Hawks Pull It Out In OT—

Newtown High School Football Team Clinches Spot In SWC Title Game

By Andy Hutchison

BETHEL — Facing possible playoff elimination … the seconds on the scoreboard clock ticking away, the Newtown High School football team lined up for a game-tying field goal Friday night in Bethel.

Sophomore Rory Noonan’s 32-yard kick was tipped at the line of scrimmage and the ball fluttered toward the crossbar. The pigskin barely made it over the bar, sending the game into overtime where a Newtown prevailed for a wild, muddy 24-17 victory on a misty night.

The Nighthawks, with the win, earned a berth in the November 20 South-West Conference Championship game against Brookfield at Bunnell High in Stratford.

“That was like the longest kick I’ve ever taken,” Noonan said of the wait to see if his boot would make it through the uprights. “I was waiting for the refs to put their hands up.”

When the officials did, signaling that the kick was good, there were only 10 seconds left on the clock. The game went into overtime where, similarly to how OT plays out at the collegiate level, both teams would get a fresh set of downs and a chance to score from the 10 yard line. Newtown quarterback Jake DeVellis wasted no time giving Newtown the lead with a 10-yard scamper on the first play. Noonan’s extra point made it a seven-point game. Bethel had a chance to tie and force another round but on second and goal, quarterback Matt Witcofsky’s pass was intercepted by a leaping Brian Reszoly, sparking a blue and gold-colored celebration and allowing the visitors to breathe a collective sign of relief.

“It took a lot of weight off my back,” Reszoly said of the catch.

Newtown entered the game riding an eight-game winning streak and favored to win for a right to play in the SWC title game. Bethel was a solid 6-3, but had little to play for other than pride. The game was as much nerve-racking and gut-wrenching as it was exciting — at least from Newtown’s perspective.

“It was the most intense game I’ve ever played in my life,” said Mike Lago, who made some big catches on offense and had an interception and timely tackles on the other side of the ball.

There were no dramatic finishes prior to this one. After a week one loss at Shelton, Newtown outscored its next eight opponents collectively 266-56.

“We came in expecting a little bit different of a game. Like coach said, we overcame adversity,” said Jamie Vavrek, who scored Newtown’s first touchdown early in the game when it appeared the Hawks were seizing control.

Newtown, after Vavrek’s 46-yard catch and run to the end zone and Kyle O’Connor’s 38-yard TD run, had a seemingly commanding 14-0 first-quarter lead. Then came the adversity.

Bethel got on the board in the second quarter with a safety when DeVellis was sacked in the end zone. Nick Tresca blocked a punt and David Daluz returned the ball from around midfield for a score. Suddenly it was 14-9 Newtown. It stayed that way until the mid-late-stages of the fourth quarter. Bethel’s Al Romano scored from a yard out for a 15-14 Wildcats lead. The two-point conversion made the score 17-14, all of the momentum was on Bethel’s side and Newtown trailed for the first time since the September 12 loss to Shelton. Newtown punted the ball, but the defense, which was strong throughout the contest, came up with a big stop of its own to force a Bethel punt. That’s when the Hawks caught a big break. The Wildcats never got the kick off. A high snap over the punter’s head gave Newtown possession at the Wildcats’ 24 yard line with 3:01 left. Facing a fourth and short one inside the 15, the Nighthawks lined up for a field goal, which the Wildcats blocked, but Newtown gained new life on an offside penalty, giving them first and goal at the 10. On third and long, after DeVellis was sacked back at the 22 yard line, the QB ran the ball back to the 15 to set up another field goal try.

“The sign of a championship team is when you’re down and you can come back up,” Newtown Coach Steve George said. “I’m so excited for these guys. They’ve worked hard all year long.”

Newtown had solid defense from captains/linebackers Tim Wheeler, John Aminti, and Bret LeBlanc. On offense, Kurt Nacewicz, O’Connor, and Noonan had some strong carries but this was far from Newtown’s best performance of the year. DeVellis was under an unusual amount of pressure and passes, because of the wet conditions, were dropped. Newtown totaled 200 yards of offense in the first half, but was held under 70 yards in the second.

“I felt like our kids got too confident up 14-0. We felt like we were controlling the game. Things turned bad with the safety and got worse with the blocked punt,” George said.

“I’m not going to show them the game tape. I’m probably going to smash and burn it,” the coach said lightheartedly.

The Hawks surprised Brookfield 34-3 on November 7. Both teams have 9-1 records coming into the championship clash. Only Newtown has an unbeaten SWC mark at 8-0. Regardless of the outcome, Newtown will play a pivotal regular-season finale at home the night before Thanksgiving when one-loss Masuk comes to town. Newtown is bidding for a top spot among the four Class LL state playoff qualifiers.