Hut, Hut … Highlights From The Grid Iron

Youth football game results from this past week are as follows:

79ers

Newtown Gold 12, Bridgeport 0: Newtown’s 79ers Gold defeated the Bridgeport Chargers to earn their second win of the season Saturday at Treadwell Field. The road-weary Nighthawks played a strong game from start to finish in front of an enthusiastic home crowd and dominated a talented group from Bridgeport. Sprung by an outstanding downfield block by Michael Haddick, Newtown’s Jack Kuligowski scored from 55 yards with time expiring in the second quarter to take a 6-0 lead into halftime.

The offense moved the ball effectively all day behind another strong effort by the offensive line and running backs Jeffery Garrity, J.P. Iaropoli, Connor Haywood and Jack Mulligan. Iaropoli scored the second and final touchdown on an 18-yard quarterback bootleg to close out the scoring at 12-0 early in the fourth quarter. The stingy Nighthawk defense stymied the Charger offense, yielding only a handful of first downs. Led by the aggressive pursuit of Eamon Doherty, Haddick, Garrity and Mulligan, Newtown overwhelmed the Bridgeport offense with gang tackles throughout the entire game.

The Gold team will look to carry the momentum into the season’s final weekend as they travel to Mahopac to close the 2010 campaign.

Newtown Blue 26, Norwalk Ramblers 12: The host Nighthawk team gave spectators four quarters of action- packed excitement. Newtown offensive linemen Gus Coffey, Kyle Good, Brett Pierce, Stephen Sedensky, Sean Theis, and Ryan Chieffo seemed to be unstoppable, making way for running backs Shane Luzietti, Jared Dunn, Aidan Finnegan, and Chris Frascatore to each bring in a touchdown. A special highlight was Aidan Finnegan’s 97-yard touchdown after the Newtown’s defensive line prevented Shelton from getting into the end zone from Newtown’s 3 yard line.

Defensively, the Newtown team held it together making sure they maintained a strong lead against Shelton’s offensive line. Newtown defensive linemen Jack Stenz, Colton Stergue, Luke Hannan, Luke Wellman, TJ Merrick, Connor Moran, and Sean O’Sullivan all made incredible penetration through the Seahawks offensive line yielding many backfield tackles against Shelton. Shane Luzietti ended the game with an interception allowing Newtown to drive the clock down and finish with a 26-12 win against Shelton.

Grade 4

Nighthawks 6, Huskers 0. Game Captains were Vincent Genovese, Karl Kelly, Garrett Norberg, and Rolt McIntyre. After a first round bye, the Nighthawks traveled to Yorktown for their first taste of postseason action. Both teams battled back and forth with exceptional defensive efforts and go-for- broke fourth and long plays by the offense. Ryan Tani swung momentum to the Nighthawks’ side with a clutch fumble recovery early in the third quarter, and workhorse Griffin Cross ran left, right, and center to bring the ball to the Huskers- 18 yard line. Speedster Reid Harrison took the next handoff and ran it in for the game’s only score.

As time wound down in the fourth quarter, QB Luke Melillo exhibited leadership and great decisionmaking in the no huddle. Daniel Mason iced the game with a pounding run up the middle for a first down. Ironman Tucker Garrity played great on both sides of the ball with drive-extending runs and touchdown saving tackles. Robbie Morrill and John Albanesi both recorded sacks, and Luke Barrett, Derrick Lewis, Kyle Cascone, and Aidan Shugrue had key tackles during the game.

The Nighthawks head to Ansonia next to take on the Coppers in their final matchup of the 2010 season.

Grade 5

Newtown Nighthawks 7, Norwalk Ravens 19: The Newtown defense held strong in the first quarter of Saturday’s game in an early goal line stand. Simon Preston made a big tackle to set up fourth and goal. On the next play Mark Hall broke into the Norwalk backfield and tripped up the ball carrier, giving the ball to the Newtown offense. Late in the first half the Norwalk offense made a big play to set up the first score of the game 6-0.

Norwalk came out in the second half and scored a quick touchdown to bring the score to 12-0. The offense continued to play hard and in the third quarter Ryan Kost completed a pass to CJ Shambelan to set up a first and goal. On third down Ryan Kost found Kyle Roche in the end zone for a touchdown, bringing the score to 12-7. In spite of a good effort by the boys, Norwalk was able to score one more touchdown, ending the game 19-7.

Grade 6

Newtown Nighthawks 20, Yorktown Huskers 12: The sixth grade Nighthawks remain undefeated after a 20-12 win over the Yorktown Huskers in Sunday’s Candlewood Valley League semifinals. After the Huskers snapped the ball over the head of the punter, giving the Nighthawks a good field position, Patrick Conte threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Bobby Haskins. Stops by Ben Mason and Adam Bell forced a turnover on downs. Conte threw two first-down passes to Mason, setting up a touchdown run by Nevin Zink, who then kicked for the two extra points. Tackles by Joe Accousti and Zink helped keep the Huskers scoreless in the first half.

In the third quarter, Zink evaded several Huskers defenders and ran 50 yards for a touchdown. Despite tackles by Accousti, Mitchell Savoca and Justin Dunn, the Huskers scored in the third quarter, and again just as the game clock ran out.

Grade 7

Newtown 26, Norwalk 16: Newtown advanced to the Candlewood Valley League finals for the first time since 2007 (a victory) by avenging last year’s playoff loss to Norwalk. The young Hawks jumped out to a 20-0 lead early in the second quarter, which they then worked hard to protect against a tough and talented Panthers squad. Newtown scored on its first possession as Devin Luzietti caught a screen pass, cut inside a perfect seal block by Declan Sullivan, and raced to the end zone for a 39-yard score. Norwalk’s initial drive turned over on downs, thanks to two tackles apiece by Ryan Shaw and Nick Samuelson, and solo efforts by Geoff Santore and John Delrossi. The Hawks again hit pay dirt on its second possession as Matt Maturo (4-for-4, 125 yards passing,  one TD) found Luzietti behind the secondary for a 40-yard completion, setting up a first down inside Panther territory. Andrew Svanda ran 22 yards up the middle for a first and goal, and then punched it in from the 2 behind blocks by Scooter McCarthy, Hunter Booker and Greg Harrison.

Newtown’s third series produced its third score, as Jared Pearson (13 carries, 93 yards, two TDs) turned the left corner and sprinted 51 yards for the score behind blocks by Sam Duffy and Carlo Fenaroli. Early in the third, Newtown took advantage of a short field to increase its lead to 26-8. Pearson bulled his way in from the 1 behind the power blocking of Brandon Hensel and Jeremy Salaris. Early in the fourth with the score 26-16, Norwalk was threatening deep in Newtown territory, but was turned away when Pearson came up with a fumble recovery. On the next play, he gave the Hawks some breathing room as he turned a swing pass into a 37-yard gain made possible by a nice block by Luzietti. From there, Newtown ran off ten more plays that consumed the remainder of the fourth quarter.

Next week’s opponent is Bridgeport Gold, which defeated Newtown 14-12 early in the season.

Grade 8

Newtown 8th Grade 16, Norwalk Packers 8: The Newtown Nighthawk’s 8th grade team played their final home game of their youth football career this past weekend in the first round of the Candlewood Valley League’s playoffs. It was a rematch of week 6 against a powerful Norwalk team who almost pulled an upset in that game. Just like week 6, the young Hawks found themselves behind after the first quarter. Also like week 6, the mighty Nighthawks reached deep down inside and had a come from behind victory again by pulling out a 16 to 8 win and will now advance to their fifth consecutive CVL Championship Game in Bridgeport at Kennedy Stadium at 1 pm.

In the first quarter, Norwalk marched down the field for their opening drive by connecting on two big pass plays with the first one coming on fourth and five to keep their drive alive. The second pass was a 25-yard TD pass to take the led. Norwalk gained 60 yards during their first series. After that, the Hawks’ defense buckled down and held the Packers to 60 yards the rest of the game. The defense was led by Jake Lambert, Griffin Davis, and Rat Rubino with six tackles each followed by Big Tim Krapf with five. Davis and Krapf each added a sack to stall Norwalk’s potential drives. Chipping in with tackles apiece were Sugar Shane Quimby, Pete Manfredonia, Colton Smith, and Nick Lotrecchiano. Lotrecchiano also had the biggest stop of the game, with a shoe string tackle on Norwalk’s last drive, which resulted in a turnover on downs. Also adding to the mix on stops was Julian Dunn, Markus Elken, Jacob Boots Burden, Logan Walsh, Bug Santella, David Bauch, and James Leuci.

The Hawks Power Spread Offense was shut out during most of the first half, but things turned for the better with just two minutes left in the second quarter. A couple of counter runs set up a Smith to Will Dalton 40-yard pass that put Newtown in scoring position. Smith ended up scoring on a five-yard run with time running out in the half and with the Dunn PAT kick conversion, the game was all tied up.

The second half was all Newtown on defense and the high flying offense putting on a show with off tackle runs and a little trickery. Lotrecchiano converted a huge first down on a hook and ladder play from Smith to Dunn with the pitch to Lotrecchiano and 25 more yards. Smith carried the final run from eight yards out to put the Hawks in the lead for good. The Nighthawks accumulated 297 total yards with 75 coming through the air.

Next up, the CVL Championship against the Monroe Lions on Saturday at 1 pm. The 8th Grade team is now 46-0 in Candlewood Valley League play dating back to 2006 in the fourth grade.