Newtown High School’s football team was well represented at the annual Lineman Challenge at Southington High School on July 13. Eight Nighthawks combined to show off their strength and speed during various competitions and won the tug of war event.

Marco D’Amico, Jack Dunford, Mack Foss, Drew Gagnon, Owen Marshall, Aidan Molina, AJ Penna, and Caleb St. Louis competed for Newtown. There were 30 registered teams and the Hawk linemen took sixth place overall.

At this competition, the linemen compete in nine different events to determine overall seeding for the tenth and final challenge, a team tug of war. Going into this event, Newtown was in tenth place. Ultimately the six-man team of D’Amico, Gagnon, Marshall, Molina, Penna, and St. Louis defeated top-ranked Darien in the tug of war finals.

Many of the events leading up to the tug of war were time-based, proving Newtown not only capitalized on strength, but speed as well. The quickness of Gagnon and Captain St. Louis allowed Newtown to place in the top five for several relay-based events such as the agility obstacle course.

Newtown started off strong with their first event being the benching competition. Captain D’Amico led the team with 23 reps on the 185 pound bench press.

Through speed and strength, the Newtown linemen fought hard on a day that started off with downpours and ended with steamy humidity.