By Kim J. Harmon

It was a Friday.

October 10.

And the clock said 7 pm.

Judging from the calendar, there was really nothing unusual about the night or about that moment; it wasn’t the Vernal Equinox or All Hallows Eve or even Columbus Day. But for the Newtown High School sports program, it was the start of one of those great nights where something cool was going on somewhere.

w The football team – with a new quarterback, Josh Rouse, at the helm and everyone desperate for a win – was down in New Milford for the annual Boot Trophy game.

w The undefeated girls’ soccer team was over in Stratford to renew an especially bitter rivalry with Bunnell.

w The swim team was home hosting Pomperaug, the last team with a passing (if not wholly realistic) chance at defeating the undefeated Lady Nighthawks during the dual meet season.

And at the end of the night, a little after 9:30 pm when the final whistle blew on the football field at Joe Wiser Stadium in New Milford, the Newtown High School sports program had three more victories to savor.

Kirch Rushes For 182;

‘Hawks Retain Boot

 

So many things went right last Friday night, that no one player could take credit for the Newtown High School football team’s 14-7 win over New Milford.

When a guy like Kyle Kirch rushes for 182 yards on 27 carries and another guy like Brett Eastman makes two huge interceptions and still another guy like Colin Curran becomes a menace on defense, it seems like everyone had a share of the win.

After the game, though, there were a lot of fingers pointing at Josh Rouse.

A transfer from Immaculate, Rouse stepped onto the field for the first time after sitting out the required four games and somehow – maybe it was him – transformed the Nighthawks into a different football team.

“(Josh) earned the respect of every team member with his work in practice and on the scout team,” said head coach Ken Roberts. “He brings a lot of leadership and the morale has been incredible since he’s been here.”

Even Kirch, who shouldered a massive burden and turned in a career night, was quick to point to Rouse.

“He brought a lot of leadership to the team that we didn’t have before,” he said.

Even though it was not a spectacular night statistically for the new quarterback (49 yards rushing and 23 yards passing), Rouse did lend a new presence to the team in the backfield and that seemed to make all the difference.

It was the Kyle Kirch show early on, though. Running basically the same play nine times in a row, the senior tailback piled up the yards quickly, breaking off runs of 26, 22 and 12 yards in the first half alone.

“We wanted to cut the playbook down to just a few things,” said coach Roberts. “We ran just four plays … and so what? Our ‘O’ line blocked great tonight.”

And with 6:06 left in the second quarter, Kirch got the Nighthawks on the board with a two-yard touchdown plunge. That play, though, would not have been possible if the ‘Hawks had not recovered a fumbled punt return at the close of the first quarter or Rouse had not hit John Collins for 13 yards on a critical fourth-down play.

On its next opportunity, New Milford drove the ball to the Newtown 30 but was forced to give the ball up on downs with 2:57 left in the half. The ‘Hawks took over, but Rouse was intercepted on a deep pass down the sidelines. The ball was brought all the way back to the Newtown 22 and – with 58.6 seconds left – the Green Wave scored on a 22-yard run to take a 7-6 lead.

“Our kids could have folded up,” said coach Roberts, “but they didn’t. I didn’t see an 0-4 team in the locker room.”

On the first play from scrimmage in the third quarter, Kirch – on a toss right, of course – rambled 49 yards deep into New Milford territory. Moments later, with 9:26 left, Rouse had his first touchdown as a Nighthawk on a roll out right. The QB added the two-point conversion run, too, and the ‘Hawks had a 14-7 lead.

“The offensive line did all the work,” said Kirch. “I was just trying to remain focused.”

The Newtown defense was tough the remainder of the night (on a play in the fourth quarter, Curran nearly had the quarterback sacked right after the snap), but it also dodged a bullet when a halfback option pass to a wide-open receiver streaking down the sidelines was a little long.

With under a minute to go, New Milford tried the same halfback option pass … only this time it worked for 55 yards, bringing the Green Wave down to the Newtown 20. But Eastman (who picked off his first pass with three minutes left) picked off a pass at the goal line with 24.7 seconds left.

And that was that.

Newtown had its first win.

The Nighthawks will try to keep the good times rollin’ on Friday when they host a struggling Foran team.

Girls Soccer – Banged

Up, But Unbeaten

Come on – with all that good, young talent is it really that amazing the Newtown High School girls’ soccer team is 12-0-1 after a 3-0 win over New Milford on Tuesday night? Well, considering how just about everyone on the team has been hurt at one time or another …

Yeah.

“It says a lot about or team and the depth that it has,” said co-captain Mary Anders, who scored a goal in the win over New Milford. “We have a lot of girls who can come in and everyone has stepped it up.”

The Lady Nighthawks struggled through a 2-1 win over Bunnell on Friday night in Stratford and then had to suffer through a lackluster first half before finally hammering New Milford.

“We’re so tight,” said Anders, “I think we can work through the little problems.”

After working to a 0-0 draw through the first 40 minutes on Tuesday, Anders scored just four minutes into the second half off an assist from Alex Helfer (the first points scored by the senior since returning to the team last week).

Alex Konneker, Carrie Lipnick and Tara Gaston were having strong games and putting pressure on the New Milford defense. Then, with 28:36 left, Chelsea Morin punched a left-footed shot into the net off an assist from Gaston to put the Lady Nighthawks ahead, 2-0.

And – finally – with 5:37 left to play, Konneker slammed a low, hard shot into the net to close out the scoring.

Last week, the ‘Hawks renewed their bitter rivalry with Bunnell and had to work through some tough times to escape with a 2-1 win.

Becky Corrigan scored the initial goal off an assist from Konneker in the first half, but Bunnell followed up with a goal by Meg Lane to tie the score at 1-1. Konneker scored the game-winner in the second half off an assist from Anders.

The ‘Hawks outshot the Lady Bulldogs, 23-6. Newtown goaltender Kim Allen made five saves.

The ‘Hawks will really test their mettle in closing out the regular season, facing three teams with a combined 25-3-9 record – Joel Barlow (9-0-3) on Thursday, Bethel (5-3-5, with four scoreless ties) next Monday and Masuk (11-0-1) next Wednesday.

“We’re looking to win it all,” said Anders, “and I think we’re saving the best for last.”

Playoffs – The South-West Conference playoffs (with the ‘Hawks currently in possession of the No. 1 seed) will commence on Friday, October 25. The ‘Hawks will host a quarterfinal matchup and then – if successful – will move on to the semi-finals on Tuesday, October 28, at Masuk. The finals are slated for Thursday, October 30, at Joel Barlow.

Just Five More Seconds

For Field Hockey Team

Down 2-1 to Haddam-Killingworth late in the second half, it appeared as if the Newtown High School field hockey team was just moments away from suffering its seventh loss of the season.

And then all of a sudden senior captain Amanda Hadgraft burst past the defense and – with the ball on her stick – had nothing between her and the cage except for the H-K goaltender.

Was overtime possible?

No – as Hadgraft crossed into the circle and the goaltender made her first couple of steps off the end line, time finally expired and H-K (undefeated at the time) had escaped Blue & Gold Stadium with the win.

It was the third time in as many games that the Lady Nighthawks were on the short end of a 2-1 score, but considering two of those games were against Immaculate and H-K (8-0-2) that’s not bad.

Last Saturday, H-K scored a couple of quick goals (one of a penalty corner) to take a 2-0 lead. The ‘Hawks did put pressure on the cage, but did not break through until Amanda Shevlin scored off a corner. Hadgraft tapped the ball into the Shevlin, who hit a shot that rolled along the end line and somehow made it past the goaltender and off a defender’s stick into the goal.

That’s the only goal the ‘Hawks could manage. They managed just one goal on Tuesday afternoon, too, but that was good enough for the ‘Hawks to defeat New Fairfield, 1-0, and improve to 3-7-2.

The ‘Hawks were set to travel to New Milford on Thursday and will host Masuk next Tuesday at Blue & Gold Stadium (Senior Night). They will close out the South-West Conference season next Thursday, October 23, at Pomperaug and then finish out the season Wednesday, October 29, against Shepaug.

Sweep Of Kolbe Puts

Volleyball Team At 7-7

 

The Newtown High School volleyball team was in a real groove when it ran into a powerhouse Bunnell team last Wednesday night. But while a 3-0 loss put a stop to a four-match winning streak, it took the Lady Nighthawks just two days to get back to the business of winning.

With a 3-0 sweep of Kolbe-Cathedral on Friday, the ‘Hawks improved to 7-7 overall and 7-4 in the South-West Conference.

Although Bunnell was 11-1 overall and 10-0 in the SWC at the time, the resurging Nighthawks – who opened the season at 0-5 – played tough, but ultimately fell 25-21, 28-26, 25-19.

Paula Wickman had three kills and six blocks to lead play at the net while Lisa Morgan had 12 assists and two aces. Alia Kemsley had another strong game, finishing with four aces and five digs.

The ‘Hawks came back two days later with a 25-23, 25-21, 25-20 win over Kolbe-Cathedral.

Stephanie Logan was a force in the middle, finishing with 13 kills and a couple of blocks. She also added a pair of aces. Morgan chipped in with three aces and 21 assists while Sarah Holroyd had seven aces and nine digs in a strong performance.

The ‘Hawks were in Milford on Wednesday (after press time) to take on Jonathan Law and will host Bethel on Friday in a 5:15 pm varsity start. They will close out the regular season next week with games against Foran on Monday (in Milford) and Lauralton Hall on Wednesday (Senior Night).

Playoffs – The South-West Conference quarterfinals will commence on Friday or Saturday, October 24 or 25, at the home of the higher ranked teams. The semi-finals are scheduled for Tuesday, October 28, with the finals to follow on Thursday, October 30.

 

New Streak For Boys’

Soccer – Five Wins

There is no doubt that a 1-0 loss suffered to Pomperaug back on September 30 (the first regular season loss in three years) shocked the Newtown High School boys’ soccer team … but apparently it was in a positive way.

Since that loss, the Nighthawks have won five straight games, out-scoring the opposition 25-0 while improving to 10-1-1 on the year. The latest two victims were Bunnell (7-0) and New Milford (5-0).

In the win over Bunnell, Marcus Tracy continued his amazing assault on the net and had a lot of help from a lot of other people. Tracy scored four goals while Justin Miller had a goal and two assists. Rodrigo DeSouza and Chris Hoagland also scored goals while Ben Trigal had a pair of assists. DeSouza, Brian Conroy and Alex Meisel also registered assists.

Luis Ritzinger and Adam Drummond took over the goaltending duties from Andrew Fiscella and recorded a total of five assists. One of those assists came when Drummond stopped a penalty kick in the second half.

In the win over New Milford, Tracy scored four more goals (and now has 28 on the season) to lead the charge. Conroy chipped in with a goal and two assists. Mike Vontobel had a pair of assists and Miles had one. Goaltender Andrew Fiscella had to make just five saves on the night.

The Nighthawks will travel to Redding on Friday to take on Joel Barlow and will return home Monday (against Bethel) and Wednesday (against Masuk – Senior Night) to close out the regular season.

Playoffs – The South-West Conference quarterfinals will commence on Saturday, October 25, at the home of the higher ranked team. The semi-finals will be held Tuesday, October 28, in Newtown with the finals to follow on Thursday, October 30, at Joel Barlow.

Swimmers Pound

Panthers For 9th Win

 

Wow – there doesn’t seem to be anything standing in the way of the Newtown High School swim team.

The Lady Nighthawks improved to 9-0 last Friday with a convincing 114-71 victory over Pomperaug, a team which has always been a nemesis (and a very strong one at that) of the ‘Hawks in the South-West Conference.

The wins are piling up and it appears as if the ‘Hawks have a great shot at finishing the dual meet season undefeated … leading, of course, into the SWC championship meet on Saturday, November 1, at Foran.

Although the ‘Hawks jumped out to a 32-14 lead after three events (Maggie Hemingway taking first in the 200 freestyle and Abby Atkinson taking first in the 200 individual medley), the Lady Panthers narrowed the gap to just four points by the end of diving. Christine McAulay and Melissa Metzger – a former Newtown High diver – went first and second in the event to bring the Panthers close.

But the ‘Hawks just exploded after the short break, with Jen Iassogna, Jenny Cupero and Maricate Conlon sweeping the 100 butterfly to bring the lead back up to 15. After Amy Robinson and Liz Gugino went 1-3 in the 100 freestyle, the lead was 19 points … and growing.

Atkinson (200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke) was a double winner while Hemingway (200 freestyle), Iassogna (100 butterfly), Robinson (100 freestyle) and Carol Ann Smith (100 backstroke) were solo winners. The 200 medley relay of Conlon, Atkinson, Cupero and Robinson and the 400 freestyle relay of Sally Tabler, Gugino, Conlon and Atkinson were also winners.

The ‘Hawks will travel to Flood Middle School in Stratford on Friday to take on Bunnell and New Milford and will be in Monroe next Thursday to close out the dual meet season against Masuk. The SWC championships (at Foran High School in Milford) will commence on Wednesday, October 29, with the diving portion of the meet and conclude on Saturday, November 1, at 3:30 pm.

Girls Cross Country 3rd

At Wickham Invitational

 

As a nifty prelude to the South-West Conference championships (set for Thursday), the Newtown High School girls’ cross country team went out and finished third overall at the 22nd annual Wickham Park Invitational.

Carolyn Brennan was 18th overall at 17:25, the top Newtown finisher. She was followed in by Laura Reid (27th – 17:42), Sadie Ball (41st – 18:04), Caitlin Thursland (46th – 18:16), Leah Herity (60th – 18:31), Emelye Neff (67th – 18:40) and Moira Collier (75th – 18:51).

Kelly Collier was the top Newtown finisher in the junior varsity race, taking 15th at 19:12. She was followed in by Liz Ericson (24th – 19:40), Amy Busko (51st – 20:24) and Quincey Blanchard (81st – 21:04).

And in the freshman race, Ellen Reid was 24th overall at 19:15. She was followed in by Michelle Brennan (34th – 19:44) and Shannon Tredennick (114th – 24:23).