Joe Santella (55 kick return), Michael Doyle (40-yard run), Devin Luzietti and Ethan Carpenter all scored touchdowns as the Newtown fourth-grade football team crushed Hudson Valley, 27-7, to remain undefeated in Candlewood Valley League action.

The seventh-grade team slipped by Hudson Valley, 6-0, as the fifth-graders pounded Bethel, 32-6. The 79er Gold squad had to settle for a 7-7 tie with Bethel.

Here are the details –

SEVENTH GRADE

Newtown 6, Hudson Valley 0

The seventh grade football team won again last weekend at Treadwell Park (on Newtown Youth Football Day), topping Hudson Valley, 6-0, to improve to 3-2 overall with a strong Bethel team next on the docket.

Big Blue took the opening kick off and with running backs Phil Reynolds, Josh Villa, Graham Derrickson and Dan Hebert following the strong blocking up front by Michael Daubert, Tom Bauer, Taggart Schmidt, John Meyers, Alec Woznick, Robbie Hughes and Chris Devaney, the offense moved the ball deep into Hudson Valley territory.

The drive stalled, but with a great quick kick by Reynolds Hudson Valley was forced to start its first drive of the game at its own one yard line. With the hard hitting of Nick Madden, Christian Barrett, James Marusi and Jack Kearney and the tackling of Zachary Clyne and Joe Davis, the Hudson Valley offense had only limited success and on third and long, Dan Poeltl intercepted a pass and, with some cut back running, was able to return the ball to the Newtown 40.

Now with momentum, Newtown moved the ball with good running by Ralph Strocchia, Poeltl and Joe Davis. On a third and seven, Justin DeVellis took a pitch and with lead blocking up front by Dean Demers, Jack Champagne, Mike Senf, KC Condon and a bone crushing block by Chris Stanton, DeVellis was able to carry the ball down to the 15. On a quarterback roll out left, DeVellis was able to find a sliding JP Kitzmiller in the front of the end zone for the touchdown.

It was the second time a Kitzmiller TD would end up being the game winner.

The score remained 6-0 at the half as the Newtown defense would not allow Hudson Valley to get going. Defensive end Pat Thornberg, tackle Tom Bauer and linebackers Brian Kruger and Matt Shannon made sure that the HV running backs had no daylight.

The second half was full of excitement, with many nice runs by both teams, but no one could put together a complete drive with a score.

David Cartisano, Mason Flynn, Ivan Hutchison and James Pearson played a strong second half and helped inject new life into the Big Blue offense.

Late in the fourth quarter, HV mounted a strong drive, moving deep into Newtown territory with only two minutes remaining in the game, but on a fourth down play – and the quarterback looking for his favorite receiver – Poeltl again found the football and grabbed his second interception of the day.

Not satisfied with the interception Poeltl used his speed to run down field and was tackled with no time left on the clock.

SIXTH GRADE

Ridgefield 22, Newtown 0

It was a tough day for the sixth grade football team, with Ridgefield shutting down the Newtown offense and blanking them 22-0. Defensively, Jack Lago was around the ball all day, coming up with big hits to try to hold the Ridgefield offense at bay.

Newtown faces off against Norwalk on Saturday at 9 am.

FIFTH GRADE

Newtown 32, Bethel 6

Through the air, on the ground and on defense – the Newtown fifth grade football team scored every which way it could last weekend to smash Bethel, 32-6.

As powerful as the young Hawks offense has been for the past two years, it is the defense that is being noticed by every opponent each and every week. The defense has given up a total of just 19 points in five games in 2007 while putting up an amazing 147 points on offense.

Against Bethel it was no different as the Nighthawks picked off five passes and returned two of them for touchdowns while totaling 125 yards on all of the returns. Constant pressure from Tim Krapf at left defensive end made life miserable for the Bobcat’s QB. Pressure from the interior defensive line of Griffin Davis, Nick Rubino, Stephen Grasso, Kevin Conte, Jake Lambert and Shane Quimby also added to pass after pass being rushed during the prime time game at Treadwell Park.

Nick Lotrecchiano led the defense with two interceptions, one returned 30 yards for a touchdown, and was in on six tackles from the outside linebacker and safety positions. Bubba Condon added five tackles and one pick for a TD while Shane Quimby and Jonathan Sherman added an interception each.

Nolan Fisher was in on four tackles while Max Rucinski, Sherman, Quimby and Colton Smith added three tackles a piece in holding a fast Bethel team to under 125 yards and only five first downs.

On offense, the Hawks set the tone by displaying a power running game and an aerial attack rarely seen at this age. The rushing assault started between the tackles with the big gain coming on a Wing Back trap with Jaret DeVellis scampering up the middle for a 35-yard gain to the 15.

This led Bethel to stack the line and leave single coverage on the wide out so on the next play, quarterback Troy Frangione laid a perfect pass to Colton Smith in the back of the end zone with Smith getting two feet down before being pushed out of the end zone.

The passing attack was just getting started and on the next offensive possession, Smith hit tight end Connor Roche for a nice 12-yard gain on a crossing pattern and a first down. Smith then hit DeVellis on a screen pass and received great downfield blocks from Griffin Davis and Eric Street on his way to a 30-yard touchdown.

Frangione hit Lotrecchiano on a timing slant pass for the extra point.

Through the air, Frangione was 3-for-3 for 24 yards and a TD while Smith was 2-for-2 for 42 yards and a TD. Lotrecchiano led all backs with seven carries and 85 yards rushing, including a 45-yard TD right up the belly of the defense. Smith added seven carries for 70 yards while Devellis, Quimby, Sherman, Chris Koch, Aaron Beckett, Jonathon Rospenda, Condon, Rucinski and Will Dalton added another 95 yards for a team total of 250 yards rushing.

The Nighthawks will play the Mahopac Indians at 2 pm on Sunday at Mahopac High School and will see if they can keep up the offensive and defensive assault for the 2007 season.

FOURTH GRADE

Newtown 27, Hudson Valley 7

Newtown 34, Bethel 7

The fourth-grade football team took the field last Sunday and took care of business right away, pinning a 27-7 defeat on Hudson Valley to remain undefeated.

Joe Santella took the opening kick 55 yards for the first score of the game. Michael Doyle, Devin Luzietti and Ethan Carpenter also scored touchdowns as the Nighthawks pounded Hudson Valley.

Doyle scored his 40-yard TD behind the blocking of Andrew Svanda, Jaxon Mills, Dakota Ashby and the hard hitting fullback Jared Pearson. Luzietti soon followed to give the locals a 20-0 lead at the half.

The defense was also tough and did not allow a Hudson Valley first down until midway through the second quarter. Nick Samuelson, Jeremy Salaris, Charlie Fletcher, Colin Theis, Robbie McCabe, Jim Payne, and Tim Mammen made key plays to keep Hudson Valley offensively baffled. Big plays were also made by John Delrossi, Owen Richards, Adam Robertson, Nick Rohrbacher and Brian Kiley.

Hudson Valley gained a little momentum in the second half as it marched down the field and scored a touchdown, but Carpenter answered back, receiving a great block from Doyle, to score and put Newtown ahead, 27-7.

Defensive players James Frazetta and Kendall Ashby kept the Hudson Valley from moving the ball and in the last quarter, veterans Gordon Walsh, Gregory Harrison and Matt Meyers pass blocked for Matt Maturo as he went to the air and completed a pass to Matt Elias who stretched the ball towards the end zone … only to come up a yard short.

The Hawks will meet Southern Dutchess next Sunday at Hawley School.

In a 34-7 win over Bethel a couple of weeks ago, Doyle scored a pair of touchdowns on runs of 60 and 12 yards. Jeffrey Santore (45 yards) and Jared Pearson also rushed for TDs while Maturo passed 23 yards to Elias for another score.

Jaxon Mills and Jeremy Salaris provided key blocks on Doyle’s first touchdown while Andrew Svanda and Pearson provided the blocks on Doyle’s second touchdown.

Right before Maturo hit Elias for the third Newtown TD of the day, defensive end Charlie Fletcher, Brian Kiley and Theis blocked a punt to give Newtown the ball on the Bethel 23. Then it was the blocking of Salaris, Matt Meyers, John Delrossi, Colin Theis, Gordon Walsh and Gregory “Cheeseburger” Harrison which made the TD pass possible.

Michael Roche and Dakota Ashby then had the blocks that sprung Santore on his long touchdown run.

On defense, linemen Ryan Shaw, Gabriel Barrett, Nick Rohrbacher, James Frazetta and Charlie Fletcher stifled Bethel all day. The Bethel quarterback was sacked and tormented by Nick Samuelson, Tim Mammen and Kendall Ashby.

Kiley had a second half interception to stop a Bethel drive.

79er GOLD

Newtown 7, Bethel 7

Mitchell Savoca ran 71 yards for a touchdown early in the first quarter and that was all the Newtown 79er Gold team could muster in a 7-7 tie with Bethel at Treadwell Park.

Erik Benson, Henry Korth and Adam Bell had the blocks that sprung Savoca. Colin McCafferty added the point after on the heels of devastating blocks by Conner Flint and Grant Varnum.

Savoca leads all scorers with seven TDs on the season and has scored in all five of the Gold’s games. His 142 yards on nine carries gives him 709 yards for the season and puts him on pace to rush for more that 1000 yards.

Bethel found pay-dirt later in the first half on a well executed power right that went for 55 yards and the score. The extra point tied the game at seven.

The Gold was able to move the ball in the second half, but had two Savoca TDs erased by penalties. Bethel’s offense was shut down on the solid play of John Reardon, Liam Garrison, Stephen Pansa and Austin LeBlanc. Adam Bell added to the Bobcats aggravation, causing three fumbles throughout the contest using both strength and speed to disrupt the Bethel offense.

To cap the game, with a minute remaining, Bethel intercepted Newtown and took the ball to the Newtown 10 as it was stopped on a game-saving tackle by Savoca. On first and goal, the 79ers stuffed the Bobcats, led by the great effort of Sam Duffy, Anthony Falbo and Adam Bell.

Duffy led all defenders with seven tackles, followed by Bell with six and five each for both Colin McCafferty and Stephen Pansa. Duffy rushed for 39 yards on five carries while Grant Varnum, Ryan Norton and McCafferty combined for 44 more yards on the ground.

The Gold will host Southern Dutchess on Sunday at 10 am at Hawley Field.

79er BLUE

Ridgefield 18, Newtown 14

Nicholas Genovese ran for a pair of 40-yard touchdowns, but the Newtown 79er Blue squad fell to undefeated Ridgefield, 18-14.

Scotty Bauer started things off early with a fumble recovery. Soon, after Peyton Manning gained 25 yards on a run, Genovese was in the end zone for the game’s first TD.

QB Justin Dunn threw a perfect pass to Bobby Haskins for the crucial extra point. Great offensive blocking by Jack Wellman, Ed Henderson, and Tommy Kitzmiller cleared the way for the running backs.

In the next quarter, Ridgefield got on the board with their first touchdown, but missed the extra point. Great defensive blocks by Mitchell Long, Ryan Marusi and Josh Dunn made Ridgefield work extra hard to get on the board.

The Nighthawks came out on the field to start the second half ready to build their lead. Manning had runs of 25, 20, and 35 yards with the aid of the offensive line – Matt Davis, with help from CJ Shambelan, Sam Pellicone and Doug Carriero.

It was on the next possession, though, that Genovese rumbled in for his second TD and, adding the extra point, but Newtown ahead 14-6.

RIdgefield scored again, but missed the extra point, and remained two points back.

In the fourth, the stellar defense of William Stenz, Pellicone, Carriero, and AJ Salaris kept Ridgefield at bay while the Nighthawk offense continued to march with great ball passing from Dunn to Haskins and blocking by Will Whitlock and Chris Febbraio.

But with two minutes left, Newtown turned the ball over on downs. and on the next play, the Ridgefield running back ran 45 yards into the end zone to take the lead.

Newtown had one last chance, but ran out of time.