By Kim J. Harmon

It almost certainly had nothing to do with the weather, but as the 2003 season faded into memory for two Newtown High School teams unceremoniously bounced from their respective CIAC state tournaments on either wet or frigid evenings, another team discovered new-found hope for its season on a cold and windy afternoon.

The boys’ soccer team was eliminated from the CIAC Class LL state tournament with a 1-0 second round loss to Simsbury on a wet and chilly Thursday evening.

The girls’ soccer team was eliminated from the CIAC Class LL state tournament with a 1-0 quarterfinal loss to Danbury on a frigid Saturday evening.

And the football team captured its second win in a row – and third of the season – with a 26-6 victory over Weston on a cold and windy Saturday afternoon.

Here is how it all went down –

Gridders Pound Weston As

Pattison Scores 2 TDs

 

When the Newtown High School football team ships the tape of its win over Weston off to Bullard Havens, it ought to stamp a disclaimer right there on the label –

NOTE: Any resemblance that the performance depicted on this videotape may have to any other Newtown High School football performance over the past two years is purely coincidental. This is the real deal.

A dominating running game.

A stifling defense.

A couple of well timed passes.

Oh, it was a complete package for the Nighthawks last Saturday as they slammed the Trojans, 26-6, for their second consecutive win. While that win put the ‘Hawks at 3-5-1, a win over Bullard Havens on Friday would have the ‘Hawks knocking on the door to a .500 record.

“It was the first game this year where we put it together on both sides of the ball,” admitted head coach Ken Roberts. “This was probably our best win in the last two years. The kids have a lot to be proud of.”

While the ‘Hawks were without transfer Josh Rouse (who will be out sick indefinitely), they were buoyed by the return of running back Bob Pattison, who has been recuperating from a leg injury for the past six weeks. Pattison rushed 12 times for 90 yards and got into the end zone twice on carries of 14 and 25 yards.

“Bobbo coming back really helped us,” said coach Roberts. “He is a very good back and we have been missing him.”

With Ben Bagaglio rushing for 73 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries, John Collins rushing for 14 yards on eight carries, and Roy Scheuenemann rushing for 35 yards on seven carries in fourth quarter mop-up duty, the ‘Hawks dominated the ground game.

“There was a marked improvement on the offensive line from tackle to tackle,” said coach Roberts. “We came off the ball low and hard and really pushed them up and down the field. The kids blocked real well.”

Collins – subbing in for Rouse at quarterback – was 2-for-3 for 38 yards and a touchdown.

“JC stepped up and played well,” said coach Roberts. “Since he is so familiar with the offense, we were able to audible at the line. He couldn’t have done any better than he did. He did all we asked of him and more.”

And while the offense was running roughshod over the Weston defense, it was the Newtown defense that stepped up and shut down a high-flying offense led by quarterback Tom Bennewitz. Of course, the prevailing wind helped a lot.

Brett Eastman, Marc Ingerman and Dan Kearns all grabbed interceptions (for Eastman, it was his team-high eighth pick) and Ross Coates picked up a fumble. Grant Speer almost had his own interception, but it was erased on a roughing penalty.

It was the Coates fumble recovery in the first period that got the ‘Hawks started. On offense, they went to Bagaglio four times and the senior back picked up 38 yards and eventually scored on a two-yard plunge.

Although the Trojans raced right back down the field and scored on a 62-yard pass from Bennewitz to Max Meisel, the game belonged to the ‘Hawks from then on. In the second quarter, Pattison scored on a 14-yard jolt before Collins hit Brendan O’Connor with a 29-yard touchdown pass to give the ‘Hawks a 19-6 lead at the break.

In the third period, Pattison – with some superior blocking on the line – scampered untouched for 25 yards and another touchdown to put the ‘Hawks ahead, 26-6. That run by Pattison came on the first play after Weston was hit with a personal foul penalty.

For the rest of the game, it was a matter of running out the clock (Scheuenemann did a fine job of that) and shutting off the end zone.

The ‘Hawks will host Bullard Havens on Friday and – after a week off – will travel to Monroe to take on Masuk Wednesday, November 26, in the traditional Thanksgiving Week matchup.

First Quarter

N – Bagaglio 2 run (Coates kick)

W – Meisel 63 pass from Bennewitz (kick no good)

Second Quarter

N – Pattison 14 run (conversion failed)

N – O’Connor 29 pass from Collins (conversion failed)

Third Quarter

N – Pattison 25 run (Coates kick)

RUSHING: Newtown – Ben Bagaglio 15-73 and 1 TD, Bob Pattison 12-90 and 2 TDs, John Collins 8-14, Roy Scheueneman 7-35 (Totals: 42-212). PASSING: Newtown – John Collins 2-for-3, 38 yards, 1 TD. RECEIVING: Newtown – Brendan O’Connor 1-29 and 1 TD, Brett Eastman 1-9.

Girls Soccer Booted

From CIAC Class LL

The Newtown High School girls’ soccer team may have bowed out of the CIAC Class LL tournament with a 1-0 quarterfinal loss to Danbury, but it was not about to leave without injecting some serious thrills into the game.

The first 79 minutes and 53 seconds may have been kind of dull and frustrating for local fans, but with seven seconds left in the game – and the season – senior co-captain Chelsea Morin nearly gave 200 fans a spontaneous heart attack when she blasted a shot that would have tied the game just wide of the right post.

It was one of only a few legitimate scoring opportunities (on only six shots) the Lady Nighthawks managed against a strong Lady Hatters squad.

In the first half Morin ripped a shot over the crossbar (it actually struck the crossbar on the football goalposts) and April Scheuerell blasted a shot wide left. In the second half, Alex Helfer had an opportunity off a free kick and Carrie Lipnick managed another shot that went wide.

After the Lady Hatters got on the board just 5:38 into the game off a goal from Janell Mancini, they slipped into a defensive mode and really shut down a strong Newtown offensive game. Although the ‘Hawks possessed the ball for the majority of the second half and popped several balls into the penalty box, the Danbury defense managed to clear them out.

With the loss, the ‘Hawks dropped to 16-3-1. For the season, the ‘Hawks scored 53 goals and allowed just 11. Morin led the team with 12 goals while Alex Konneker had eight with a team-high 11 assists.

A Wet Field, A Tough

Finish For Boys’ Soccer

Just a year ago, the Newtown High School boys’ soccer team squared off with Naugatuck in the CIAC Class LL championship game at Willowbrook Park in New Britain. This year, it bowed out of the CIAC Class LL state tournament with a second-round loss to Simsbury at Tilson Field.

With the graduation loss of several players – including Mike Troy and Ryan Tracy – head coach Brian Neumeyer knew the 2003 season would be a challenge (but not an insurmountable one) for the Nighthawks. But when the players began succumbing to injury, the challenges became much more daunting.

Without leading scorer Marcus Tracy (27 goals), the ‘Hawks dropped a 1-0 decision to Masuk in the South-West Conference championship game and then dropped a 1-0 decision to Simsbury in the second round of the CIAC Class LL state tournament.

It was the first time in three years that the ‘Hawks lost back-to-back games.

Under an incessant light rain, the ‘Hawks hosted the CIAC Class LL second-round game on a wet Tilson Field last Thursday. The ‘Hawks had to contend with a tough Simsbury offsides trap and – despite a few near misses (one with Brian Miles, in particular) – was unable to get behind that defense for a goal.

The first half went by without a score and after the rain finally passed in the second half, the Trojans scored the lone goal of the game. A free kick into the penalty box bounced off a couple of heads and as Newtown goaltender Andrew Fiscella was unable to get to it, Simsbury was able to bang it into the net for the score.

The loss dropped the ‘Hawks to 15-3-1. For the season, the ‘Hawks scored 70 goals and allowed just eight (in fact, allowing two goals in a game only once – to Brookfield in the SWC semifinals). Tracy led the team with 27 goals while Rodrigo DeSouza was second with nine.

Swimmers Taking Plunge

In CIAC Class L Meet

With a strong second-place finish in the South-West Conference championships behind them, the Newtown High School swim team took the plunge at the CIAC Class L trials last weekend. The finals were Wednesday at Southern Connecticut State University (after press time).

It was a strong showing for sophomore Abby Atkinson as well as the 200-yard medley and 200-yard freestyle relay teams.

Atkinson currently stands fifth in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:15.92 (down almost a second from her seed time of 2:16.61) and fifth in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:11.71 (down three-tenths of a second from her seed time of 1:12.02).

Meanwhile, the 200-yard medley relay team of Maricate Conlon, Atkinson, Jenny Cupero and Amy Robinson earned the sixth spot in the finals with a time of 2:01.13 (up more than a second from a seed time of 2:00.10). And the 200-yard freestyle relay team of freshmen Sally Tabler and Maggie Hemingway and sophomores Sammi Howe and Liz Gugino earned the sixth spot in the finals with a time of 1:48.25 (a slight drop of three-tenths of a second off a seed time of 1:48.57).

In other events –

Kim Mayers finished 12th and Tierney Carey 15th in the diving trials, with Mayers scoring 249.85 points (about 64 points behind Blair Sullivan of Amity Regional) and Carey scoring 232.40 points.

Gugino was 21st in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 2:12.60 (up almost a second from a seed time of 2:11.76).

Tabler was 16th in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:24.91 (up more than two seconds from a seed time of 2:22.13) and Conlon was 18th with a time of 2:26.68 (down almost two seconds from a seed time of 2:28.38).

Maggie Hemingway was 15th in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 26.38 (down almost a second from a seed time of 27.28), Robinson was 18th with a time of 26.53 (up ever so slightly from a seed time of 26.37) and Howe was 23rd with a time of 27.29 (down ever so slightly from a seed time of 27.40).

Howe was 22nd in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:07.83 (down more than a second from a seed time of 1:09.16), Jen Iassogna was 23rd with a time of 1:07.89 (up slightly from a seed time of 1:07.66) and Cupero was 26th with a time of 1:08.54 (up more than a second from a seed time of 1:05.78).

Robinson was 14th in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 57.45 (up slightly from a seed time of 57.36), Hemingway was 15th with a time of 57.84 (down more than a second from a seed time of 58.93) and Margaret Randall was 25th with a time of 1:00.50 (down almost a second from a seed time of 1:01.14)

Tabler was 18th in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:48.83 (down almost a second from a seed time of 5:49.74).

Conlon was 11th in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:05.64 (up slightly from a seed time of 1:05.30), Carol Ann Smith was 15th with a time of 1:07.45 (up almost two seconds from a seed time of 1:05.95) and Gugino was 21st with a time of 1:08.54 (up almost a second from a seed time of 1:07.95).

Randall was 12th in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:15.14 (down more than two seconds from a seed time of 1:17.56) and Jessica Remitz was 27th with a time of 1:18.53 (down almost a second from a seed time of 1:19.20. NOTE – Oddly enough, Randall tied for 12th with Allison Krustapentus of Fermi, whose 1:15.14 was up almost a second from a seed time of 1:14.48.