When state and conference officials changed the high school football scheduling format, this is what they had in mind.

Newtown High defeated host Fairfield Prep in a tough nonconference battle on September 20, building a two-touchdown lead in the second quarter and holding off the Jesuits for a 21-14 win.

“It was an outstanding win. I’m really happy for the kids — they played their hearts out,” Newtown Coach Bobby Pattison said.

Prep is one of four teams not in the South-West Conference on Newtown’s schedule. Both teams were Class LL state playoff qualifiers last fall, and Prep is traditionally one of the best in the Southern Connecticut Conference. Up next, Pattison’s Nighthawks will take on another SCC foe as West Haven visits Blue & Gold Stadium on Friday, September 27, beginning at 7 pm.

The game with Prep included spirited fan support for both sides and was a competitive clash from start to finish. Miles Ricks scored on a one-yard touchdown run to break a scoreless deadlock 8:04 before the half. Quarterback Jack Street connected with Riley Ward for a 33-yard touchdown strike with 3:53 remaining in the second quarter. Ward dove to make an impressive grab in the back of the end zone.

Prep capitalized on a penalty-assisted drive to answer just 53 seconds later when quarterback and Newtown resident J.P. Iaropoli completed a touchdown pass to Timothy Pearson. It was 14-7 Nighthawks at the half. There were a few calls that went against the Nighthawks on this drive, most notably a late flag on a play the Nighthawks and their fans vehemently disputed. It appeared Newtown thwarted Prep’s drive near midfield when a Jack Zingaro hit forced a fumble recovered by Jack Mulligan, but then the flag came out and a personal foul was called even though it appeared to the Newtown sideline that the play was clean. In recent years, player safety has been an area of emphasis for officials, Pattison pointed out.

In the third quarter, Ricks had back-to-back 20-yard runs and, later on that drive, picked up a crucial first down on fourth and one yard to go at the Jesuit 31, gaining two yards. Ricks then turned the left corner and fended off several would-be tacklers, bouncing off a series of hard hits to fight his way into the end zone from 25 yards out. It was 21-7 Nighthawks with 3:28 to go in the third.

“We finally found our rhythm and got the chains moving,” Ricks said.

With Robert Long taking over quarterbacking duties in the second half, the Jesuits again sliced the deficit in half when Long danced into the paint from 14 yards out on the last play of the third quarter. Long completed a pass to Iaropoli, who played as a receiver in the third and fourth quarters, during that scoring drive.

Penalties, many of which the Nighthawks and their fans disputed, piled up on the visitors. Twice in the fourth quarter, the Nighthawks had the ball inside Prep’s red zone and threatened to score on Street to C.J. Cuomo and Tucker Garrity completions, only to have flags fly and the offense backed up.

Newtown overcame the calls, and its defense held off the Jesuits as Ben Pinto and Jared Dunn each had a quarterback sack late in regulation. Connor Moran also had a QB sack.

“At the end of the day, our kids made the plays they needed to make to get the job done,” Pattison said.

The Nighthawks used platoon at quarterback, with Brandon Lombardo alternating with Street in the pocket for the second week to begin the season. NHS defeated New Milford 42-0 in week one and improved to 2-0 and the Jesuits, who play out of the Southern Connecticut Conference, dropped to 1-1.

Street completed eight of 18 pass attempts for 160 yards, and Lombardo completed four of five attempts for 19 yards. Cuomo had three catches for 74 yards and Ricks a trio of receptions for 57. Ricks rushed 17 times for 90 yards, and Lombardo carried eight times for 22 yards.

Dunn compiled 11 tackles, and Pinto and Will Swierbut had eight and seven tackles, respectively.

“I think the defense played great,” said Pattison, adding that the Nighthawks had pressure on Prep’s quarterbacks throughout the game and crediting defensive coordinator Nick Tarantino for putting together an effective game plan.

“It feels amazing. We came out and played our game,” Ricks said. We knew what they were going to bring, and we just performed.”

Ricks pointed out that Newtown and Prep, although in different conferences, have a rivalry of sorts given Newtown residents are on many of the Jesuit sports teams.

“They take a lot of our players, and we don’t like it,” Ricks said.

The Nighthawks do like coming out on top and will look to remain unbeaten, early as it may be, when they face West Haven, which is 0-2. Pattison described Newtown’s next opponent as being a big, physical team, and said the contest likely will be decided in the trenches.

Newtown gets back to South-West Conference play the following week for an October 4 visit to Pomperaug of Southbury beginning at 6:30 pm.