The Newtown High School Marching Band & Guard took second place in its eight-band division at a USBands competition at Towson University in Towson, Md., on Saturday, October 17.

Performing their program “Pharaoh’s Legacy,” the Nighthawks tied for first place with Pennsylvania’s Mechanicsburg Area Senior High School in the preliminary rounds before ultimately falling to them in the finals.

A “nice tonal quality” and “great dynamic range” in a “very exciting show” were a few of the comments offered by the USBands judges.

Band Director Kurt Eckhardt said, “The band did great. A major accomplishment was that we beat a band from Nazareth, Penn., that we had never beaten before, and we beat them twice.”

Mr Eckhardt added proudly that the students behaved like “ladies and gentlemen, and were great representatives of Newtown High School.”

The Marching Nighthawks will compete in two competitions on Saturday, October 24. The team has a day event at Brookfield High School and an evening show at Danbury High School.