Hut Hut ... Highlights From The Gridiron

Grades 2-3

Ridgefield 13, Newtown 79ers 6: On the defensive side of the ball, Newtown had great performances from Ryan Williams, Tucker Garrity, Griffin Cross, Ethan Tousiant, Simon Preston, Riley McCafferty and William Stenz. Solid signaling by Ryan Kost allowed Newtown to move the ball up the field behind a double reverse by Josh Dunn for 24 yards and a fake reverse with CJ Shembelan taking it all the way in for the score. Great blocking by AJ Salaris, Brandon Giglio, Jack Carello, Gren Paynter, Alex Street and Jacob Duffy contributed to Newtown’s success on the offense throughout the day.

Grade 4

Ridgefield Black 19, Newtown Nighthawks 12: Newtown dominated the first quarter with a series of runs by Mitchell Savoca and Justin Dunn, which set up a touchdown pass to Patrick Conte. Dunn executed a quarterback sneak for Newtown’s second TD. Joey Accousti ran 55 yards and stopped Ridgefield’s second touchdown attempt. Despite a strong defensive effort by Accousti, Colin McCafferty, Noah LaFerriere, Ryan Marusi, Scott Bauer, Adam Bell, Anthony Falbo and Jack Wellman, Ridgefield Black came out on top.

Grade 6

Newtown 28, Ridgefield Orange 0: The Nighthawk pressure defense was led by defensive ends Markus Elken and Tim Krapf with 12 combined tackles, three of which were in the opponent’s backfield. The mighty defensive line of Kevin Conte, Griffin Davis, Jake Lambert and Eric Cascone with the assistance of Linebacker’s Sugar Shane Quimby and Bubba Condon held Ridgefield Orange to 20 total offensive yards. Colton Smith penetrated the Ridgefield backfield in a safety blitz resulting in a QB sack and safety Nick Lotrecchiano disrupted Ridgefield’s passing game with an interception.  Ridgefield’s outside running game was eliminated by Newtown cornerbacks David Bauch (three solo tackles) and Jaret DeVellis (with the defensive play of the game, when he stripped the ball from a Ridgefield’s running back and ran the fumble recovery for a 55-yard touchdown). Nolan Fisher was active on special teams and combined with David Bauch for a tackle in the backfield. Tim Krapf and Bubba Condon earned Newtown points with safety early in the game. Newtown earned 278 total yards for the day behind running backs Nick Lotrecchiano with 71 yards and a touchdown, Waterbug Santella who had 45 yards rushing, and Colton Smith with a 21 yard touchdown run. Tim Krapf had a 55-yard TD catch and Troy Fragione had a key 18-yard reception and Connor Roche had an extra point reception.

Grade 7

Ridgefield Raiders 32, Nighthawks 8: Quarterback Drew Tarantino connected with Mike Davis for a 30-yard touchdown pass. Julian Dunn and Connor Noonan also had solid games for Newtown.

Grade 8

Newtown 28, Aspetuck 8: Trailing by eight points late in the second quarter, Newtown responded. Danny Hebert threw to Chris Devaney for a 45 yard passing strike for Newtown’s first touchdown of the game. Christian Barrett kicked one of his two extra points for the day to end the first half in an 8-8 tie. In the third, Josh Villa powered into the end zone from four yards out for Newton’s first lead. Villa passed to Chris Devaney for the third touchdown. The final TD came on a punt return by Danny Hebert who ran 65 yards into the end zone. Newtown completed 13-of-13 passes for more than 200 yards. Justin DeVellis completed six passes and had two catches. Devaney caught five passes and had over 100 yards receiving. Defensive ends James Marusi and Patrick Thornberg helped the Hawks hold Aspetuck to a total of 33 yards in the second half. The defensive line, anchored by Chris Stanton and John Carroll, shut down any attempts of a comeback for Aspetuck.