Midgets

Wow, talk about a game!

Quarterback Jake DeVellis had the game of his life as he passed for four touchdowns and ran for another two to lead the Newtown Pop Warner Midgets over the Bethel Bobcats, 40-24, last weekend in Candlewood Valley League action.

The Midgets are 3-0.

DeVellis tossed scoring strikes of 3, 25 and 44 yards to Justin McGrath and added a 41-yard scoring strike to Kris Arndt in the aerial assault. And in the ground attack, DeVellis scored on runs of 1 and 7 yards.

Wow!

DeVellis and the Midgets got started right away, opening the game with an eight-play, 66-yard drive that ended with the three-yard pass from DeVellis to McGrath. Joey Scarpelli, Nick Tramontozzi, Nick Pieretti, Matt Hill, and Sean Gil powered the offensive line on the drive.

Bethel did not take long to respond, though. On the ensuing kick-off, their deep back took the kick on the run, and broke one tackle, then ran 75 yards for a touchdown to tie the score at 6-6.

Later, DeVellis chipped in on defense by causing a fumble, which Jason Kostecki recovered on the Bethel 46. The Midgets marched down the field, with DeVellis scoring on a one-yard run to put the ‘Hawks ahead, 14-6.

Lance Bennet, Jacob Browning, Billy Seiling, JR Shine, and Henry Sims provided most of the blocking on the drive. Charlie LoBosco chipped in with the two-point kick.

Again, Bethel wasted no time to respond. After Newtown failed on an attempted onsides kick, Bethel needed just two plays and scored on a 47-yard run. Newtown defensive end Mike Rodriguez blocked the PAT kick and the ‘Hawks remained on top, 14-12.

On the ensuing possession, the Midgets marched right back down the field. A 27-yard pass from DeVellis to McNamara was the key play, with DeVellis following key blocks from Connor McNamara and McGrath to finish things off on a seven-yard run.

Safety Ian Cooper picked off a Bethel pass on the Newtown 44 to close the first half.

Bethel opened the second half by scoring on its first drive and trimming the Newtown lead to 20-18. But the Nighthawks kept the offensive pressure high and mounted a six-play, 76-yard drive that ended on DeVellis’ 41-yard pass to Arndt that gave the ‘Hawks a 26-18 lead.

The Nighthawk defense stepped up on the next series, and forced a Bethel punt. This gave Newtown the ball on its own 44 and on the third play of the ensuing series, DeVellis hit McGrath on an out pattern with McGrath breaking two tackles and scampering 44 yards for another Newtown TD.

Stephen Osmolik attempted the PAT kick and booted it through to give the ‘Hawks a 34-18 lead.

In the fourth quarter, the Bobcats inched a little closer on a 67-yard touchdown run off tackle, trimming the Newtown lead to 34-24. But on the ensuing drive (after Newtown’s Ed White scooped up an onsides kick), DeVellis tossed a 25-yard TD pass to McGrath to put the locals on top, 40-24.

The Midgets will travel to Ridgefield on Sunday in a battle of undefeated teams.

Junior Midgets

Rob O’Donnell scored a pair of touchdowns and Kyle O’Connor scored one to lead the Newtown Pop Warner Junior Midgets to a 22-0 win over Bethel last weekend.

The locals got started right away, taking the opening kick and marching down the field. The blocking of Dana Hansen, Keith McGrath, Zach Dent, Mike Hadgraft, Tim Wilmott and Kurt Nacewicz was able to create major yardage gains of 8, 5, and 25 yards to set up the 11-yard Rob O’Donnell TD.

Brian Reszoly booted a PAT kick to put Newtown ahead, 8-0.

On defense, Reszoly, O’Donnell, O’Connor, Tory Deakin, and Matt Taylor shut down Bethel and gave up only one first down. Thus, Newtown was quickly back to its scoring ways on the second drive. Behind the blocking of Louis Raab, Kevin Brown, Mike “Mooch” Mouchantat, Dakota Christiano, and Collin Gage, O’Connor was able to break loose for a gain 40 yards with four broken tackles to set up a 14-yard O’Donnell TD run.

Reszoly booted in another PAT kick to put the locals on top, 14-0.

Newtown shut down Bethel for the rest of the first half with tackles by Jake Woolf, Brian Kuruc, Dylan Huebner, Nick “Bones” Tarantino, Jaime Vavrek, Dana Hansen and Reszoly (a sack). And before the end of the first half, O’Connor completed a 20-yard pass to Vavrek.

Jeremy Schaniel and McGrath started the third quarter off strong by sacking the Bethel quarterback for a loss of six, forcing a punt. Dent carried the ball well on the next Newtown drive, but Newtown turned the ball over on downs.

Newtown added one more touchdown, a 65- yard run by O’Connor, who sprung loose by blocks by Deakin and Kuruc. Mouchantat, Taylor, and Mike “The Animal” Hadgraft were dominant forces on defense and helped shut Bethel down for the rest of the game.

AJ Ritchie helped close out the game with a 10-yard run up the middle. The special teams highlight of the day was a 50-yard punt by Nacewicz.

Pee Wees

Max Nacewicz scored on a six-yard run, but the Newtown Pop Warner Pee Wees dropped a 12-6 decision to Bethel last week. The Pee Wees continue to improve each week and were led by captains-of-the-week Connor Byrne, Kyle Vignone, Bryan Kilmurray and Nacewicz.

Bethel scored first on a long pass out of the backfield but was stopped on the extra point play on a behind the line of scrimmage sack by Byrne.

Newtown responded with a 40-yard drive on some nice runs by John Johnson and Keith Reszoly. These runs were all made possible due to some outstanding blocking from the front line of Dan Sclafani, Matt Yitts, Chris Giglio, Don Geis, Nick Dinielli and Sean Maher. The drive fell short on the Bethel 10 as Newtown ran out of downs.

Newtown kicked off to start the second half and after several plays recovered a fumble on the Bethel 47. The locals took over and sprung a long run around the left side on a pitch from John Fracker to Kevin O’Connell for 42 yards down to the three, where Nacewicz took it in for the score to tie the game.

Mighty Mites

Nicholas Lotrecchiano scored on a 22-yard run and Julian Dunn scored on an 18-yard run, but the Newtown Pop Warner Mighty Mites dropped a 19-12 decision to Bethel last weekend.