Hut, Hut … Highlights From The Gridiron

Grade 4

Newtown 7, Ansonia 6: Tackles by Scott Bauer, Noah LaFerriere, River Low and Anthony Falbo kept Ansonia from scoring in the first quarter. On offense, Justin Dunn passed to Mitchell Savoca to move the chains. Additional carries by Dunn and Savoca at the end of the first quarter set up a touchdown by Savoca at the start of the second quarter, then Savoca ran the ball in for the extra point. Aggressive defense by Edward Lovely and Joseph Accousti kept Ansonia scoreless going into the second half. Despite blocking by Ryan Norton, Scott Bauer and Ryan Marusi that opened up the field for runs by Bobby Haskins, Justin Dunn and Patrick Conte, the Nighthawks were unable to score again in the first half. In the second half, tackles by Jack Wellman and Joseph Accousti, along with a fumble recovery by Colin McCafferty kept Ansonia scoreless through the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, Ansonia recovered a fumble on the Nighthawk’s 36 yard line and ran it in for a touchdown, but  strong Nighthawks defense prevented the extra point conversion. Adam Bell came through with a game-ending tackle in the fourth quarter.

Grade 5

Newtown Blue 27, Somers 19 (September 27): Newtown took the lead when Andrew Svanda (53 rushing yards) punched it in from the two for his first career touchdown. Gordon Walsh and Jake Lapp provided key blocks. After Somers tied the score at 6-6, Newtown scored on its second drive. The key play was a 39-yard pass from QB Matt Maturo (8-11, 97 passing yards) to Devin Luzietti (50 rushing yards, 73 receiving yards) to the Somers four. On the next play Luzietti scored behindthe blocks of Colin Theis and Nick Rohrbacher. Maturo hit Matt Elias (3 receptions) in the corner of the end zone for the extra point. Trailing 19-13 late in the third quarter, Elias recovered a fumbled punt in Somers territory to set up the go-ahead score. James Burdette (21 rushing yards) scored from the six behind the blocking of Nick Samuelson and Jim Payne. Svanda converted the extra point. Newtown’s final score came after consecutive defensive stops for losses by Geoff Santore (6 tackles), Samuelson (4 tackles), and Payne (sack for a 9 yard loss). Luzietti scored his second TD of the game from the two. Maturo hit TE Sam Duffy(2 receptions) for the extra point. Owen Richards recovered an on-side kick.

Newtown Blue 33, Southern Dutchess White 13: Newtown amassed 270 yards on the ground. After a defensive stop on the opening series, Devin Luzietti returned the punt 50 yards for the game’s first score. Andrew Svanda (30 rushing yards) scored the extra point. After Nick Samuelson recovered an on-side kick Luzietti (81 rushing yards) ran up the middle for 24 yards and a 13-0 lead. Matt Meyers (29 rushing yards) galloped for an 18 yard gain during the series. The next possession saw Newtown move 75 yards in 14 plays for a 19-0 lead. QB Matt Maturo (49 rushing yards) rushed 8 yards for a score behind solid blocking by John Reardon and Michael Vitti. The third quarter saw Newtown increase its lead to 26-0 as Geoff Santore (59 yards rushing) went up the middle for a 29 yard touchdown. Michael Roche (20 yards rushing) added the extra point. The final score of the day came when Luzietti (3 TDs) rushed for a 33 yard touchdown. Newtown played outstanding defense. Austin Leblanc, Ryan McIntyre, Hunter Booker, Conner Flint (4 tackles), Matt Pindell (3 tackles) and Christian Thanasoulis made several stops for losses.

Ansonia 20, Newtown Gold 19: Michael Doyle scored on runs of 52 and 35 yards to help Newtown build a 12-6 halftime lead. Stephen Faxlanger kept Ansonia from running outside and Ryan Shaw came up with big defensive plays in the backfield. Peyton Manning, Jared Pearson and John Delrossi also made strong plays on defense. Matt Davis made key blocks to open the holes for the Newtown offense. With minutes to go in the half, Bryan “Burger King” Kiley picked off an Ansonia pass. Trailing 13-12 in the fourth quarter, Ethan Carpenter caught a pass from Doyle and sprinted 46 yards to the end zone to put  Newtown back ahead 19-13 before Ansonia answered.

Grade 6

Newtown 34, Ansonia 12: Despite muddy conditions, Newtown was led by running backs Colton Smith and Nick Lotrecchiano with a combined 240 yards and a touchdown each. Wide Receiver Troy Fragione pulled down an impressive diving catch for an 18 yard touchdown early in the game and running backs Bubba Condon and Sugar Shane Quimby each contributed touchdowns. The Nighthawks held Ansonia to minus-eight offensive yards through three quarters of the game. Defensive Tackle Eric Cascone set the defensive tone for the day with two tackles in the backfield on the first two plays of the game. Cornerbacks Jaret Devellis and Logan Walsh in concert with defensive ends Tim Krapf and Markus Elken closed down the outside option by stopping Ansonia’s running backs behind the line seven times. Safety Colton Smith and DT Logan Walsh both applied pressure to record a sack. The Newtown secondary was also very busy with Nick Lotrecchiano, Colton Smith, Bubba Condon, Forrest Speed, and Waterbug Santella racking up a combined 17 tackles. Defensive end Connor Roche also came up with big defensive plays and Will Dalton had a touchdown-saving tackle.