Coming off a 42-0 blanking of South-West Conference opponent New Milford on September 13, the Newtown High School football team turns its attention to its first nonconference clash of the fall with a visit to Southern Connecticut Conference team Fairfield Prep. The Nighthawks will visit the Jesuits on Friday, September 20, beginning at 6 pm.

The Boot seemingly has found a permanent home. Newtown's win over the New Milford Green Wave keeps the Boot Trophy in Newtown for yet another season. These rivals vie for the trophy in their nearly annual matchup, and the Nighthawks have gotten the better of every meeting since the Green Wave last came out on top way back in 2001.

There would be no Friday the 13th hex on Newtown’s dominance in this matchup and Newtown wasted little time seizing control. The home team scored less than two minutes after the opening kickoff and put a 27-spot on the board before quarter’s end.

Miles Ricks rushed for three of the team’s four touchdowns in the opening quarter, putting Newtown on the scoreboard from nine yards out following a Jack Mulligan interception and adding TD runs of 48 and 17 yards. Will Swierbut picked off a deflected pass to set up Ricks’ second TD.

Riley Ward also carried the ball in for a score, breaking the goal line from nine yards out, and the game was all but over after just one quarter of play.

“I think we came out, and we did what we needed to do, but we have to clean up some mistakes and improve execution on certain things,” Newtown Coach Bobby Pattison said.

Newtown quarterbacks Jack Street and Brandon Lombardo took turns manning the pocket, rotating in and out of the game depending on the play calls. Lombardo connected with C.J. Cuomo on a 40-yard TD through the air in the second quarter. Street completed a two-point conversion pass to Mulligan to push the lead to 35-0. Jack Zingaro intercepted a pass late in the first half. Ben Pinto added a second-half touchdown run from a yard out.

The matchup was not an in-game competition of sorts for the starting quarterback role.

“I think both played well. They both can bring special things to the team,” said Pattison, adding that the plan is to continue to implement plays that will have both QBs in control at different times in games throughout the season. “They’re both talented, and they can really help us win.”

Street completed seven of nine attempts for 77 yards, and Lombardo completed two of five passes for 47 yards. There was not a lot of opportunity for the passing game to go to work once the big lead was established and the objective went from putting up points to running clock.

Pattison noted that Newtown’s offensive line did a great job opening up holes for Ricks, whom the head coach noted was waiting in the wings with Dan Mason, the lead running back, a year ago and shined when in his first opportunity as a starter. The line comprises Kyle Good, Matt Heinlein, Mike Loomis, Lyle Petrellese, and Aidan Kennedy.

Newtown’s defense forced the Green Wave into numerous third and long situations, helping the Hawks gain good field position throughout the night.

The defense racked up 29 solo tackles and 11 assisted tackles led by five total tackles by Jared Dunn and four each by Zingaro and Pat Boyle. Dunn had a quarterback sack, and Zach Loomis and James Knox each had one and a half sacks, both totaling 11 yards. Swierbut, Zingaro, Mulligan, and C.J. Demers all had pickoffs. Devin O’Connell helped set the defense up with deep kickoffs, averaging 55.9 yards with a long of 60 on his seven kicks. Mulligan punted twice and averaged 40 yards on his two boots.

Ricks carried the ball four times for 85 yards as the Nighthawks accumulated 207 yards on the ground. Luke Hannan picked up 44 yards on seven carries, and Connor Breslin rushed four times for 31 yards. Jeffrey Garrity gained 48 yards on four receptions, and Cuomo had three catches for 66 yards.

There may be two Newtown quarterbacks who see substantial playing time in any given game, but there will be three when the Nighthawks visit Fairfield Prep (coming off a 14-7 win over North Haven). That is because Prep is led by Newtown’s J.P. Iaropoli. This is a game the Nighthawk players had circled on their schedules the day the fall slate was announced, Pattison said. Many of them played youth football with Iaropoli, and Prep — a Southern Connecticut Conference team and the first of four nonconference opponents — is traditionally one of the state’s best.

“I know our kids will be ready to go,” Pattison said. “Prep’s a good team. We’ve got to work hard at practice this week.”