Plenty Of ‘Thunder And Lightning’ For Hawk Gridders In Win Over Weston

By Andy Hutchison

Louis Fenaroli scored four touchdowns and ran for 189 yards, Dan Hebert added a 85-yard punt return for a score, and the always-stingy defense did the rest as the Newtown High School football team trounced visiting Weston 41-7 at Blue and Gold Stadium on October 1.

The unusual afternoon game was originally scheduled for the rainy Friday night before, but was postponed because of lightning.

No lights needed for this day game, but Newtown lit up the scoreboard to the tune of 41 points for the second consecutive week (the Nighthawks had blanked Immaculate of Danbury 41-0 in the home opener). And there was even some “thunder and lightning” on the field. As Newtown High School Coach Steve George pointed out, “It’s a real nice thunder and lightning combination we have with [Fenaroli] and Hebert together.”

Fenaroli was handed the ball 26 times and almost single-handedly ran through, and over, Weston’s defense, accounting for all but 52 of Newtown’s yards on the ground.

“He’s just worked so hard in the offseason and he really wants to be the best he can be — so he’s put the time in the weight room and it’s showing off right now,” George said. “Even when we’re not blocking people he just runs ’em over.”

Considering the 5-foot-10, 225-pound Fenaroli often rumbles his way for yardage, it’s pretty safe to say the running back/linebacker is the “thunder” part of the equation. Hebert, a 5-9, 170 receiver/defensive back, puts flashes of speed on display during punt returns and to run down throws from quarterbacks — be it Newtown QB Greg Frattaroli or opposing quarterbacks (he had two interceptions against Weston), thus he is the “lightning.”

A battle of early unbeatens in the South-West Conference, the contest turned into a rout early on and Newtown improved to 3-0 heading into Thursday’s scheduled clash with Pomperaug in Southbury (after The Bee went to press). Weston, meanwhile, fell to 2-1. The Hawks have scored 115 points in their three wins.

The Nighthawks took an early 14-0 lead behind — who else? — Fenaroli and Hebert. Fenaroli scored on an 18-yard run to open the scoring and Hebert returned a first-quarter punt 85 yards to pay dirt for a 14-0 cushion.

Weston appeared to get back into the game after a 65-yard scoring play between quarterback Tyler Hassett and Justin Schaffer late in the opening half. Moments later, the visiting Trojans got the ball back on a turnover near midfield but, three plays later, Newtown’s Chris Devaney had a 48-yard interception return to the Weston two yard line to set up a Fenaroli score as Newtown reclaimed its two-touchdown lead heading into halftime. Devaney also had four tackles.

Less than a minute into the second half, Newtown defensive lineman Hunter Bassett pounced on a fumble at the Weston 15 and on the next play, Fenaroli cashed in with another score. Defensive lineman Mike Lengel pulled went up and pulled the ball away from a Weston receiver and ran it back 27 yards for another score for a 34-7 cushion heading into the fourth quarter. Fenaroli added a 31-yard touchdown run in the fourth.

Hebert made three tackles and contributed on offense with seven carries for 39 yards and a pair of receptions for 32 yards. Newtown kicker Jake Tolson made five extra point attempts. He almost connected with a teammate for a two-point conversion on a botched extra point snap and hold.

The Nighthawks racked up six quarterback sacks for a total of minus 33 yards. Andrew Cebry had a QB sack for minus-seven yards, Cory Fisher had four tackles and a sack for minus four, Mike Lord had three tackles and a sack for minus six, Collin Gage had two sacks for minus 12, and Josh Krapf got to the opposing QB for a loss of three. Jack Kearney had three tackles on special teams. Jamie Horosko and KC Condon had fumble recoveries, Lengel had four tackles, and Bassett also had four tackles to go along with his fumble recovery.

Despite all of the success Newtown had, there was still some room for improvement in the eyes of George. After all, the Nighthawks did commit a small handful of turnovers that could prove costly against tougher competition.

“We have a lot of things we need to work on. We can’t turn the ball over four times, like we did, next week or we’ll have some problems. And we need to throw the ball a little better, so we’re going to work on those two things this week and hopefully we’ll have a good game [Thursday],” George said.

The Nighthawks and Pomperaug Panthers both entered the game with unbeaten marks. Next up for Newtown is the first of two consecutive home games when New Milford visits Blue & Gold for a 7 pm kickoff on October 14.