JUNIOR MIDGETS

Newtown 30, Ridgefield 6

Kyle Vignone was back in his natural habitat last weekend – the end zone – as he scored four touchdowns to lead the Newtown Junior Midgets to a 30-8 win over Ridgefield in American Youth Football action.

Although Ridgefield won the toss and took the opening kick, it was the Newtown defense which set the tone early. Cornerback Kevin O’Connell delivered a big hit on the Raiders’ quarterback (knocking him out of the game) and safety John Fracker knocked a Raider ball carrier for a loss. Then Cody Fischer and Brian Kilmurray dropped the backup quarterback with a tag team sack deep in his own backfield.

The tone had been set.

Vignone started the Newtown offense off with a 20-yard carry and Fracker, now at QB, scampered 25 yards on a quarterback bootleg to bring the Junior Midgets deep into Ridgefield territory. Two plays later Fracker had a touchdown pass to Kevin McCarthy called back on a holding penalty, but on fourth-and-15 Vignone took Fracker’s swing pass out of the backfield and sprinted 30 yards into the end zone. Fracker booted the extra point.

Max Nacewicz got the ball back for Newtown when he stopped a Raider ball carrier for a loss on fourth-and-one. Two plays later, Vignone took a pitch, reversed his field, and sprinted 50 yards for the touchdown. O’Connell threw a nice pass to James Sharpe for the conversion and Newtown led, 15-0, at the half.

Newtown received the kickoff to start the second half, and two plays later Vignone again demonstrated his speed when he raced around end for 50 yards and another touchdown. O’Connell and Sharpe repeated their PAT hookup and Newtown was up, 22-0.

The defense continued their tough play when they quickly forced a Ridgefield punt. Vignone had a nice punt return opened up by a key block by Alex Nuefeld. On the next play, Vignone broke free again, eluding tacklers and traveling 32 yards for his fourth touchdown of the day. Fracker kicked the ball through the uprights again and Newtown now had a commanding 30-0 lead.

Ridgefield finally reached the scoreboard in the final seconds, but missed the extra point attempt.

The defensive line of Nick Dinelli, Andrew Seymour, Lewis Thompson, Fischer and Kilmurray had another strong game. McCarthy played well on defense, ran the ball with power and speed, and also pulled down several Fracker passes. Nacewicz and Sharpe continued to play a hard hitting style of football from their linebacker slots and both Vignone and O’Connell made key stops from their cornerback positions.

The offensive line made another stellar day for Vignone possible – Rob Franzino, Kilmurray, Chris Giglio, Eric Johnson, Mitch Lobuglio, Matt Yitts and Nate Crevier were on their blocks and kept the Ridgefield defense on their heels.

MIGHTY MITE BLUE

Newtown 33, Aspetuck 0

Julian Dunn and Colton Smith scored two touchdowns apiece as the Mighty Mite Blues defeated Aspetuck, 33-0, last weekend in the torrential rain to remain undefeated. Joe Santella also scored a TD for the Blues.

The rain did little to deter the Blues potent offense as Dunn opened up with a 10-yard blast off the left side. Max Rucinski added the point after with a hard running dive up the middle. Smith then joined the mayhem by “jetting” off the right side to sprint nearly 60 yards for the games next touchdown.

Still in the first half, Dunn took the ball around the left side to add a 40 yard touchdown to his collection.

The second half highlighted many of the Blues other talented players as Santella, Jack Martin, Jack Lago and Colin Reilly took over the majority of the running back responsibilities.  The line – made up of Matt Bouton, Mike Doyle, Eric Street, Nick Strokis, Jeremy Solaris, Ryan Shaw and Stephen Grasso – blew huge holes through the Aspetuck defense and proved to be the dominating factor in the game.

Smith opened up the second half with a 10-yard TD scamper after a broken play from scrimmage. And then Santella showed off his stuff by winning a 50-yard foot race to the end zone for another Blue touchdown.

Santella closed out the days scoring by adding the point after as well. 

The defense – which posted its fourth shutout in six games – was led by Grasso, Street, Bouton and Strokis. First year players Ryan Shaw, Nick Barrows and Scott Gregson all added a new dimension to the defensive attack.

The Blues will be in Bethel this weekend.

QB Johnny Fracker of the Junior Midgets rolls out, looking for someone to throw to in Newtown’s win last weekend.