79ers

Newtown 33, Norwalk 20: The Newtown Nighthawks took their top-ranked offense to Norwalk High School on Saturday to face a Norwalk defense that had allowed only three touchdowns over six games. Newtown’s offense racked up more than 300 yards on the day and found the end zone five times. The scoring started on Newtown’s second drive of the day. Long runs by Shaine Luzietti, CJ Demers, Jeffrey Garrity, and quarterback Jack Street gave Newtown a first and goal from the Norwalk 1 yard line. Behind an offensive line that has dominated opposing defenses all season, Luzietti barreled his way into the end zone to give Newtown a 6-0 lead. Norwalk answered quickly on a long run to take the lead 7-6. Newtown’s offense wasted no time in answering. In his second game back from a broken collar bone, Luke Hannan took a half back toss around the right side, outracing the Norwalk defense 59 yards to regain the lead 12-7. Newtown’s dominating defense led by Michael Haddick, Luzietti, CJ Demers, Aiden Foss, Carlos Contreras, Garrity, Jack Street, Nick Fischer, Jake Dandrea, Nevin Bell-Hill, James Iarpoli, Eric Burbank, and Zach Reilly showed why they are the leagues best D in quickly dispatching the Norwalk offense on their next drive giving the ball back to the offense. Newtown took only four plays on their next drive to find the end zone. A QB keeper by Street netted 11 yards and a power run up the middle by Luzietti added 9 more. Street then took to the air, hitting Garrity on an acrobatic catch and run for a 23-yard completion to give the Nighthawks a first and goal at the Norwalk 1. Once again, Luzietti would pound it in for his second score of the day extending the lead to 19-7. Norwalk struck back on another long run to close the lead to 19-13 before the end of the first half.

The Nighthawks offense took the field to start the second half looking to extend the lead. Behind the offensive line led by Grant Baker, Nick Sabillon , Zach Reilly, Trevor Jacozzi, Anthony Dorazio, Ian Kennedy, Julian Crone, TJ O’Connell, Tommy Gies, and William Wallace, they methodically moved the ball deep into Norwalk territory. Great runs by Demers and Garrity set up a first and goal at the Norwalk 8. Luzietti took the next handoff to the house for his third TD of the day and added on the extra point to give Newtown a 26-13 lead. Newtown’s defense held the Norwalk offense at bay for the remainder of the quarter with great tackles by Dandrea, Haddick, and Demers. Norwalk scored on their third long run of the game to start the fourth quarter and narrowed the lead to 26-20. Newtown’s offense looked to close the game out and went back to Garrity and Luzietti who combined for 60 yards on the ground on the drive. Garrity put the game out of reach with a 15-yard touchdown run. Jake Dandrea tacked on the extra point to give Newtown a 33-20 lead. After forcing the Norwalk offense to punt with only a few minutes left in the game, Newtown ran out the clock to preserve the undefeated regular season and handed Norwalk its first loss of the year.

Grade 4

Newtown 20, Aspetuck Wildcats 7: Heading into next week’s first round playoff matchup, the rubber game with the Shelton Seahawks, the Nighthawks put together a total team effort in beating the Aspetuck Wildcats. The Newtown offense did not waste any time, taking the opening kickoff to jump out to the early lead. Connor Moran capped off the 56-yard drive with a two-yard bootleg run for a TD. The drive featured the hard running of Jared Dunn and the heads-up play of Jack Mulligan, who scooped up a loose ball and scampered 24 yards. After the defense stiffened and Newtown took over on downs, on their own 20 yard line, the offense went back to work. This time, on a third and long, JP Iarapoli hit Matthew Bradbury over the middle, and Bradbury used his speed and nifty moves to outrace the Wildcat defenders for a 78-yard TD. As he did on the first TD, Connor Haywood added the extra point to make it 14-0.

Newtown padded the lead early in the second half when Dunn broke free for a 53-yard TD, to cap off a 62-yard drive. Great blocking up front by Kyle Good, Mulligan, Stephen Sedensky, Justin Engler, Danny Ingersoll, and Brett Pierce helped Dunn go over 100 yards rushing on the day. As usual, the defense was outstanding all day, with Luke Wellman leading all tacklers with seven and William Swierbut making some hard hits, but in all, 25 Newtown defenders registered a tackle, for a total team effort. Any chance of Aspetuck mounting a comeback was thwarted by big plays on defense, including interceptions by Jack Carpenter and Jack Zingaro, as well as a blocked punt by Aidan Kennedy.

Grade 5

Nighthawks 29, Norwalk Gold 13. The fifth grade Nighthawks wrapped up their season with a convincing win over Norwalk Gold at Norwalk High School’s Testa Field. Game captains were Jack Hannan, Brandon Giglio, Connor Hughes, and Karl Kelly. After a quick Norwalk Gold four and out to start the game, QB Luke Melillo led his team onto the field. Three plays later, Kyle Cascone caught a pass and sprinted 50 yards for a TD. Kicker Shea Talbot hit the extra point and the Nighthawks were up 8-0. Norwalk didn’t fare any better on their second set of downs, and a few plays into Newtown’s next drive, Griffin Cross, paced by Shayne Demers, rolled into the end zone after a 50-yard grind down the right sideline, making the score 14-0. The ensuing kickoff was a strong boot to the 30, where Tucker Garrity recovered the ball on one hop. A few plays later Kyle Burbank juked and stiff-armed his way into the end zone for another TD, and Talbot hit the extra point for 2 more, putting Newtown ahead 22-0 at half-time.

On Newtown’s first possession of the second half, Matthew Dubios reached the end zone on another monster run, but had the TD waved off by a questionable hold call away from the play. Beau Arend, hungry for action, made the most of his carries, scoring a TD late in the third. For the extra point, Jack Hannan got the call and moved the pile five yards deep for the score, making it 29-0. D.C. Giglio’s defense gifted two TDs in the fourth quarter and the game, and regular season was over. Reed Hammond, Tanner Stergue, Chris Maturo, Luke Fischer, Jack Swanson, Daniel Mason, Jack Clark, Aiden Jasinski, Matt Jewell, Tom Usher, Thomas Hasselburger, Ryan Straiton, Robbie Morrill and Gavin Connors all made the highlight reel.

The win brought the fifth graders’ record to 7-2, going 6-2 in conference play. The Nighthawks head into the post season seeded second and host the Shelton Seahawks this Saturday at Taylor Field. In their previous meeting, the Nighthawks came out on top 28-24.

Grade 6

Newtown 24, Aspetuck 6: The Nighthawks finished the regular season at Weston High School. After a miscue on their first possession led to a turnover, the Nighthawk defense held strong to get the ball back in the hands of their offense. Josh Dunn then kick-started the offense with a dash for 30 yards. Ryan Kost later completed a pass to Kyle Roche for seven yards on a critical fourth and five to keep the drive alive. The drive ended on a called QB draw with Kost running to the end zone. Aspetuck countered with a long methodical drive down the field. In spite of a fine goal line stand, Aspetuck scored a touchdown on a questionable fourth and goal play. On the next offensive series Kost completed a 20-yard pass to Mark Hall and ran for a first down on fourth and long to keep the ball moving. This drive was capped by a one-yard Josh Dunn touchdown run. With the score 16–6 the offense wasn’t done yet. In a bold call Newtown went for the onside kick, which was recovered by Connor Marlin. With the ball back in the offense’s hands Ryan Kost connected with C.J. Shambelan for a 49-yard touchdown pass play. The half ended on a long pass from Ryan Kost to Liam Deakin.

The third quarter opened with a time-consuming drive by Aspetuck. This time the Nighthawk defense stood firm on the goal line, including a tackle for a five-yard loss made by Connor Marlin. Aspetuck was held in check for the remainder of the game by Tyler Rising with eight tackles, Ethan Tousignant with six, and Michael Garner with four.

The boys will face Norwalk Green in the first round of the playoffs.

Grade 7

Newtown 34, Norwalk Gold 14: The Nighthawks played a tough Norwalk team on the road this past week with four starters sidelined with injuries. Norwalk worked much of the clock on its opening drive despite key tackles by Alex Morganti and Adam Bell and a sack by Ben Mason, Norwalk was able to move the ball for 53 yards culminating with a short run for a touchdown and a successful extra point attempt, going up 8-0. Hunter Cobb quickly fired up the Nighthawk team with a 60-yard kickoff return right up the middle for a touchdown. The first quarter ended with Newtown’s offense never taking the field and Norwalk up 8-6. While the Nighthawk defense held Norwalk to negative yardage in the second quarter, the offense threw many different looks at the Gold with Justin Dunn and Steven Moccio sharing the quarterback duties. Moccio threw for his first touchdown of the season, connecting with Cobb on a 20-yard reception. Morganti connected on extra point putting Newtown up 14-8. In Newtown’s second scoring drive of the quarter, Dunn hit Mason for a 31-yard gain. Then on a reverse pass play, Dunn handed off to Cobb who reversed to Moccio who connected with Bobby Haskins for a 20-yard touchdown reception. The Nighthawks closed out the first off 20-8 and never looked back.

Dunn opened the second half starting in Norwalk’s territory. A 13-yard gain by Joe Acousti set Dunn up to connect with Haskins for a reception in the end zone. Morganti hit the extra point putting the Hawks up 28-8. Maintaining its defensive intensity on Norwalk’s next drive, Cobb intercepted the pass attempt giving possession back to Newtown. The Hawks were unable to capitalize and turned the ball back over on downs. Pressure by George Pagett and Alex Morganti in the pocket and outside containment by Acousti and Matt Bucci held Norwalk to seven yards in the third quarter. Tackles by Bell and Bucci put Norwalk into a passing situation, which was intercepted by Dunn. Again, Newtown was unable to take advantage of the Norwalk miscue. Gavin Stubbs and Ellis Hubbard both made key defensive plays before Norwalk was able to orchestrate a 65-yard touchdown run after a reception making it 28-14, Newtown. The Hawks finished the game out strong with runs by Cobb, Colin McCafferty and Mason to move the ball before Acousti broke free for a 28-yard touchdown run putting Newtown up 34-14.

The win clinched first place for the Nighthawks in the Colonial League and the team will host the same Norwalk Gold team this weekend in the opening round of playoff games. Despite not being able to contribute on the field due to injury, Patrick Conte showed great effort as a superb water boy this game.

Grade 8

Newtown 45, Aspetuck 14: Although the Hawks recorded their highest point total of the season, the real story of this game was the outstanding play of the defense. Aspetuck went three-and-out on its first six possessions and only recorded one first down in the first half. In the second half, the Hawks forced five turnovers. Newtown got on the scoreboard early after a Charlie Fletcher punt block was followed on the next play by a 16-yard touchdown pass from Jared Pearson to Matt Elias. Henry Lyon converted the first of his four extra point kicks on the afternoon. Aspetuck punted on its next series and Pearson ran it back 39 yards for a quick 14-0 lead. The Hawks broke open the game early in the third quarter, with three consecutive scores set up by interceptions by Ethan Carpenter (two picks) and Pearson. Pearson scored on a 17-yard counter, and Andrew Svanda (five carries for 63 yards) scored on back-to-back touchdown runs of 25 and 18 yards. Blocking for the touchdowns was provided by Christian Morlock, Nick Samuelson, Ryan Shaw, Jeremy Salaris, Greg Harrison, Brandon Hensel, and Carlo Fenaroli. The final score of the day came on a 25-yard pass from Matt Maturo to Pearson.

Other offensive highlights included a 23-yard run and 22-yard reception by Shawn McCarthy, two screen pass receptions for 22 yards by Mark Urso (made possible by the stalk blocking of Peyton Manning), and a catch by Declan Sullivan. Defensively, Newtown recorded six sacks for the game, with Shaw, Samuelson, Salaris, Fletcher, and Bryan Kiley each getting at least one sack. Sam Duffy had an interception and John DelRossi a fumble recovery. Additional defensive highlights include tackles by Stephen Pansa, Michael Roche, Justin Appley, Chance McMahon, RJ Oliviera, Hunter Booker, Gordon Walsh, and Justin Faith. Matt Carino knocked down a pass.

Newtown will again play Aspetuck next week at Taylor Field in the first round of the playoffs.