On a rain soaked field in LaGrange, New York, the Newtown sixth grade football team showed that it was filled with true mudders as it came back in dramatic fashion to beat the Hudson Valley Knights, 20-14, in the final regular season game.
On a rain soaked field in LaGrange, New York, the Newtown sixth grade football team showed that it was filled with true mudders as it came back in dramatic fashion to beat the Hudson Valley Knights, 20-14, in the final regular season game.
The Hawks finished up 7-1 and will begin Candlewood Valley League playoff action next weekend.
After Newtown received the opening kick-off, the two teams traded offensive series in the pouring rain before Newtown drove 55 yards on their second possession for a score. Cooper Gold got the TD on a five yard plunge and Drew Tarantino snuck in for the PAT to put Newtown up 7-0.
Hudson Valley struck back to tie the game at 7-7, then went ahead before half time with another TD making it 14-7.
Newtown kicked off to begin the second half and held Hudson Valley to a three and out. On their next offensive series, Tarantino connected with tight end Mike Davis on a 15-yard pass, with Davis running it another 30 yards for the score.
Newtown was stopped on the PAT, leaving Hudson Valley on top, 14-13.
The teams played even until about three minutes remained in the fourth quarter. With Newtown on the Hudson Valley 45, Gold sprung through the right side of the line and fought his way 45 yards, breaking three tackles to get to pay dirt.
Gold also put in the PAT on a sweep to give Newtown a 20-14 lead.
The Newtown defense held Hudson Valley on its next series to capture the win.
Defensively, middle linebacker Connor Noonan, cornerbacks Chase Wurtz and Jack Lago, and nose tackle Patrick Afryie had strong performances. Julian Dunn handled the weather well, delivering key punts to win Newtown valuable field position.
QB Jason Savoca and running back Justin Saint had clutch performances as well, with Saint grinding out some tough yardage in the second half, led by the line of Nick Landau, Sean Donnelly, Billy Begg, Patrick Matthei, Jordan Headford, Alex Romeo, Chris Carroll and Nick Corrozza.
The locals will host Aspetuck in the opening round of the playoffs this weekend.
FIFTH GRADE
Newtown 30, Ansonia 0
The Newtown fifth grade football team ended the regular season with a bang by walloping the Ansonia Coppers, 30-0, and improving to 8-0.
The young Nighthawks attacked at all angles by limiting the Coppers to negative yards in the first half, rushing for three touchdowns and passing for another two while recording their fourth shutout of the season ⦠the most in the Candlewood Valley League.
The Hawks have also outscored their opponents by an incredible 206 points in just eight games. Momentum is on their side as they head into a home playoff game this Saturday at Hawley School at 12 noon.
Against Ansonia, Nick Lotrecchiano led all running backs with 75 yards on eight carries with a 30-yard touchdown. Colton Smith contributed to the running game with seven carries and 61 yards and a TD while Nolan Fisher added the third touchdown with a nice 25-yard run off tackle.
Carrying the rock for the first time, Logan Walsh gained 34 yards on three carries while Shane Quimby, Max Rucinski and Jaret DeVellis added another 62 yards on the ground for a total of 257 rushing yards.
When Ansonia stacked the line in order to stop the run, the Hawks went to the air as Smith passed for two TDs and 90 yards. One of those TD tosses went to Troy Frangione, who caught the deep post pass in stride for a 55-yard score. Tight end Connor Roche got into the action with a 35-yard TD reception.
Fisher and Roche are the 10th and 11th different players on the team to score a touchdown this season.
While the offense was moving the ball at will, the defense came up big time and time again by shutting down all offensive efforts by Ansonia. Defensive ends Markus Elken and Tim Krapf led all defenders, combing for nine-and-a-half tackles. DeVellis added another four tackles while Smith, Lotrecchiano, Harry Duffy, Bubba Condon and Max Rucinski added three tackles each at the linebacker positions.
The interior line play of Kevin Conte, Jake Lambert, Griffin Davis, Stephen Grasso, Eric Cascone and Ryan âMonsterâ Szalay stuffed any chance of running up the middle. Matt Bouton, Jacob âBootsâ Burden, Fisher, and Michael âThe Hammerâ Cirone all contributed with tackles.
Lotrecchiano also intercepted his fourth pass of the season, giving the defense its 14th pick overall.
Next up, the Aspetuck Wildcats at Hawley School this Saturday at 12 noon.
FOURTH GRADE
Newtown 27, Aspetuck 7
Despite a blustery autumn day, the young Newtown fourth grade team was firing on all cylinders as it defeated Aspetuck, 27-7, at Weston High School this past Sunday to improve to 6-0-1 on the year.
The Nighthawks used a balanced ground attack to reel off 52 plays, gain 246 yards, and score three touchdowns. The defense limited Aspetuck to only 28 total yards, produced four turnovers, and got on the scoreboard for the first time this year with an interception return and a safety.
Newtown scored on two of its first three drives to start the game.
After an initial 14-play drive stalled at the Aspetuck 17, the Hawks drove 32 yards for a score on their second possession. Jared Pearson (6 carries for 35 yards, 2 TDS) powered in from the eight to put Newtown up 6-0. Jeremy Salaris, Andrew Svanda, and Jaxon Mills provided outstanding blocking during the drive.
After the defense â led by Nick Samuleson (2 tackles), Adam Robertson (2 tackles), and Nick Rohrbacher (tackle) â produced another four and out, the offense marched 40 yards in 12 plays for its next score. This drive saw the Hawks spread the ball evenly, with Michael Doyle (13 carries for 101 yards, TD), Devin Luzetti (10 carries for 76 yards), Joe Santella (3 carries for 25 yards) and Pearson all sharing the workload.
Wide receiver Matt Meyers provided a great seal block on a fourth and eight sweep by Santella that was key to keeping the drive going.
Six plays later, Pearson slashed in from the two for his second touchdown of the game behind the blocking of Ryan Shaw and Greg Harrison. Doyle scored the extra point on a QB keeper to put the Hawks up 13-0.
The first half ended with Geoff Santore (3 tackles) recovering a fumble to again stop a frustrated Aspetuck offense, which was held to minus-4 yards in the half.
The third quarter saw no let up by the Hawks. After a deep kick off by Owen Richards, Luzetti (8 tackles) stepped in front of an Aspetuck receiver to intercept a wind blown pass and raced 40 yards down the left sideline to put Newtown up 19-0. Then following a fumble recovery by Santella (4 tackles), Doyle broke several tackles on a spectacular 63-yard keeper that increased the lead to 25-0.
In the fourth quarter the defense â led by Charlie Fletcher and Gabe Barrett (a tackle each) - produced yet another turnover, this time a fumble recovery by Luzetti after a numbing hit by linebacker Brian Kiley at midfield.
The offense was able to march down to the Aspetuck five (highlighted by a 25-yard sweep from Luzetti) before the drive stalled.
However, this provided another scoring opportunity for the defense. Pressure up the middle from Tim Mammen resulted in Doyle (7 tackles) and Pearson (4 tackles) sacking the Aspetuck QB in the end zone for a safety and the final points on the day for the Hawks.
Newtown will face Bridgeport in the first round of the playoffs this Saturday (location and time not available at press time).