Pee Wees

The Pee Wees opened their scrimmages against a strong Danbury team. Starting out on offense, the rushing duties were handled well by Tyler Tarantino, Justin McGrath, and Travis Speer as Kris Kling called the signals.

On defense, Newtown gave up one quick Danbury score, but made a host of nice plays. Dan DeLaVega stopped the run up the middle while Brett Mauro, Tarantino, and Chuck Brooks all played well. Jaime Post and Brendan Martin each recovered a fumble.

Danbury scored twice, though.

Against Pomperaug, the Pee Wees fared better. Martin Dan DeLaVega, and Zach Conger were a strong wall on defense. Tarantino recovered a fumble and Lucas Vendel helped stop a Pomperaug sweep. Chris Cardelle and Jacob Burg also notched some tackles.

On offense, McGrath had a few nice runs while Kling broke a tackle and rambled 45 yards before being brought down. Vendel carried the ball a few times and Conger made a nice run behind the block of Chris Elias.

The Pee Wees will open the regular season at home on Saturday, September 1, at 10 am, against Brookfield.

Junior Midgets

The Junior Midgets dominated Pomperaug and played well against Danbury in a solid afternoon of play.

In the opening offensive series against Pomperaug, Tucker Kass and Joe Curran combined for 28 yards on the ground before quarterback Joe Devellis broke open for a 43-yard touchdown run. In the following series, Steve Vichiola swept wide for 10 yards while Tommy “Rambo” Gaboriault found daylight for a seven-yard carry. Kass blasted through a hole created by Steve Orrico and Joe Bowen on the line and rambled 30 yards. Tight end Cody Shpunt then fought off a defender and grabbed a 15-yard pass from DeVellis. Jake Putnicki added a 13-yard run to spark the offense.

Matt Kuruc, Scott Perry, Tim Shepard, Jonathan Monaco and Ted Gissen all performed well on the line.

On defense, Kass, Nick Maurer, Orrico and Bowen all made solid tackles. Maurer and Bowen, in fact, sacked the quarterback while Orrico forced a fumble – which was recovered by Kass. Gaboriault made two outstanding solo tackles, resulting in a net loss of 20 yards, while Steve Vichiola, Brian Stickles, Joe Collins and Brian Poeltl all registered tackles.

Against Danbury, the defense continued to slow down the run. Stickles and Orrico turned in solid plays right away, then Orrico and Bowen got together on a 15-yard loss and resultant fumble. Shpunt, Collins, Kass and Gaboriault all registered tackles while Shpunt recovered a fumble. Danbury did score a couple of touchdowns, but Collins blocked an extra-point attempt with a nice leaping effort.

Devellis registered the tackle of the day, running down a Danbury back over the course of 40 yards of real estate and making the tackle on the five yard line, preventing a touchdown.

On offense, Newtown ran the ball pretty well but could not score. Gaboriault had a couple of nice runs for 19 yards while Poeltl carried twice for 15 yards. Quarterback Drew Adamek completed an eight-yard pass to Maurer and a 10-yard pass to Shpunt.

The Junior Midgets will open the season at home on Sunday, September 2, at 12 noon, against Brookfield.