79ers

Newtown 20, Southington 6: Newtown’s offensive line continues to dominate, led by Jack Stenz, Aiden Foss, Trevor Jacozzi, Nick Fischer, Jordan Conrad, Grant Baker, Tommy Gies, Carlos, Contreras, and William Wallace. Newtown’s first touchdown was set up by a key 20-yard run by Luke Hannan when faced with a third and eight deep in Newtown’s territory. Shaine Luzzietti took the next two carries, dragging defenders down to the Southington 15 yard line. Jeffrey Garrity then took a handoff around the outside for the game’s first score and also ran in the extra point to give Newtown a 7-0 lead.

Just before the half, Southington scored on a broken play but failed to convert the extra point, leaving Newtown ahead 7-6 at the half. The second half was all Newtown with the defense, led by Jake Dandrea, Shaine Luzietti, CJ Demers, Eric Burbank, Michael Haddick, Anthony Dorazio, Nick Sabillion, and TJ O’Connell, keeping the Southington offense at bay.

Newtown’s next score was set up by more tough running by Luzietti who led all running backs with 65 yards. Luzietti drove the offense to the Southington 30 behind some tough blocking by the offensive line. On the next play Michael Haddick ran the ball to the Southington six yard line on 24-yard bootleg run. Mathew Carpenter capped off the drive with a six-yard TD run. Newtown’s final score of the game came on a 15-yard run by Jeffrey Garrity for his second score of the day. Newtown added the extra point on a great pass from Jack Street to CJ Demers in the back of the end zone.

Grade 4

Newtown 7, Norwalk 6: Jared Dunn’s 103 rushing yards on 23 carries, Connor Moran’s 39-yard touchdown run, and very tough defense lifted Newtown to victory in week one. The defense was led by Connor Haywood (six tackles) and Danny Ingersoll (four tackles).

Shelton 24, Newtown 19: Despite a 40-yard interception return for a touchdown by Dunn and touchdown runs by JP Iaropoli and Dunn, the Seahawks grabbed a late victory with a special teams score and a long touchdown pass to steal a win in week two.  The run defense was stellar, anchored by the big men, Kyle Good with ten tackles and Jack Mulligan with 6 tackles.

Newtown 26, Aspetuck Wildcats 0: The Hawks racked up 269 yards in total offense, while allowing only 68 yards, in a convincing victory in week three. The balanced running attack was highlighted by Jack Kuligowski’s 49-yard touchdown scamper, that was set up by Matthew Bradbury’s onside kick recovery to put Newtown up 13-0 in the first quarter. Dunn had led off the scoring with an eight-yard rushing TD and Luke Wellman added a nine-yard TD to close out the scoring. Connor Moran, Jack Carpenter, Connor Haywood, and Jack Zingaro also ran effectively behind the solid blocking of Justin Engler, Matthew Heinlein, Stephen Sedensky, Brett Pierce, and Kyle Good. The Hawks also added a potent passing attack to keep the wildcats on their heels. Jack Mulligan corralled three passes for 66 yards, including a hard-fought 20-yard touchdown catch and run. The defense was again stellar, not allowing the Wildcats to have any serious scoring threats. The front line of Eamon Doherty, William Swierbut and Kyle Good effectively controlled the wildcat wedge, allowing Dunn, Haywood and Wellman to clean up with six tackles each.

Grade 5

Nighthawks 27, Seahawks 24: Coach Cascone’s team defeated a surprisingly-resilient Seahawk team. The Nighthawks blew up the scoreboard with 21 first-half points: Fullback Daniel Mason bulldozed his way into the end zone for a pair and running back Matt Dubois skittered in for the other. Running back Griffin Cross and fullback Mason converted extra points on the ground, while quarterback Luke Melillo and receiver Kyle Cascone converted the third with a nice toss and catch. Score at the half: 21-12. QB Melillo wasn’t done with the air show. He heaved a 64-yard bomb to Dubois in the third quarter for the Nighthawk’s last score of the game. Not wanting to be upset at home, the Seahawks came back to within three. With seconds remaining on the clock, Shelton faked a kneel down but a vigilant defense broke up the play and the Nighthawks improved to 3-0. Outstanding effort by Tucker Garrity, Robbie Morrill, Shane Demers, Jack Hannan, Brandon Giglio, Garrett Norberg, Tom Usher, Karl Kelly, Jack Swanson, Chris Maturo, Reed Hammond, and John Albanesi.

Grade 7

Shelton 18, Newtown 14: Shelton wasted no time going to work on the Nighthawks’ defense, scoring on its opening drive. Bobby Haskins blocked the extra point attempt. On Newtown’s opening drive, Brandyn Chieffo was utilized on the offensive line to take a few of the opposing Seahawks out of the play, allowing Ben Mason to run the ball. Shelton shut Newtown’s drive down, forcing the Nighthawks to punt. Mason and Haskins then combined on defense to shut Shelton down forcing the opponent to punt. Patrick Conte recovered an errant long snap on the eight yard line. Behind the offensive line of Jack Wellman, Ryan Marusi, and Jack Phelps, Conte connected with Mitchell Savoca for the touchdown, tying the game at six apiece. In the second quarter, the Nighthawk defense of John Pierce, Steve Macejko, Adam Bell, Alex Morganti, Matt Bucci, Scotty Bauer, and Ryan Brello slowed the Shelton offense. Haskins added the exclamation to end the drive with a sack for a loss of 13 in the Shelton backfield. After taking over, Conte had plenty of pass protection from Ryan Norton, Wellman, and Morganti and connected with Steven Moccio for a gain of seven. He then connected with Haskins on 24 and seven yard receptions before Shelton was able to stop the drive. 

The second half began with Newtown turning the ball over on a fumble and Shelton quickly driving the field for its second touchdown on a 19-yard run. The extra point attempt fell short.  The remainder of the third quarter and beginning of the fourth quarter was a defensive battle ith neither team making any offensive progress. With four minutes remaining Shelton scored on a 48-yard run to go up 18-6 on the Nighthawks. Conte wasted no time and connected with Moccio, Savoca, and Mason to take the ball 52 yards on three plays. He capped off the drive with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Haskins. Conte connected on the extra point. With momentum swinging in Newtown’s favor, Conte kicked and onside kick which was played perfectly by the Nighthawks and recovered by Ed Lovely, giving Newtown possession and the chance to win the game. Conte, again with excellent pass protection from his line, connected with Mason on a screen up the middle for a first down. Savoca then ran for another first down with two minutes remaining. The Newtown coaches said a no-call on pass interference, in which a Shelton defender knocked Haskins to the ground, allowed for an interception and Shelton running out the clock.

Grade 8

Newtown 33, Aspetuck 16: The Nighthawks made it two in a row as they jumped out to a 27-0 lead and cruised to victory. Late in the first quarter, Ethan Carpenter got Newtown started as he intercepted a pass at midfield and then, on the next play, took a screen pass, juked two opponents, and streaked down the sideline for a 39-yard gain. Four plays later, Jared Pearson broke several tackles as he scrambled around right end for an 11-yard touchdown run behind the blocking of Greg Harrison and Brandon Hensel. With ten seconds remaining in the half, Matt Maturo found Matt Elias in the back of the end zone for a 14-yard scoring strike and a 13-0 lead. 

Defensive highlights for the half included three tackles for losses by Ryan Shaw, a sack by Bryan Kiley, and tough interior line play by Justin Faith, Peter Fiorella, and Carlo Fenaroli. Newtown kept the pressure on as Pearson took the second half opening kickoff 79 yards for pay dirt. The extra point kick by Henry Lyon made the score 21-0. After stopping Aspetuck on downs on the next series, Pearson took a pitch right, reversed direction, and ran around the left side for a 33-yard score. The Nighthawks’ final score came in the fourth quarter on a one-yard plunge by Scooter McCarthy, which was made possible by the blocks of Stephen Pansa and Justin Appley. The touchdown was set up by a 42-yard reception by Gordon Walsh, who was ruled down inside the one (instant replay would have shown that he crossed the goal line, coaches said).

Other offensive highlights included an 11-yard reception for a first down by Michael Doyle and a 48-yard rumble by Andrew Svanda. Defensively, the Hawks did give up a couple of long scoring passes, but the overall secondary play improved from last week due to the efforts of cornerbacks Steve Faxlanger, Matt Carino, and Hunter Booker, and safety Peyton Manning (his neck is fine). Sam Duffy had three tackles from the linebacker position, and Charlie Fletcher and Nick Samuelson recorded second half sacks. Mark Urso provided pressure from the end position and recovered a fumble.