By Kim J. Harmon

Every day Sean Raby went out to do his job and every day he did what he could to help the Newtown High School football team win. And even though the Nighthawks only won three games in a disappointing 1999 season, along the way the senior fullback – an unbelievably tough nut to bring down at times - had himself a pretty darn good year.

Just look at the numbers:

RUSHING

      Att         Yds          TD

        143             738              11

RECEIVING

      Rec         Yds          TD

          6               130               1

Those are the kinds of numbers – like the 1,000 all-purpose yards he should have when it is all over - that can make a coach in the South-West Conference sit up and take notice when it comes to picking those All-Conference teams.

Yes, Sean Raby is pretty much where he thought he’d be.

“I knew, being a fullback, I probably wouldn’t have a shot at All-State or anything like that,” he said, “but I was hoping to score 15 touchdowns and maybe get All-SWC.”

But the team isn’t where he thought it would be – and that’s what bothers him.

“I thought we would be a lot better,” said Sean, who rushed for 592 yards and five touchdowns on a team-high 121 carries as a junior and 307 yards as a sophomore. “I was really optimistic. We have a good team and I think if we had won the opener (against Notre Dame), our whole mentality would have been different. It would have been a different season.”

That was the game that saw the Nighthawks fall into a 28-7 halftime hole, only to storm back into the game, only to see it slip away again when Lancer quarterback Gabe Ramos pulled off a surprise bootleg late in the game to seal the win.

It was a big blow – but there were other moments during the season as well when things simply did not go right for the Nighthawks. The fumbles, the penalties, the inconsistent defense – it all played a part.

And while the situation could have caused some despair, no one gave up.

“Most of us have been here and we know what it’s like to win,” said Sean, now 17. “We go out to practice and we strive for it every week.”

But the ‘Hawks found success only infrequently.

Their shining moment of 1999, of course, was the win over Stratford and former coach Bob Zito down on the Bruce Jenner Stadium field and Sean said, “That was just intensity. We were so fired up for that game.”

Like in 1998, a win over Masuk would go a long way towards soothing a lot of bad feelings about the 1999 season.

“If we win,” said Sean, “I’ll be satisfied.”

But is it possible? Last weekend the Panthers defeated Immaculate, 21-10, to claim their second consecutive South-West Conference championship and push their unblemished record to 11-0 on the season.

“Our defensive ends will have to control the game,” explained Sean, “and force their backs to go through the middle. We have a (offensive) package put in and if we can just not fumble the ball, I think we can win.”

If the ‘Hawks don’t win, then Sean – who also plays lacrosse in the spring - might spend a bit of his off-season going over in his mind the games the ‘Hawks could have won. He won’t spend too much time on that, though, because he is still going to be busy trying to choose a Division II or Division I-A school where he’d like to continue the football career he began back when he was eight years old.