Newtown High School's football team overcame a halftime deficit to defeat visiting Brookfield 21-7 at Blue & Gold Stadium on October 24. With the win, the Nighthawks improved to 4-2 an the Bobcats walked away with the same record.

Nick Pavia paved the way by scoring all three touchdowns; the running back took direct snaps and broke loose for TD runs of 27, 51, and 39 yards.

Pavia also played a key role on special teams and defense with a recovery off a blocked punt and quarterback sack.

After both offenses stalled throughout most of the first half the visiting Bobcats converted on third down to move the chains and broke the ice scoring with only 13 seconds left before halftime.

It was all Nighthawks after that. Just in time for Halloween, the Hawks used a little trickery to treat the fans to a comeback effort on a scary-good play.

An onside-like bouncer of a kick by Jake Roszman was recovered by Graham Spencer at the Bobcat 36 yard line to begin play in the second half. That led to Pavia's game-tying score with 10:27 to play in the third quarter.

Spencer blocked a punt that Pavia recovered but Newtown's offense was backed up on a penalty and the Hawks punted. The NHS defense continued to stand tall and, after forcing a Bobcat punt, the Hawks went in front when Pavia broke free on his 51-yarder with 4:20 left in the third.

The Nighthawks carried that one-TD edge into the fourth. Rushes by Pavia and Luke Gagnon set the stage for the final score of the day. Pavia and the Nighthawks needed just one yard on fourth down, but got 39 as he used the offensive line's blocking to get through and darted all the way to the end zone with 8:51 remaining.

"Give him an inch and he'll take a mile," Newtown Coach Dan Farina said. "He's a physical runner."

Despite being shut down throughout the first half, the Hawks never lost its belief.

"Nothing changed — our mindset didn't change. We knew we have this in us. We knew we're a physical football team," said Farina, whose Hawks matched the style Brookfield brings to the field. "They're a very, very physical football team."

Brookfield's physicality could not contain Pavia.

"We let him go to work," Farina said.

"It felt great — it felt great to help our team out and do what I could," Pavia said.

Everything was sparked by that recovery on the second-half kickoff.

"It was a great momentum change," Pavia noted.

Whether it was shoelaces, socks, pins, shirts, or hats, Newtown players, coaches, cheerleaders, dance team members, and fans alike wore pink in support of The Pink Chair Project, which supports breast cancer patients.

NHS is back in action on Halloween with a visit to Weston at 6:30 pm.