Hut Hut ... Highlights From The Youth Gridiron

Grade 4

Yorktown 15, Newtown 12: Newtown slugged its way ahead in the first half with runs by Josh Dunn, William Stenz, Michael Garner, and CJ Shambelan and although the opportunities were there they were unable to put the ball in the end zone. On the defensive side of the ball, although the team saw some solid tackling in the middle of the box by Daniel Badiola, Doug Carrriero, Ryan Williams and Simon Preston, the containment on the outside broke down and Yorktown took two runs to the outside that resulted in Yorktown leading at the half by a score of 13-0.

In the tale of two halves Newtown come out firing in the second half. Shambelan took a run to the outside and brought Newtown inside the 10 yard line and John Dunn put Newtown within 7 after the missed extra point attempt. Late in the third it was Newtown scoring again when Ryan Kost ran a bootleg and caught Yorktown off guard for another 6. The attempted pass went incomplete for the extra point and the score was now 13-12. On the offensive side of things there were great blocks by Jack Carello, Chris Faxon, Kyle Roche and fullback Michael Garner. Defensively, David Daria, Shambelan, and Dunn all made big stops throughout the half. Late in the fourth quarter Newtown was pinned against its own end zone and took a safety putting the score at 15-12 and taking the free kick to gain field position. The defense held tough and got the ball back on downs but with less than two minutes to go Newtown lost the ball and Yorktown walked away with the victory.

Grade 5

Newtown Nighthawks, 25, Yorktown 6: The Nighthawks’ defense, led by Adam Bell, Joe Accousti, Anthony Adamcheck and Bobby Haskins, shut down the Yorktown offense for most of the game for a near shutout. Strong play by the offensive line, led by Edward Lovely, Mitchell Long and Alex Morganti, opened holes for Nevin Zink who ran for two touchdowns. Patrick Conte also ran for a touchdown, and later completed a pass to Haskins to score the last touchdown. Other highlights included a key pass completion from Tom Cotton to Gavin Stubbs and a quarterback sack by Ryan Norton that stopped a Yorktown drive in the second half. The Nighthawks are now 2-0 and have scored 44 points while only giving up 6.

Grade 6

Newtown 8, Aspetuck 0: Newtown limited Aspetuck to 62 total yards (12 in the second half). The Nighthawk effort was led by defensive ends Brian Kiley, Michael Roche, Charlie Fletcher (2 tackles, 1 sack), and Declan Sullivan, who constantly forced runs back inside. Pressure up the middle was provided by Ryan Shaw (3 tackles), Austin LeBlanc, James Accousti (1 tackle), and John Reardon. After a benign first half, the Newtown offense came alive and put together a 12-play, 67-yard drive behind the strong blocking of Matt Davis, Christian Thanasoulis, Hunter Booker, Matt Carino, and Colin Patrick. Newtown failed to convert on a fourth and one at the three yard line. However, on the second play of the next drive, the surging interior line forced an Aspetuck fumble that was recovered in the end zone by Jared Pearson (6 tackles) for a touchdown. His extra point kick made the score 8-0. Next, Steve Faxlanger (6 tackles) intercepted a pass to give the ball back to Newtown. On fourth down and long, Michael Doyle (7 tackles) blasted a 57-yard quick kick that pinned Aspetuck on its own 10 and effectively sealed the victory.

Grade 7

Newtown 36, Yorktown 6: The young Hawks amassed more than 350 yards of total offense, including 292 yards on the ground while gaining 65 through the air. Nick Lotrecchiano, Jaret DeVellis, Julian Dunn, Colton Smith, Bug Santella, Logan Walsh and Sugar Shane Quimby combined on 25 carries for an 11-plus yard average. Newtown scored three touchdowns on the ground and added two TD passes through the air. Colton Smith’s first pass of the day opened up the scoring when he hit Will Dalton for a 15-yard touchdown in the corner of the end zone. Smith later connected on a 50-yard bubble screen pass to back Nick Lotrecchiano who used his speed and quickness to avoid three Yorktown defenders. While the offense seemed unstoppable, the swarming defense also shined and held the Huskies to negative yards until late in the fourth quarter. The Nighthawk defense did not allow a first down all day.  The defense was led by the strong play of  ends Markus Elken, Tim Krapf, Connor Roche and Chris Hartley, who shut down any thoughts of running outside. The line play of Eric Cascone, Kevin Conte, Aidan Petershack, Jake Lambert and Griffin Davis closed down the middle. The linebacker play of Rat Rubino, Bubba Condon, Julian Dunn, Shane Quimby and Kevin Ross, who were in on a handful of tackles, assisted in the win. Roche, Hartley and Krapf each had a sack with Cascone and Lambert sharing a half sack each. Dalton also added an interception to go along with his TD reception.