Hawks Pull Away Against Stratford; Prepare For Brookfield With Playoffs On Line

By Andy Hutchison

STRATFORD — The old saying that “your best offense is a good defense” proved to be true for the Newtown High School football team this past Saturday afternoon. Newtown’s defense kept the Nighthawks in the lead through two quarters of the game against Stratford at Penders Field. The defense forced three early-second half turnovers, all of which led to points, to spark the Hawks to a 30-16 win over the Red Devils.

Leading only 13-6 at halftime, Newtown pulled away as the defense forced turnovers on each of Stratford’s first three second-half possessions. The Hawks cashed in to build a 30-6 lead and cruised to their seventh straight win, keeping South-West Conference and state playoff hopes well within reach.

John Aminti, Tory Deakin, Chris Arndt, and Kyle McNamara combined force and recover fumbles and intercept passes until Stratford had coughed up the ball five times and, in the process, let go of any comeback hopes.

Newtown improved to 7-1 overall (6-0 in the SWC) and Stratford fell to 3-5 (3-4).

The Nighthawks were a little sloppy early on. They committed three first-half turnovers and penalties killed potential momentum. Still, they did enough to take an early lead. Arndt came up with a big interception at the Newtown 10 yard line to keep things scoreless and Charlie Lobosco’s 46-yard punt pinned Stratford back at its own seven yard line late in the opening quarter. The defense forced a punt, Newtown took over with great field position and capitalized with a 35-yard drive for the game’s first points. Quarterback Jake DeVellis completed a pass to Rory Noonan over the middle and Noonan ran the ball in for a 13-yard score and a 6-0 lead. Noonan’s extra point attempt missed.

Stratford tied the game, but Kurt Nacewicz blocked the extra point attempt to keep Newtown from trailing in a game for the first time since a week one loss at Shelton. Newtown answered when DeVellis scored on an 11-yard quarterback keeper.

DeVellis sustained a stinger when he was tackled carrying the ball and was taken out briefly for LoBosco (who completed his first pass attempt). DeVellis returned to game and showed no signs of ill effects from the play.

In the second half, a Noonan field goal made it a two-possession game, DeVellis hooked up with Kyle O’Connor for a 29-yard score, and Nacewicz ran the ball into the end zone to cap Newtown’s offensive efforts.

Newtown turns its attention to a big game this Friday against Brookfield. The fact that this is a Homecoming Game will only add to the excitement as the season, in effect, is on the line with this contest. Newtown and Brookfield are the only unbeaten teams in the SWC. With a win, Newtown would move one step closer to earning a berth in the conference championship game set for November 20. Brookfield holds a tiebreaker over Bunnell, having beaten Bunnell. Newtown owns no tiebreakers over teams in contention for a spot in the title game. What’s more, the Hawks can earn important playoff qualifier points against a tough opponent as they vie for a spot in the Class LL state playoffs.

“Obviously, it’s real important,” NHS Coach Steve George said of the clash with Brookfield. “They’re going to give us a ton of points if we win. To get into states we need the points. To get into the SWC Championship we need to win a tiebreaker.”

George is expecting a tough game on Friday — and in a different way than in the past. Brookfield has traditionally been known as a hard-hitting team but this year’s squad seems to be more athletic and talented than in the past, according to George.

“They have tremendous skill on the field,” the coach said. “They play ridiculously hard. They want to win — it’s going to take us wanting to win more.”