Seventh-Graders Win State Title Game, Prep For New England Championship

The seventh grade Newtown Youth Football team won the Connecticut State Championship for American Youth Football with a 14-12 win over the Hartford Wildcats this past Saturday. 

The Newtown Nighthawks, unbeaten in four years, advance to the New England Championship game against the Milford Massachusetts Hawks at Falcon Field in Meriden at 3 pm this Saturday, November 21. 

In this past weekend’s much-anticipated matchup between the top two undefeated seventh grade youth football teams in Connecticut, the Nighthawks overcame a 12-0 deficit with two touchdowns to win the state title.

After Hartford went up 12-0, Newtown stuck to its game plan of power running the ball between the tackles and accumulated 250 yards on the ground with Colton Smith gaining 91 yards, Julian Dunn rushing for 86, and Nick Lotrecchiano compiling 55 yards.

The key to the game was the blocking up front by Kevin Conte, Griffin Davis, Markus Elken, Eric Cascone, Jake Lambert, Erik Street, and Aidan Petershack. Dunn scored late in the second quarter and with his two-point kick, was able to get the Hawks 8 points and close the gap to 12-8 at half time.

The Hawks’ swarming defense stepped it up enough with a bend-but-don’t-break attitude, and the offense cashed in for the lead in the fourth quarter. Rat Rubino scored on a 2-yard run for the go-ahead score.

On defense, the terrific play of Markus Elken and Tim Krapf, at the defensive end positions, shut down the outside with help from cornerbacks Forest Speed and Bug Santella. Linebackers Rubino, James Leuci, and Sugar Shane Quimby once again closed down the middle lanes, and the hard-hitting play of Smith, Lotrecchiano, and Dunn from the safety position put the exclamation point on the victory.

The Nighthawks had advanced to the state title game by winning the Candlewood Valley League trophy a week earlier.