79ers

Newtown 79ers 6, Shelton 6: Looking to continue their strong team play, the Newtown Nighthawks 79ers took on the physical Shelton Seahawks on Saturday. The game was a gritty defensive battle all day, highlighted with hard-hitting and outstanding tackling by both well-coached and prepared teams.

Towards the end of the first quarter, Shelton got on the board first and took a 6-0 lead, but were unsuccessful in converting the extra point. Newtown went to work on offense behind the strong running of Anthony D’Amico, Dylan Magazu and James Iaropoli. Several times Newtown pushed deep into Shelton territory, but had untimely turnovers to end the drives. The first half ended with Shelton ahead 6-0.

The second half showcased great defensive play by linebacker Walker Previdi and timely tackling by Liam Haywood, Ethan Salvitti, Richie Wilford and Luca Manfredi.

Following a successful fumble recovery by Richard Guman, the Nighhawks offense went to work and put on a long sustained drive ending in a 4-yard touchdown run by Magazu, tying the score at 6-6 after a failed extra point attempt.

The defenses continued to battle, and with the game on the line, Newtown mounted a courageous goal line stand with defensive end Ben Carley stopping the Shelton offense at the 1-yard line. The Nighthawks took over on downs with time to run only one play and the game ended in a 6-6 stalemate.

Grade 4

Newtown 26, New Milford Saints 6: The Nighthawks got off to a quick start when running back Jake Dandrea took a handoff from quarterback Jack Street 45 yards to the house to give Newtown a quick 6-0 lead.

Newtown’s defense continues to dominate and quickly forced a turnover on downs. The Nighthawk offense went back to work, Street handed the ball to RB Eric Burbank who broke through the line and outraced the Saint defense 43 yards for another Nighthawk touchdown and extended the lead to 12-0.

Defensive players Aiden Foss, Anthony Dorazio, Jack Stenz, Tom Tavar, Brendan O’Neill, Grant Baker and Jordan Conrad combined to dominate the New Milford offense all day. Cornerback Zack Reilly also made a great interception to stop a Saint drive. Running back Nevin Bell-Hill ran the ball well on the day, gaining valuable yards on every carry.

Newtown’s next score came behind the great blocking of Matt Sortino, Connor Smith, Jameson Pears, Nick Adams, Brian Pendergast, Colton Stergue and TJ O’Connell. Newtown drove the ball down to the Saints 1-yard line. Facing a fourth and goal, QB Street rolled out of the pocket and found receiver William Wallace open in the end zone for a touchdown pass to give the Hawks an 18-0 lead.

Newtown’s final score of the day came on a QB keeper. From the Saints 45 yard line, Street took the snap and behind some great blocking took it for paydirt. Jeffrey Garrity kicked the extra point to seal the 26-6 victory.

Grade 5

Shelton Seahawks 12, Nighthawks 10: The Nighthawks were looking to avenge a playoff loss last season, facing the Shelton Seahawks, at Shelton High School. Past meetings between these teams have always been defensive struggles, so points were expected to be at a premium.

As anticipated the scoreless first quarter was a defensive struggle, with Newtown and Shelton playing a field position battle, helped by the punting leg of Jack Mulligan. Shelton thought they got the break they needed when a Newtown pass was ruled backward and Shelton recovered on Newtown’s 14-yard line. But the defense was up to the task, not allowing Shelton to get inside the 10 and getting the ball back on downs. The defense was led by Stephen Sedensky, who had 6 tackles, 3 for a loss (including a sack). Jack Mulligan pitched in with 5 tackles, making it hard for the Seahawks to get to the edge and Matt Bradbury made 6 tackles coming up from his safety spot. However, the offense couldn’t get anything going and after a Mulligan punt, the Seahawks cashed in with 6 points. After a strong Bradbury return of the kickoff, the Nighthawks put together a nice drive behind the running of Jared Dunn, but ran out of time before the half ended with Newtown down by 6.

Newtown had found a way to exploit the Seahawk middle, behind the blocking of Kyle Good, Danny Ingersoll, Justin Engler, Jacob Riley and Matt Heinlein, they put together another nice drive to start the second half, but again they fell short of paydirt. With the Seahawks pinned deep in their own end, the defense came up with a big turnover when Danny Ingersoll fell on a fumble. Newtown was in business on the Seahawk 35-yard line, and on the first play from scrimmage, Jack Kuligowski got around the corner with his lightning speed and broke a 35-yard touchdown run. The Dunn extra point gave Newtown the lead at 8-6.

Not to be outdone, the Seahawks put together a drive of their own covering 70 yards and aided by a pass interference call, to take the lead back at 12-8, with 6 minutes left in the game. Newtown continued to run the ball effectively with Dunn, Kuligowski and Connor Moran and pushed the ball deep into Seahawk territory. A tough holding call put the offense in a hole they could not get out of and they turned the ball over on downs at the 4-yard line. The defense held on with hard-hitting by Sedensky and the Seahawks ran the ball out of their own end zone for a safety to make the score 12-10. Bradbury received the free kick and got to the Seahawk 36, but the clock ran out on the driving Nighthawks, dropping their record to 4 wins and 2 losses.

Grade 6

Nighthawks 39, New Milford 7: Under grey skies away at New Milford, the sixth grade team improved to 6-0. Game captains were Ryan Berard, Brendan Smith, Tyler Clure and Thomas Hasselberger. The extra day of rest suited the Nighthawks well as the score was 33-0 at the half. Tucker Garrity started the first half point bonanza with a touchdown and Shea Talbot added two on the extra point try. Griffin Cross was next with a rumbling, bumbling, stumbling run for a touchdown, and Gavin Connors added excitement when he picked up a bad snap and ran it in for the conversion. Score 15-0. In the second quarter, Gren Paynter took the ball from 7 yards out up the middle for a touchdown and the kick went wide left, score 21-0. On the Saints’ next position, a lurking Garrity intercepted a pass for a Pick-6, kick no good, and the score was 27-0. Daniel Mason recorded a backfield tackle for a loss of 9 yards, then intercepted the ball on the next play and ran it back for his own Pick-6. The Nighthawks ended the half on a swing pass to Clure with the score 33-0. With the score so lopsided, the refs instituted a running clock for the second half. The Saints scored on a long run to the left and converted the extra point to make the score 33-7. As time ran out in the game, Jack Kuhn sliced through the Saints secondary and scored a touchdown to make the final score 39-7.

Brandon Giglio recovered a fumble, Luke Melillo called a great game, Asani Vessup chewed up the clock and the yards with great runs, and Kyle Burbank was sharp on both sides of the ball. Emir Kurkcu, Kyle Cascone, Jack Hannan, Reed Hammond, John Albanesi, Connor Hughes, Easton Ricks, Ben Talbot, Justin Prestera and Matthew Dubois made fantastic plays throughout the day. The Nighthawks host Bridgeport next Sunday at Taylor Field.

Grade 7

Bridgeport Blue 35, Newtown 0: The Nighthawks lost a tough game Sunday at a rain-soaked Kennedy Stadium in Bridgeport. Newtown elected to receive the opening kickoff and took possession deep in their own territory. The Newtown offense moved the ball but was unable to get any momentum and Bridgeport was able to start their first possession on Newtown’s side of the 50-yard line. With a short field to work with Bridgeport scored on their opening possession.

On their next drive, the Newtown offense started with better field position but were unable to get anything moving and were forced to punt. On the first play of the Bridgeport possession, Michael Garner was able to force a fumble, which he recovered to give the ball back to Newtown. Unfortunately, Bridgeport was able to intercept a Newtown pass and take possession back. It looked like Bridgeport may return the interception for a touchdown when Connor Marlin ran down the Bridgeport player for a touchdown saving tackle.

Bridgeport began to move the ball down the field when Tyler Rising was able to sack the Bridgeport quarterback for a 17-yard loss on a fourth and long. The Newtown drive stalled at the Bridgeport 45-yard line. The Newtown defense, however, quickly got the ball back when Doug Carriero was able to get into the Bridgeport backfield and force a fumble that was recovered by Josh Dunn. But once again Bridgeport responded to the turnover by creating one of their own. Bridgeport capitalized on the change of possession for their second score of the game bringing the score Bridgeport 14–Newtown 0.

Newtown looked like they might take the kickoff in for a touchdown until a Bridgeport player forced a fumble. On the next play the Bridgeport player was able to evade the Newtown offense for another score to end the half.

Bridgeport took the opening kickoff of the second half deep into Newtown territory and were able to get another touchdown. That score proved to be a back breaker.

Grade 8

Newtown Nighthawks 32, Norwalk Packers: The Nighthawks traveled to Norwalk to face the always tough Packers and came away with a 32-20 victory. After giving up an early touchdown and facing an 8-0 deficit, Newtown rallied. Great runs by Ryan Marusi set up the Nighthawks first score. Running Back Hunter Cobb took a handoff from quarterback Patrick Conte and was stopped at the line of scrimmage but reversed field and outran the Packer defense for a touchdown to narrow the lead to 8-6.

The Nighthawk defense has dominated all season and Sunday was no different. After Conte booted a 45-yard punt to pin the Packers at their own 22, Cobb then intercepted a pass and returned it for a touchdown to give Newtown a 12-8 lead.

After the Hawk D forced the Packers to punt on their next possession, the Nighthawks turned to the air attack with Conte hitting wide receiver Mathew Bucci on a deep pass down the sideline for a 60-yard touchdown pass. Mitchell Savoca added the 2 point kick to extend the lead to 20-8 at the end of the first half.

The Nighthawk defensive line of Thomas Long, Adam Bell and Jack Phelps went back to work in the second half forcing a quick 3 and out for the Packers offense. Long then blocked the ensuing punt giving Newtown great field position. Facing a 4th and 4 Dunn found receiver Bobby Haskins for a 30-yard gain down to the Packer 2-yard line. Once again facing 4th down, Dunn hit Savoca in the corner of the end zone to give Newtown a 26-8 lead.

Norwalk came back on their next possession and drove 60 yards for a touchdown to narrow the lead to 26-14. Norwalk failed to convert the extra point when Long blocked the extra point.

The Nighthawks would answer back. After some punishing runs by RB Joey Accousti, Conte went to the air and found Mitchell Savoca wide open down the middle of the field for his second touchdown of the game and extended the lead to 32-14.