By Kim J. Harmon

It began with a moment of solemn prayer and ended with a moment of unbridled jubilation.

Just three days after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon claimed more than 5,000 lives, the Newtown High School football team had to find some way to begin the 2001 South-West Conference season.

It wasn’t easy.

And neither was the game, a 14-13 win for Newtown.

There was a moment of silence prior to the game – with a full complement of Newtown cheerleaders and Newtown Markettes holding candles while surrounding the American flag – and a moment to remember those who have died.

Then it was time to move on to the business of football.

And the business of winning.

It was a struggle for the Nighthawks all night. Quarterback Tom Ryan struggled to find his receivers, the line struggled to keep from holding or jumping off sides, and the defense struggled to keep Justin Rubertis from breaking the game wide open.

Still, with 1:04 left to play in the fourth quarter the Nighthawks found themselves in a position to win a game in which they had not led for a single second. After Ryan hit Rob Konkos at the corner flag from 18 yards out, the ‘Hawks were down, 13-12, and needing to make a BIG decision.

But the decision had already been made.

“As soon as it was first and 10 on the 35, we decided to go for two,” said head coach Ken Roberts. “There was no indecision. I’ll never play for a tie. You work all week long in practice and you only play one game a week, a tie just doesn’t fit into my style of coaching.”

And so Ryan took the snap and handed off to Mike Deluca (11 carries, 66 yards), who bulled his way off tackle from three yards out to hand Newtown an almost improbable, 14-13 win. It was improbable because just three minutes before, DeRubertis had seemed to stick a knife in the heart of the ‘Hawks with a 65-yard touchdown run that put Bethel ahead 13-6.

“My exact words,” said coach Roberts, “were, ‘that the best thing that could have happened to us.’ The only way we could have won was to have Bethel score and give us the ball back. All they had to do was get a couple of first downs and then they could have run the clock out.”

But DeRubertis scored on a sweep around the left side and with less than four minutes to go Newtown had the ball back on the 35. But what could have really hurt the ‘Hawks only made them stronger.

“One of the biggest attributes of this senior class,” said coach Roberts, “is that they are fighters. They are gritty, hard-fighting players and they never give up.”

Bethel took the first lead of the game, 7-0, with 1:44 to go in the first quarter when DeRubertis took advantage of a fallen Newtown cornerback and hit Jeremy Poklemba with an eight-yard touchdown pass.

The Wildcats held on to that seven-point lead for the next 12 minutes when Kyle Nowak (28 carries, 117 yards) rushed over left tackle from 12 yards out for a Newtown touchdown. Nowak and Deluca had literally carried the ‘Hawks down from midfield on an eight-play drive that featured eight runs into the teeth of the Bethel defense.

Kicker Casey Kirch’s first point-after attempt failed on a bad snap and the ‘Hawks were down, 7-6.

Early in the fourth quarter, Joe Gantert gave the ‘Hawks a bit of a spark with a spirited punt return down to the Bethel 30, but the drive – like so many others on the night – ended prematurely. Like the one a few moments later than ended with an incomplete pass at the goal line.

And with time running out on them, the ‘Hawks looked to be put further into a hole when DeRubertis tore off his 65-yard touchdown run.

But all it did was open the door for the rally.

The ‘Hawks will be in Brookfield this Friday for a 7 pm game.

BHS        7    0    0     6 - 13

NHS        0    0    6     8 - 14

 

First Quarter

B – Poklemba, 8 pass from DeRubertis (Smith kick)

Third Quarter

N – Nowak, 15 run (kick failed)

Fourth Quarter

B – DeRubertis, 65 run (kick failed)

N – Konkos, 18 pass from Ryan (Deluca run)

INDIVIDUAL STATS

 

Rushing

BETHEL – Justin DeRubertis 17-163, Ron Lienhardt 8-11, John Bara 10-29, Sean Brinkerhoff 1-7.

NEWTOWN – Kyle Nowak 28-117, Mike Deluca 11-66, Kevin Whipkey 2-9, Tom Ryan 5-13.

Passing

BETHEL – Justin DeRubertis 5-13-1, 45 yards, 1 TD. NEWTOWN – Tom Ryan 3-15-0, 54 yards, 1 TD; Kevin Whipkey 0-1-0, 0 yards.

Receiving

BETHEL – Jeremy Poklemba 5-45. NEWTOWN – Tim Byrne 1-17, Rob Konkos 1-18, Simon Censabella 1-15.