89ers

NEWTOWN 12, RIDGEFIELD 6: The 89ers “played like champions,” according to coach Steve Friedman, and finished the regular season at 5-2 with a tight win over Ridgefield.

The game started well for the 89ers as the defense halted the Rebels on their first set of downs. The offense took over and scored first with a 26-yard run by Kris Kling. Ridgefield stopped the extra point attempt, though, and the 89ers had a 6-0 lead.

Ridgefield moved down the field and tied the score, 6-6, as Ryan Fernandes made a nice stop on the extra point attempt.

Neither team was able to score in the third quarter. Zach Conger, Cody Marus, Daniel DeLaVega, Justin McGrath and the entire defensive line all made great stops in both the third and fourth quarters to halt Ridgefield’s offense.

In the fourth quarter, the 89ers got back on the offensive track with the held of Mark Schuenemann, Robert O’Donnell and McGrath. Fernandes scored the game-winning touchdown on a 51-yard gallop, giving Newtown its 12-6 lead.

The Rebels had a chance to score late in the fourth quarter, but Chuck Brooks stopped one drive with an interception and Matthew Mascolo stopped another drive with a fourth-down tackle.

Junior Pee Wees

NEWTOWN 12, RIDGEFIELD 7: Right when they needed it the most, the Junior Pee Wees came up with a huge victory that put them in the playoffs . . . the first Newtown Pop Warner team to earn such an honor for two decades.

Newtown finished the regular season tied with Ridgefield at 6-2. Monroe and Danbury sit atop the division with identical 8-0 records. Although it was not official at press time, Newtown is expected to receive the No. 3 seed and thus would play Danbury in the opening round of the playoffs.

In the game, Tucker Kass scored the opening TD thanks to the front line work of Nick Maurer, Mike Laux, Tom Jackman, Ricky Lindeborn, Ken Cardelle, Steve Orrico and Cody Shpunt. On the ensuing kickoff, Tom Hutchison made a huge tackle that could have saved a Ridgefield TD. But it was fumble recovery by Kass which gave Newtown the ball.

Excellent defensive plays by Jeffrey Bray, Orrico and Kass gave Joey DeVellis, behind a Tom Gaboriault block, the opportunity to later return a Ridgefield punt all the way down to the 14 yard line. Four plays later, DeVellis scored a TD which put Newtown on top 12-0.

In the third, Newtown dodged a bullet after a Ridgefield back broke through the Newtown line and seemed on the verge of scoring. But Gaboriault hauled the runner down on the Newtown five yard line, forcing a fumble that Kass fell on for the turnover.

Ridgefield, though, was not about to go down easy and after holding Newtown on its next series, scored both a touchdown and the extra points to shave the Junior Pee Wees’ lead to 12-7 and there was still one quarter left to play.

Later, a Maurer interception halted a Ridgefield drive. In the fourth, the defense dug in and held Ridgefield despite Ridgefield completing two long fourth-down passes to keep a drive alive. The third fourth down pass, however, was short of the mark and Newtown held the ball.

Final standings:

TEAM    W-L

Monroe    8-0

Danbury Trojans      8-0

NEWTOWN             6-2

Ridgefield 6-2

New Milford             5-3

Pomperaug               4-4

New Canaan             3-5

Danbury Vikings      3-5

New Fairfield            2-6

Brookfield                2-6

Bethel      1-7

Aspetuck  0-8

Junior Midgets

RIDGEFIELD 14, NEWTOWN 6: A solid mistake-free football game enabled the Junior Midgets to give 6-2 Ridgefield all it could handle.

Newtown took the opening kick off and immediately got started on a drive behind the blocking of Paul Alteri, Josh Liska, Aadil Ansari and Sean Reilly. With the offensive line providing the blocks, Brett Eastman, Jimmy Dietter and Jon Read were able to grind out the yardage. However, that first drive stalled after a few first downs and Ridgefield took over.

The Newtown defense shut down Ridgefield in short order and got the ball back. With good field position, the offense marched down the field and scored on a six-yard run by Dietter. Alex Read opened the hole with a great block that sprung Dietter.

Ridgefield scored, though, to take a 7-6 lead at halftime. Newtown did shut them down again in the second half on a first-and-goal situation thanks to the work of Keith Godhardt, Dietter, Jon Read and Bobby Pattison.

While the Newtown offense was able to move the ball, the big play eluded it. Ridgefield, on the other hand, used a long pass play to set up a first-and-goal from inside the one yard line and promptly scored a touchdown to take a 14-6 lead.

Pee Wees

RIDGEFIELD 2, NEWTOWN 0: A first-half safety made all the difference in the world as Ridgefield nipped Newtown.

The Pee Wee defense was impenetrable all day thanks to Gary Andrews, Ryan Del Rossi and Jeff Levasseur. On offense, the play of guard Kevin Jurasek and end Matt Kocet made it possible for Grant Speer and RJ Marus to have several good runs.