Championship Bound?

NHS Gridders Stomp Brookfield, One Win From Title Game

By Andy Hutchison

With the season on the line, Newtown High School’s football team came through with a win that could propel it into the South-West Conference Championship game — as well as the state playoffs.

In surprising fashion, the host Nighthawks crushed previously unbeaten Brookfield 34-3 under a light mist at Blue & Gold Stadium last Friday night to gain the inside track on a conference title game berth.

The Nighthawks scored a touchdown on their second play from scrimmage when quarterback Jake DeVellis spotted a wide-open Kurt Nacewicz, who turned a 20-or-so-yard pass play into a 75-yard catch and run into the end zone. That made it a 7-0 game and Newtown never looked back in a Homecoming Night romp.

The Nighthawks turned the ball over on an early fumble, but the defense held the Bobcats to a field goal to make it 7-3, and that is all the visitors could muster. This was expected by many to be a close game and Newtown had yet to prove how strong of a team it was against the better conference counterparts.

“I’m very surprised,” about the lopsided outcome said NHS Coach Steve George, crediting his players and coaches alike for their hard work.

Typically high-scoring Brookfield had not been held without a touchdown all season long and, in fact, had not scored fewer than 30 points before the Nighthawks crushed their counterparts.

Newtown’s defense forced four turnovers and came up with a goal-line stand late in the game to keep the Bobcats out of the end zone.

“The difference in this game was obviously turnovers,” said George, crediting the defense’s success to defensive coordinator Carl Paternoster.

Chris Arndt was a big part of the defensive effort. The senior outside linebacker had two interceptions and a fumble recovery.

“Our defense stepped up tremendously,” said Rory Noonan, who helped lead the scoring attack with a touchdown run and four extra points.

After the first TD by Nacewicz (“That set the tone for the game,” George said), the Hawks got their second TD as a result of good defense, special teams, and a size advantage. Arndt sacked Brookfield’s speedy and generally elusive quarterback Jordan Burandt deep in Brookfield territory to force a punt. The Hawks ended up punting the ball back to the Bobcats, but on the return the ball was fumbled and Newtown’s Brian Killmurray pounced on the pigskin to give the home team possession at the 12-yard line with 2:25 to play. Less than a minute later, DeVellis tossed the ball into the back corner of the end zone where Kyle McNamara used his height to pull down a seven-yard touchdown reception for a 14-3 advantage after one quarter.

In the second, DeVellis and Noonan had a 65-yard catch and run hook-up to set up Nacewicz’s four-yard TD run for a 20-3 lead (the extra point attempt was blocked, but little else went right for Brookfield).

Punter Ralph Sergiovanni had a booming 56-yard kick and roll that pinned Brookfield deep in its own territory to help keep the pressure on in the first half.

There was more of the same in the second half. An interception by Arndt set up Noonan’s 26-yard score on a play in which the sophomore hurdled a defender en route to the end zone. Ed White added a two-yard score after some strong running by Kyle O’Connor.

Arndt’s second pick of the night came in the end zone to thwart a would-be touchdown drive by Brookfield and the defense came up with one last stand in the final seconds, holding Brookfield despite a first and goal situation.

“We kept our eye on the goal. The goal was to win the game,” Arndt said. “It feels great.”

Most of the players and coaches expected a tough game, but Noonan said he was confident his team would be able to pull away.

“I was really pumped up for this game. I knew we were going to come out and beat them,” Noonan said.

“That’s what championship teams do — they come through in the clutch,” George told his players after the game.

Both the Nighthawks and Bobcats hope to have another chance to come through and become a championship team.

Both are 8-1 (Newtown is unbeaten in the SWC at 7-0, its only loss coming to Shelton) and could meet again in the SWC finale on November 20. The Hawks and Brookfield Bobcats both control their own destiny. If Newtown and Brookfield win their games this week, they will go head-to-head again in an even more meaningful game — the SWC title game. Newtown and Brookfield have earned win-and-they-are-in status since Newtown is unbeaten and sits atop the SWC and Brookfield owns necessary tiebreakers over other contending teams, Masuk and Bunnell. Asked about the prospect of facing Brookfield again, George wanted to keep the focus on the task at hand — which is trying to defeat the 6-3 Bethel Wildcats this week.

“They’re big up front and they block well,” the coach said.

A rematch does look likely if Newtown can prevail against Bethel. Brookfield, after all, faces 1-7 Immaculate and has a lot to play for.

Newtown not only moved a step closer to a spot in the conference’s pinnacle game, but the Hawks also pushed closer to a berth in the Class LL State playoffs. The Hawks are third in the class based on the state’s power points ranking system. Four teams will qualify for the playoffs in each class and Newtown, following the Bethel game (this Friday, November 14, at 7 pm) will potentially face another make-or-break clash on November 26 at home against 8-1 Masuk.

George was a part of two state championship teams when he played for Newtown High in the early 1990s.

The Hawks last won a conference title in 1997. Newtown would love to win one or both titles this fall, but regardless of what happens the players won’t ever forget about the day they toppled rival Brookfield to keep their hopes alive.

“We’ll remember this one forever,” senior John Aminti said.