Date: Fri 29-Nov-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: TOMW

Quick Words:

Football-SWC-Champs

Full Text:

NHS Football Wins 1996 SWC Title

B Y T. W YATT

BETHEL- It was like a pay-per-view battle between two top-ranked heavyweights

when Newtown and Masuk tossed their unblemished 10-0 records into the ring on

Friday night, November 22, to determine the South-West Conference football

championship. Nobody knew exactly what to expect.

Like two prize fighters the teams measured one another up at the opening bell

until Newtown's Patrick Reilly landed a haymaker that put Masuk on Queer

Street.

On Newtown's second play from scrimmage, after forcing Masuk to punt on its

first possession, Reilly exploded through the middle and sprinted, virtually

untouched, 49 yards for an electrifying touchdown.

It was only one touchdown, but Masuk never really recovered. It set the tone

for the ensuing 28-0 Newtown TKO.

"I thought we'd score three or four times tonight, but Masuk is so explosive

that I didn't know how much they would score," said NHS head coach Bob Zito

during his team's midfield celebration. "But our kids came to play tonight

and, defensively, they really had that look in their eye. I had a great

feeling about tonight's game. I'm just ecstatic right now."

Though Newtown used four big offensive plays to post its four touchdowns, it

was the play of the NHS defense that decided the football game.

Newtown's three punts on the night went for eight yards, three yards, and six

yards respectively, setting up excellent Masuk field position on all three,

but the NHS defense was unflappable.

Masuk's star halfback, Jon Trez - who ran for over 1,800 yards and scored 19

touchdowns in his team's first ten games - was held to 40 yards on 15 carries

and only 19 yards on 13 of them. Masuk quarterback Evan Walsh was able to

complete only 7-of-20 passes, was intercepted once, sacked three times, and

forced into two fumbles.

But the biggest defensive play of the game came on the final play of the first

half.

Newtown had taken a 14-0 lead on its first possession of the second quarter

when Ryan Bunt highlighted a 14-play drive with a 30-yard run on an inside

reverse play that set up Ryan Henry's three-yard touchdown plunge.

With 13 seconds remaining in the half, Newtown appeared ready to move ahead

21-0 when Peter Ivey's fourth-down-and-six pass towards the endzone was

intercepted by Masuk's Dave Ramos at the ten. Ramos cut towards the center of

the field, eluded several would-be tacklers, and headed down the Masuk

sideline towards an apparent touchdown.

Just then, seemingly out of nowhere appeared Newtown's Bunt, who had been the

intended receiver on the play. Bunt ran down Ramos and dived at his feet,

tripping up the Masuk senior at the six-yard line as the halftime clock

expired.

"That was clearly the biggest play of the game," said NHS offensive

coordinator, John Murphy. Bunt chasing that kid 95 yards on the interception

was the difference between really wanting it and talking about wanting it. Our

kids really wanted it."

The NHS defense - led by the big-play efforts of Justin Gibney, Joe Wasko,

Billy Henckel, Reilly, Matt Huray, Kevin Lausten, and co. - stuck to its guns

in the second half as Masuk started its three third-quarter drives inside of

Newtown territory.

Masuk started at the 40, the 46, and the 30, but was unable to chip away at

the Nighthawk lead.

The Panthers took over the NHS 30, after a six-yard punt, on the final play of

the third quarter. Newtown was 12 minutes away from Disneyland, but would need

another stand.

A quarterback sneak on third down earned Masuk a first down inside the 20, but

the first-down play, an option left, was fumbled into the backfield where

Patrick Reilly - later named the game's MVP - scooped it up at the 40 yard

line with 10:11 left in the game.

That's when the game turned Newtown's way for good.

On first down Ivey threw over the middle to Greg Darling who sprinted 30 yards

to the Masuk 30-yard line. From there, fullbacks Henry and Matt Huray took

turns pounding the middle until Henry blasted in for a one-yard score.

Masuk's next possession started at its own 7-yard line and resulted in a

subsequent punt out to the 30.

On Newtown's first play from there, junior Joey Saputo broke loose on the

Newtown sideline and went all the way in for the touchdown.

Masuk's final drive of the day chewed up the remaining five-plus minutes of

the football game and ended when Newtown's Tucker Reed sacked Walsh for a

12-yard loss with 34 seconds left after Masuk had advanced to the 12. The sack

saved the shutout for the deserved champions of the SWC.

"Its been a team effort all year and it was a team effort tonight," coach

Murphy said. "There's no one particular superstar on this team. We couldn't

throw the ball that well because of the wind, but once again our offensive

line took charge. Our array of backs showed that they're as good as everybody

thinks they are. This was something that our kids wanted and they weren't

going to be denied."

Newtown's "array of backs" banged for 316 yards on 44 carries. Masuk,

meanwhile, was held to only 95 yards of total offense.

"We've been ready for this game since the beginning of the year," said an

out-of-breath Joe Saputo. "We knew we could take it to them but we just had to

do it out there on the field. And we did it."

Said coach Zito, "We talked a lot about the one-point loss last year and the

team was determined not to let that happen again. They really dedicated

themselves to winning this game."

Zito spoke of Newtown's 15-14 loss to Masuk last season in the last game of

the regular season. The loss prevented Newtown from playing in both the

conference and the state championships.

"I'm glad we got the opportunity to play Masuk in the championship after what

they did to us last year," said NHS senior Ryan Henry who's 15 carries for 75

yards and two touchdowns was a career night. "Our line dominated this football

game on both sides of the ball. On offense, I was getting three for four yards

before even getting hit. I'm very happy for our whole team right now."

As happy as Newtown is, though, there is still unfinished business. The

Thanksgiving Day rematch against Masuk means a trip to the Class L state

semifinals.

"Tonight was just another step along the path," Patrick Reilly offered. "Our

goal is to be 14-0. And we still have three games to win."