Nighthawk Gridders Kick Off Season With Win

By Andy Hutchison

REDDING — The start of the 2011 football season, all in all, was a good one for Newtown High School’s football team. The Nighthawks visited Joel Barlow High School September 16, and came away with a 33-13 win under the lights.

Running back Lou Fenaroli used all his 5-foot-10, 225-pound frame to carry the team, and several Barlow defenders along the way, to victory. Fenaroli, a senior captain, rushed 29 times for a whopping 165 yards, and ran for three touchdowns. He accounted for all but five of his team’s yards on the ground.

“Running the ball, he was outstanding today obviously – big carries. You just can’t bring him down one on one. But defensively he had a great game too,” said Newtown Coach Steve George, making note of his play from the linebacker position.

Newtown’s defense was all but impenetrable with Jamie Horosko, Hunter Bassett, and Cory Fisher all contributing quarterback sacks. Horosko and Bassett each had two QB takedowns. Mike Lord assisted on one of those sacks, and Fisher came up with a fumble recovery on a Barlow punt return. Justin Devellis also recovered a fumble in the season opener.

George was also pleased with the play of right tackle Mac Morlock, adding that Morlock shut down Barlow’s option game and made it hard for the Falcons to run the ball.

“The defense played great. The offensive line gave me time in the pocket,” said Newtown senior quarterback Greg Frattaroli, who earned the starting role in a battle with three teammates for the job.

Frattaroli connected with receiver Dan Hebert for two first-half touchdown receptions as the Nighthawks built a 21-0 lead and resorted almost exclusively to the running game in the second half after mixing it up to build a big lead.

Hebert caught four passes for 106 yards, including a long of 58. Frattaroli completed 9 of 15 passes for 208 yards, Devellis had two catches for 81 yards, and Mike Allwein had a pair of receptions for 20 yards.

Just after a non-call on what the Nighthawks believed was pass interference by a Barlow defender against one of their receivers in the end zone, Barlow broke up the shutout when Alex Lockwood returned an interception 70 yards for a score with less than a minute to play in the first half.

The host Falcons’ back-in-the-game life was short-lived.

The Nighthawks responded with a turnover in their favor less than a minute into the second half when Devellis pounced on a loose ball at Barlow’s 33 yard line. Fenaroli took the handoff on each play of the ensuing drive and capped off the possession with a one-yard rush into the paint to make it a three possession game, 27-6, once again. The extra point attempt was blocked.

After the Falcons got to within 27-13 in the third quarter, Fenaroli capped a 49-yard drive with another one-yard TD score early in the fourth. He found the end zone yet again, after gaining big chunks of ground on bruising rushes of 17 and 14 yards.

For season-openers, George was happy with the effort and outcome although Newtown did commit several infractions, many of them false start penalties which George attributed to the team’s excitement level in game one.

“It’s just something that we have to work on,” Frattaroli said.

“The kids really stepped up and they worked hard – and they were just kind of ready to play a game. It’s a long off season and they just wanted to come out and kind of prove themselves tonight,” the coach said. “Barlow’s a good team. I feel like we really played to our potential tonight.”

The Nighthawks are scheduled to play their first home game, at Blue & Gold Stadium, when Immaculate of Danbury visits for a 7 pm kickoff on Friday, September 23.