Kim J. Harmon

GROTON – It didn’t take long for coach Ken Roberts and his Nighthawks to come to the uncomfortable realization Tuesday night that Fitch – their opponent in the semi-finals of the CIAC Class L state playoffs – was every bit as good as its almost comically-inflated statistics would indicate.

And then some.

Fitch finished the regular season at 10-0, averaging an astonishing 57.8 points a game while allowing an equally astonishing 6.1 points a game. During the season, the Falcons not only crushed New London, 71-0, but actually scored better than 60 points against five different teams. Their closest game was a 44-16 win over East Hartford and it was the first of only two times the Falcons would allow better than 10 points in a game.

But the Nighthawks took the long ride to Groton with the idea that the statistics don’t tell the whole story. Questions like, “Well, who did they play?” seemed to burst forth from the mouths of fans trying to comprehend the numbers.

It didn’t matter who the Falcons played.

What mattered was that they were good.

Very, very good.

“They deserve to be number one,” said coach Roberts after watching his team suffer a 50-8 loss. “They are very physical. Almost every player they put on the field is a physical specimen. We just didn’t have the speed or the size to match them.”

That became readily apparent in the first quarter when Fitch (after stopping the ‘Hawks on their first series, three-and-out) took just four plays to score its first touchdown on a one-yard punch up the middle. The Falcons had started at their own 45 and then went off on runs of seven, 30, 17, and one yards to score with 8:36 left in the first period.

Then, after stopping the ‘Hawks again on a three-and-out, the Falcons went on a 10-play, 51-yard drive that featured nine running plays out of the deceptive Wing T offense and just one pass (an incompletion). George Hall scored on a two-yard run with 2:08 left in the first to give the Falcons a 15-0 lead.

It was clear, too, that the running game of the Nighthawks – their bread and butter throughout the season – was not going to amass much yardage against the punishing defense of Fitch. Coach Roberts went to the passing attack early and had some decent success as Rich Petretti hit Adam Hayden for seven yards, Nick Savino for six yards, and Matt McCarthy for six yards on their next drive. But the drive stalled on the 40 and the ‘Hawks were forced to punt.

Their first break came when the Falcons fumbled on their first play but after the ‘Hawks pushed the ball down to the Fitch 31 on a nine-yard halfback option from Hayden to McCarthy, Hayden had the ball stripped from his hands and the Falcons took over on their own 31.

And that was the Falcons’ break. Nine plays later – all runs – George Hall was back in the end zone on an eight-yard jolt up the middle to give the Falcons a 21-0 lead with 6:33 still left to play in the first half.

The game was quickly slipping away from the ‘Hawks.

At that point, it was do or die.

And starting on their own 22, the ‘Hawks mounted their best drive of the night. It started with a three-yard run by Hayden and then continued with Petretti hitting Mark Werbeck for seven yards and Savino for 12 yards. Kyle Tobin, who was limited to just 28 yards on the night, got all 28 of them on this drive and helped bring the ‘Hawks all the way down to the Fitch 17 yard line.

But then came the back-breaker. Petretti dropped back to pass and had McCarthy open down near the five, but threw the ball behind his tight end. McCarthy spun around and just about got his fingertips on the ball only to see Dante Ross pluck the ball out of the air and run 95 yards the other way for a touchdown.

With 2:15 left, the Falcons had a 29-0 lead.

Later in the half, with less than a minute to play, the ‘Hawks were stopped on a fourth-and-two play deep in their own territory and the Falcons took advantage, using just one play for Brandon Cook to toss a 30-yard scoring pass to Will Deveau to give the Falcons a 36-0 lead at the break.

Newtown’s only breaks in the second half came when two procedural calls negated two Fitch touchdowns. Other than that, the Falcons went ahead 50-0 before the ‘Hawks started moving the ball at all.

Senior Matt Saunders started carrying the ball and ended up gaining 64 yards on the night. When the ‘Hawks took the ball at their own 47 late in the fourth quarter, Saunders carried the ball for gains of 18, 11, and six yards before Hayden scored Newtown’s only touchdown on an eight-yard jaunt up the middle. Hayden ran the conversion in.

“I don’t think on our best day we could have beaten them,” coach Roberts told his players following the game. “They are much better – bigger, stronger, and faster. But you have nothing to be ashamed of. You believed, you went out there and never gave up. I’m proud of you.”

After finishing 3-7 a year ago in coach Roberts’ first season, the ‘Hawks finish up at 9-2.

Newtown    0    0    0     8   - 8

Fitch       15  21    7     7 - 50

I.               

Individual Statistics

I.       

RUSH              ATT YDS  TD

Matt Saunders             5      64       0

Kyle Tobin                   8      28       0

Adam Hayden               6      21       1

Jon Werbeck                8      10       0

Rich Petretti                1      -1       0

Totals                28  122     1

 

PASS        ATT CMP YDS  TD

Rich Petretti       8      26      65       0

Adam Hayden     1        1        9       0

Totals           9    27    74     0

 

REC                REC YDS  TD

Matt McCarthy            3      29       0

Nick Savino                  3      21       0

Jon Werbeck                2      17       0

Adam Hayden               1        7       0

Totals                          9      74       0