Youth football Shoreline Conference playoff results from this past week are as follows:

Grade 4

Newtown 19, North Haven 0: The Nighthawks advanced to the semifinals with a win in the playoff opener at Blue & Gold Stadium. Newtown’s sheer grit and determination was displayed early and often — swarming tackles by Jake Kennedy, Cole Willinger, and Anthony Ripley snuffed out an early opportunity for North Haven’s offense. On the other side of the ball, Chris Evans showed poise under pressure by eluding North Haven’s pass rush to connect with Hudson Levy for 13 yards on a drive that would ultimately stall deep into North Haven territory at the end of the first quarter. Despite superb tackling by Chase Pacuk on the outside and Tucker Lowe at the line, North Haven controlled the ball for nearly the entire second quarter. But during the closing seconds of the first half and North Haven on the goal line, in what would be the most pivotal moment of the game, Levy punched the ball out of the North Haven runner’s grasp right into the waiting hands of Austin Rekos for a turnover, thus denying North Haven what would be their only shot at the end zone.

After some halftime adjustments, it was all Newtown the rest of the way — after North Haven went four and out to start the second half, Brayden Andrews rushed 40 yards for a touchdown (point after by Brody Taylor) thanks to blocks by Kennedy, Chase Blank, Mario DiSanto, and Charlie Tortora. After a North Haven kick return for no yards thanks to a stellar solo tackle by Rekos, North Haven went four and out again (and did not register another first down the rest of the game), positioning Newtown’s offense for Andrews to score his second touchdown of the day on a 30-yard run. Rekos notched an interception to open the fourth quarter and set up Newtown’s offense for a 30-yard drive capped by a goal-line rushing TD by Taylor thanks to blocking up front by Jack Fregoe and Chase Ibbitson that iced the game. Newtown will host Pomperaug in the semis at Blue & Gold Stadium on Sunday, November 12; kickoff is at 11 am.

Grade 6

Newtown 32, Cheshire 6: It was a beautiful day for football as the Newtown Nighthawks began the playoffs against the Cheshire Rams. There was excitement in the air as Newtown kicked off to Cheshire to start the game. Out of the gate, Joey Cotter made a tackle and the Nighthawks held the Rams back. Newtown took over on the 40 yard line. Devin Santacroce took a handoff for a gain of 16 yards running on the outside. Quarterback Ian Sachs kept the ball and charged up the middle for another 20-yard advance, landing the Hawks second first down of the drive. Newtown ended up giving up possession with under three minutes to go in the first quarter, after a long drive, turning the ball over on the Rams 25 yard line. The Newtown defense held tough and the swarm of Hawks held the Rams at bay through the end of the quarter.

The pace of the game began to pick up in the second quarter as Devin Santacroce gained the Hawks six yards. Quarterback Mason Schoffstall passed to Kellan Kane for a first down. The Hawks continued to move up the field and then there was a turnover on downs. The Rams were moving up the field with 3:33 to go until the half when Schoffstall stepped in and intercepted the ball, turning the tide on the game. On the next play, Santacroce burst through the Cheshire defense line for second and two. Kane, on a quick pass from Ian Sachs, scored on a 49-yard touchdown play. The crowd was on its feet as the Hawks successfully executed the two-point conversion for an 8-0 lead. Newtown forced a turnover on Cheshire’s next drive. The Nighthawks added to their lead on a Kane TD run for a 14-0 lead at the half.

The Hawks started off the second half of the game with possession on their own 48. The Rams took over on a quick four and out. It looked like the pace of the second half was starting off like the first half but soon enough all that would change completely. The Rams were third and six and dropping back on a pass play, which was picked off by Kane and turned into a 50-yard return for the Hawks’ third touchdown of the game. With a miss on the extra two-point conversion the Hawks led the Rams 20-0 with 6:48 to go in the third quarter. Mikey Paloian had a huge sack to drop the Rams to second and 25. Continued losses of yardage for Cheshire put the Rams at fourth and 30. Newtown stepped up on the offensive line to take control.

Newtown recovered a fumble at its own 48. Tucker Garbowski had a 36-yard TD reception down the sideline. Newtown was up 26-0. Just after taking possession on the kickoff from the Hawks, the Rams threw up a desperation pass and Ian Sachs, with magic hands, pulled in an incredible interception with eight minutes to play in the quarter, as the Hawks took over on their own 25-yard line. Schoffstall dropped back in the pocket and threw a bomb to Garbowski for a 75-yard touchdown with 4:30 to go. With the win, the Hawks advance to face Madison in the semifinals, at Blue & Gold Stadium; kickoff is at 1 pm Sunday, November 12.

Grade 8

Newtown 26, Cheshire 22: Henry Payne kicked off and Cameron Kullgren had a tackle to get things started. Jeremiah Hurtado wrapped up Cheshire’s running back. Jackson Powers deflected a pass and pressure by Liam McGovern and Jagger Tammany forced another incompletion. Bobby DeNicola snapped the ball to Jack Colonel who handed off to Wyatt Young for a gain of yards. On defense, Colonel blocked the extra point attempt following a Cheshire touchdown. Tammany caught a pass and ran for a gain of a few yards thanks to blocks by Owen Blair, Henry Payne, and Jack Cotter. Max Malitsky caught a pass from Colonel and the Newtown quarterback connected with Tommy McKendry for a first down. Malitsky took the handoff and ran it in for a touchdown thanks to blocks by Sam Zavatsky, Ryan Zemo, and Levi Ervin. Back on defense, Powers forced Cheshire’s running back out of bounds. McKendry deflected a pass intended for Cheshire’s wide receiver. Malitsky had an interception. Colonel gained yards on a quarterback keeper thanks to a block by Bobby DeNicola. Colonel threw a pass to Malitsky to end the quarter.

In the second quarter, McKendry had a big tackle. Arthur Colares had a series of tackles from the line. Young took a handoff and gained some yards. He did it again thanks to a block by Tre Garvin. Jeffrey Kitay blocked for Kullgren to run up the field. Colares had a tackle that resulted in no gain for Cheshire. Tammany applied pressure causing an incomplete pass by Cheshire’s quarterback. Colonel threw a pass to McKendry who ran it in for a touchdown. Malitsky had a tackle. Andrew Moran pushed Cheshire’s running back out of bounds. McGovern rushed Cheshire’s quarterback to force an incomplete pass and Tammany tackled Cheshire’s running back as the defense stood tall through the first half.

In the third quarter, Colonel threw a pass to McKendry for a touchdown. The Nighthawk defense kept Cheshire from getting a first down with big tackles by Moran, Malitsky, Colonel, and McKendry. Zavatsky and Tammany had tackles from the line as well. Zemo caught the kickoff and protected the ball. Kullgren took the snap from DeNicola and ran up the field thanks to a block by McKendry. Hurtado blocked on the line for Colonel to get a handoff to Malitsky for a run up field. McKendry caught a pass for a first down. Young took a handoff and ran it in for a touchdown thanks to blocks by McGovern and Garvin. Colonel found McKendry in the end zone for the extra points.

In the fourth, the Nighthawks had tackles by Tammany and Malitsky. Garvin tackled Cheshire’s running back for a loss. Payne blocked his opponent and would not allow him to get open. Kitay tackled Cheshire’s running back, which resulted in a turnover on downs. Powers had a tackle and Malitsky had an interception. McGovern charged the punter causing him to lose control and go farther into the backfield. Kullgren had an interception. Young had a series of handoffs. Kitay had the final tackle that ended the game. Newtown advances to the semifinals and visits Southington Sunday, November 12, at 1 pm.