams traded punts in the third quarter. The game was still within reach for the Hawks past the mid-point of the fourth quarter.

"We fell short. We needed one drive to get us on top and we didn't have it," said Farina, adding that the Newtown offense did not play well overall.

Pomperaug extended its lead to 18-7 with 6:14 left in the contest; the two-point conversion failed. The Hawks attempted some trickery with Colonel passing to Kullgren, who then attempted a pass to Maddox that was slightly overthrown. A turnover on downs led to Pomperaug's final TD.

The Hawks visit defending Class LL State Champion Greenwich Saturday, October 3 at 1 pm.

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