Blue & Gold Game—

Newtown High School Gridders Compete In Spring Scrimmage

By Andy Hutchison

It may be June, but football was front and center at Blue & Gold Stadium on June 19. A couple of hours after the girls’ Powder Puff Game the Newtown High School boys strapped on the pads and went at it in the Blue & Gold Game, an intra-team scrimmage.

The gold team defeated the blue squad 20-0 as players capped off ten hours of spring practices with what NHS Coach Steve George calls a transition game for his soon-to-be seniors and leaders on the grid iron.

Gold team quarterback John Fracker connected with Nick Tarantino for a 6-yard touchdown play and later completed a 37-yard scoring strike to Kyle O’Connor as the Gold team scored all of its points in the first half. Andrew Buonocore recovered a fumble in the end zone for the final TD.

The Blue team, despite the score, had plenty of bright spots. Rory Noonan, who actually kicked extra points for the Gold team, came up with three interceptions for the Blue side.

Colby Summerlin made a sliding interception deep in his own territory to thwart a Gold team drive. Ralph Sergiovanni had a well-placed punt that pinned the Gold team back at its own 2 yard line.

“It’s fun playing football right now,” said O’Connor who, only a couple of weeks ago, finished his spring lacrosse season. O’Connor noted that it was a little bit humid. This wasn’t the crisp autumn pigskin weather the game of football has become associated with, but the game was a nice opportunity for the players to get a feel for their roles within the team.

High school teams have the option to practice and scrimmage in the late spring or wait until August to put in their preparation time. George said there are multiple benefits to playing now.

“I think the biggest advantage of it is it gives them something to work toward in the summer,” said the coach, adding that players who may not have been considered possible starters may earn a chance to get a closer look and others may learn they need to improve in certain areas before next season.

The game also gives the players not accustomed to starting or significant roles a sense of what’s to come in September. George said he liked how the players handled themselves on the field since there were no penalties and they took the time to help each other up after hits.

“That stuff’s real important to me and I talked to them about that before the game,” George said.

The coach added that he liked what he saw in all facets of the game and looks forward to coaching this group in the fall.

The Hawks are scheduled to scrimmage Seymour, on the road, on September 5 and scrimmage Norwalk, at home, on September 9.