Nighthawk Gridders Come Up With Big Plays To Top Bulldogs

By Andy Hutchison

SOUTHBURY — Newtown High School’s football team came up with one big defensive play after another en route to a 27-12 win over Bunnell High School of Stratford on October 22. The game was played under the lights at Pomperaug High as the Nighthawks continue to be road warriors while Newtown High’s Blue and Gold Stadium is renovated.

The Nighthawks also continue to win. They improved to 5-1 and handed the Bunnell Bulldogs (4-2) their second straight defeat.

Newtown’s Colby Summerlin came up with two interceptions and a fumble recovery forced by Eric McCabe, Mike Lord had another pickoff and some clutch open field tackles, and Matt Datin capped the scoring with a long interception return to seal the win in the waning seconds.

“We prepared well all week, we knew what we had to do on defense, and we stuck to our assignments — and I was in the right place at the right time,” Summerlin said.

Newtown took the early lead on special teams when Brendan McNamara and Lord combined on a blocked punt in which the ball bounded through the back of the end zone for a safety and a 2-0 NHS lead. Newtown took advantage of good field position following the safety punt and quarterback Dan Hebert capped off a scoring drive with an eight-yard scramble for six points. The Nighthawks failed on a two-point conversion and held an 8-0 lead.

Bunnell got to within 8-6 late in the second quarter, but the Hawks made it 14-6 with just 32 seconds remaining before the half on Hebert’s two-yard plunge on second down. Newtown failed on the extra point kick attempt and carried the eight-point advantage into the break.

In the third quarter, on Bunnell’s half-opening drive, Lord had an interception deep in Bulldogs’ territory but the Nighthawks couldn’t punch the ball in to extend the lead. The Newtown defense held the Bulldogs and forced a punt from the end zone, leading to more trouble for Bunnell. An errant snap led to a poor kick of less than 20 yards, which resulted in great field position for the Nighthawks who took over at Bunnell’s 19. On third down, Hebert connected with fullback Max Nacewicz in the end zone for an 11-yard scoring strike and a 20-6 lead. The extra point attempt was blocked.

The Bulldogs clawed to within 20-12 with 7:27 left in the fourth and were stopped on a two-point try but remained very much in the game until the final seconds.

Summerlin came up with his second interception of the night, near midfield, with just 2:36 remaining. The Bulldogs used two of their timeouts to stop the clock twice and force a Newtown punt, giving Bunnell the ball at its own 23 with 1:31 to play. The Bulldogs converted a fourth down pass to move the chains and drove all the way to the NHS 24 yard line.

Sean Devaney deflected the ball on a pass attempt and Datin managed to get his hands on the pigskin before it fell to the turf, and proceeded to rumble 75-or-so yards down the right sideline for a touchdown with just nine ticks left on the scoreboard clock.

“It felt great. It was the best feeling in the world,” said Datin, who is accustomed to scoring points in basketball games, not on the football field where he is primarily a defensive lineman and offensive tackle.

“When we needed to, we made the big plays,” Hebert said.

Louis Fenaroli, who was banged up and missed the previous week’s win over Notre Dame-Fairfield, returned to the Hawks’ lineup in a big way and had some clock-eating, bruising runs. Hebert had several scampers for significant gains. The defense got to Bunnell’s quarterback, with James Horosko and Doug Brede leading the charge with timely sacks and pressures, and Newtown kept penalties to a minimum. The Hawks were solid defensively against a Bunnell team that, before being blanked 45-0 by Masuk on October 15, had scored 50-plus points in three of four wins, including 61 against New Milford.

Hebert was playing in place of the season’s starting QB, Will Arndt, who left midway through the win over Notre Dame-Fairfield on October 16 with a broken collarbone. This was the latest of the injuries, including those that have sidelined receivers Rory Noonan, Ryan Korth, and Rick Ruot, that have piled up on the Hawks this fall.

“I knew we had to play good defense because you lose your starting quarterback and as many receivers as we have, offense I knew was going to be a challenge to us,” NHS Coach Steve George said. “I told my defensive coordinator [Rick Lye], ‘You have to hold them to 14. We’ll score, but it ain’t going to be 40 this week.’ He stepped up, our defense stepped up, and our kids played well so I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

Newtown had scored 41 points in back-to-back wins in previous weeks but have lost several key starters as the season has unfolded.

“It felt good to win. We’ve got a lot of injuries, guys down — well, we overcame adversity and we still found a way to win and that says a lot about this team,” Lord said.

The Nighthawks, on October 30, will take on New Fairfield at 7 pm at Brookfield High School. The team is scheduled to host Joel Barlow of Redding at Blue and Gold Stadium at 7 pm on November 5.