EIGHTH GRADE

Newtown 28, Yorktown 8

A solid rushing attack with some key defensive plays led the Newtown eighth grade football team to a 28-8 win over Yorktown.

Colin Gage returned a blocked punt 58 yards for a score and Sean Ross returned an interception 37 yards for another score to highlight the defensive effort for the eighth graders. Meanwhile, quarterback Evan Noonan tossed a five-yard scoring pass to Matt Vavrek and Andrew Cebry rushed 38 yards for another score to power the offense.

Newtown started the game with a four-play defensive stand that resulted in the blocked punt and Gage touchdown. After a second set of defensive stops due to a swarming defensive effort by Mario Pizighelli, Matt Weilbinski, James Horozsko, Cory Fisher, Eric Samuelsson, and Robbie Daigle the offense took over and several nice runs by Cebry set up a the short touchdown pass from Noonan to Vavrek to put Newtown on top, 14-0.

The defense held again with strong tackles by Kevin Phillips, Jacob Enriquez and Shawn Mangold, setting up another opportunity for the offense. The O line – Aaron Brown, Rick Rout, Rob Bauer, Ian Kirner and Jack Curry – blocked well and after several nice runs by Brendan McNamara and Lois Fenaroli, Cebry got outside for a 38 yard TD run that put Newtown up 20-0 just before the close of the first half.

Newtown received the opening kickoff and was forced to punt, but soon after the change of possession Ross jumped in front of a Yorktown pass ran it back for a 37-yard touchdown.

Barrett added the extra point, making it 28-0 in favor of Newtown. The Yorktown team responded on a 68-yard toss play to get on the board, but the Nighthawks eventually closed out the 28-8 win and began preparing for Ridgefield Orange this weekend.

SEVENTH GRADE

Norwalk 14, Newtown 0

The Newtown seventh grade team suffered a tough 14-0 loss to the visiting Norwalk Panthers in a game where the only scoring came early in the first half.

Norwalk opened the game with the ball on its own 40-yard line. In response to some strong tackles by Justin DeVellis, Josh Villa, James Marusi and Pat Mullins on the ground plays, Norwalk took to the air and scored on its opening possession and with the two-point conversion had a quick 8-0 lead.

Newtown got its hands on the ball for the first time on its own 32. Phil Reynolds took the first two carries, picking up the first down, but an offsides penalty hurt the Hawks and despite Villa and Dan Hebert picking up some yards, the Hawks ended up short, leaving Reynolds to punt and the Panthers took over deep in their own territory.

On the very next play, the Panthers surprised the Hawks by taking the ball all the way down the field, scoring their second touchdown. The Hawks blocked the kick, but the Panthers had a 14-0 lead that would eventually hold up.

It didn’t look so bleak as the Hawks, on the ensuing possession, started moving the football as Hebert completed a pass to KC Condon followed with subsequent carries by Strocchia, Villa and Reynolds. But a turnover cost the Hawks that drive and Norwalk took over.

The third quarter was a series of back and forth possessions with the Hawks defense coming on strong. Tackles by Chris Stanton, Christian Barrett, and a sack by Pat Thornberg late in the third quarter stopped the Panthers in their tracks. Newtown took over in the fourth quarter, but runs by Hebert, Villa, and Reynolds came up short.

Late in the fourth quarter, with Norwalk deep in Hawks territory, a tackle by Dan Poeltl and strong defensive plays by Hebert, Reynolds, Marusi, and DeVellis kept the Panthers from doing any more damage.

Newtown took over the ball on its own 19, Hebert connected on a pass to Reynolds for a gain of three, Reynolds had a final carry before the clock sounded the end of a tough defensive game.

SIXTH GRADE

Newtown 20, Aspetuck 16

The Newtown sixth grade football team rallied back from an 8-0 halftime deficit and then held off a late drive to defeat Aspetuck, 20-16, and remain undefeated at 3-0.

Two plays into the game, Aspetuck ripped off a 57-yard touchdown run to take an 8-0 lead. That lead held up, too, despite a strong kick return by Julian Dunn and some nice running by Cooper Gold. A key sack by Jimmy Leidlein with Aspetuck deep in Newtown territory helped keep Aspetuck out of the end zone.

A couple of fumbles in the first half hurt the locals, but they came out fired up in the third quarter. On their first series, facing a fourth and five at the Aspetuck 45, Dunn pulled off a fake punt and ran the ball down to the Aspetuck 20. From there, Gold chugged off on two nice runs to get the ball down to two where Dunn punched it in for the score.

The PAT attempt failed, leaving Newtown down 8-6.

The Newtown defense stopped Aspetuck near midfield on its next series and on the ensuing punt, Patrick Afriyie crashed through the line, blocked the punt, scooped the ball up at the 15 and ran it in for the TD.

Dunn converted the PAT to give Newtown the lead, 13-8.

After returning the ensuing kick off to its own 49, Aspetuck roared right back, scoring two plays later on a 45-yard run down the sideline to go back up, 16-13.

As the fourth quarter started, Newtown took the ball on the kick off to start at its own 38. After a couple of tough runs by Gold put the ball on the 42, Dunn blasted off the left side, behind Gold, and linemen Nick Strokis, Connor Noonan and Matt White to go 58 yards for the touchdown and the 20-16 Newtown lead.

Drew Tarantino threw the half back option pass to Matt Hoyt to covert the PAT.

But Aspetuck wasn’t giving up. After returning the kick off to its 40, Aspetuck took it all the way down to the Newtown 16, with time running out. But with 27 seconds left, Aspetuck dropped back for the pass and Dunn stepped up for the interception at the seven to seal the victory.

Defensively, Connor Noonan had an outstanding game at middle linebacker.

FIFTH GRADE

Newtown 28, Norwalk 0

In a rematch of the 2006 Candlewood Valley League championship game, the Newtown fifth grade football team squared off once again against a tough Norwalk Jaguars squad – but, though nearly 12 months have gone by, the outcome changed little as the Hawks completely dominated the game and ran away with a 28-0 victory.

The Hawks unleashed a full frontal assault scoring on the ground, in the air, and on defense leaving Norwalk little opportunity to mount any sort of attack.

The offense looked virtually unstoppable as Colton Smith and Nick Lotrecchiano once again took center stage for the Newtown offense, combining for 273 total yards of offense. Smith rumbled through the Norwalk defense 11 times for 132 yards and a TD while Lotrecchiano carried the ball 10 times for 98 yards and two TDs.

The Smith/Lotrecchiano one-two punch also connected on a halfback pass from Lotrecchianno to Smith for a 43 yard touchdown on a fourth and 22 conversion. The was all possible due to the physical line blocking of Erik Street, Griffin Davis, Nick Rubino, Tim Krapf, Jake Lambert, Markus Elken and Connor Roche. Jonathan Sherman and Shane Quimby did a great job of giving both Smith and Lotrecchiano a well earned breather by taking 11 carries combined and contributing an additional 42 yards.

The defense pitched its second straight shut-out of the season and allowed only two first downs while giving up just 48 yards of total offense against a very fast Norwalk squad. The Hawks set the tone on the Jaguars opening possession when Smith flew through the line and pummeled the Jaguars half back for a six-yard loss, and ensuing safety.

Lotrecchiano led all Hawk defensemen with eight tackles. Elkin, Smith and Krapf each had five, while Kevin Conte, Bubba Condon and Max Rucinski rounded out the day with four tackles each. Rucinski dashed any last hopes of a score from Norwalk as he delivered a bone-crushing hit causing a fumble late in the fourth quarter.

79ER GOLD

Hudson Valley 19, Newtown 12

Newtown 12, Aspetuck 7

Mitchel Savoca gained 118 yards on nine carries and scored on a 62-yard run, but it wasn’t enough as the Newtown 79er Gold team dropped a 19-12 decision to Hudson Valley.

Eric Benson, Adam Bell, Steven Pansa, Henry Korth and Liam Garrison had the key blocks on Savoca’s TD run and were solid all game. The young ‘Hawks seemed to easily move the ball with Austin LeBlanc directing the offense and the solid running of Savoca, Sam Duffy, Nick Bourgeois and Anthony Falbo.

Ryan Campbell added a key block on a 55-yard Duffy run for the ‘Hawks other score.

On defense, Noah LaFerriere and Conner Flint were spectacular on the corners and Spencer Burden, Hunter Booker and Colin McCafferty contained nearly everything thrown at them. The D gave up three scores with just 88 yards of offense allowed (Hudson Valley scored on a fumble return). Duffy and Falbo had five tackles each while Pansa and Bell had four each. Hunter Brunetti, John Reardon and Ryan McIntyre were in on three tackles apiece.

The Gold recovered last weekend with a 12-7 win over Aspetuck when Savoca scored twice on runs of 55 and 71 yards. Henry Korth, Eric Benson and Adam Bell had the key blocks, with Michael Garner providing a block on the corner to spring the first TD and Spencer Burden “pancaking” his man to open the way for Savoca's second trip to the end zone.

Savoca once again led all rushers with 162 yards on 11 carries.

Aspetuck’s lone score came from a 90-yard broken play and was their only real offensive progress of the day. The Newtown defense was ferocious, allowing no other big plays and stopping the Ravens for a loss on six separate occasions.

Anchoring the defense was LaFerriere, Liam Garrison, Kyle Martinez and Flint. Especially tough at linebacker were Ryan Norton and Grant Varnum. The defensive line play of Reardon, Brunetti and McIntyre sealed the game for the Gold.

FOURTH GRADE

Newtown 6, Ridgefield 6

Two of the best teams in the fourth grade division took the gridiron last Saturday at the Hawley Field to see, in fact, which was the better team.

It was neither (or both) after a 6-6 tie.

Newtown opened the game with strong running performances by Michael Doyle, Joe Santella, Jared Pearson, Geoffrey Santore and Devin Luzietti, but their initial drive stalled at the Ridgefield 40.

A tough defensive effort by Gordon Walsh, Michael Roche, Robbie McCabe, Owen Richards, Adam Robertson and Nick Samuelson stopped the Ridgefield offense, though, and Newtown took over again.

The Ridgefield defense was tough, but the front line of Ryan Shaw, Andrew Svanda, Colin Theis and Gregory Harrison provided the protection and on fourth and 15, Matt Elias made a great catch from halfback Michael Doyle to put Newtown on the Ridgefield 8.

The next play found blockers Jeremy Salaris, Tim Mammen, Matt Meyers, John Delrossi,  and Ryan Shaw clearing the way for Santella, who zig-zagged through the defense for a Newtown touchdown.

In the second quarter, the Ridgefield offense was still having a hard time moving the ball on the ground ... so it took to the air and the ball was soon picked off by Luzietti.

The 6-0 Newtown halftime lead wasn’t to last, as on the first series in the third quarter Ridgefield struck on a 60-yard touchdown run to even the score at 6-6.

The conversion was halted by Brian Kiley, Luzietti, Nick Rohrbacher and Pearson at the line of scrimmage.

Both teams had scoring threats in the second half, but Newtown reached no closer than the Ridgefield 18 and Ridgefield reached no closer than the Newtown 20 before time ran out.

79ER BLUE

Newtown 25, Bethel 6

Nicholas Genovese rushed for three touchdowns (one going for 60 yards) and Peyton Manning rushed for another (his going for 55 yards) as the Newtown 79er Blue team rolled over Bethel, 25-6, last weekend.

After Scotty Bauer recovered a fumble on the opening drive by Bethel, Genovese rushed 60 yards for a touchdown on Newtown’s first play from scrimmage. Ed Henderson and Bobby Haskins provided the key blocks on the run.

Newtown then held Bethel with some outstanding defense from Jack Wellman and Mitchell Long.

On the next Newtown possession, QB Justin (Bone) Dunn handed the ball to Manning, who ran 55 yards up the left side for another touchdown and a 12-0 Newtown lead.

After another great defensive series by Josh Dunn, Ryan Marusi and William Stenz, Dunn threw a long bomb to wide receiver Haskins, which set up Genovese for his second TD of the game. Bauer plowed in for the extra point and the score was 19-0.

Will Whitlock , Chris Febbraio and CJ Shambelan making it all possible with their tremendous work on the offensive line.

Bethel finally got on the board early in the third with a long drive, but the extra point was no good. Newtown responded later with some tremendous defense by AJ Salaris, Doug Carriero and defensive end Mark Hall, who had a tremendous tackle. Back on offense, Dunn ran for 15 yards, with blocking help Calvin Savoia and Sam Pellicone, and set up Genovese’s third touchdown of the game.