Hut, Hut … Highlights From The Grid Iron

Youth football results from this past weekend are as follows:

79ers

79ers Blue 19, Norwalk Colts 13: Excited about their last game of the season the Newtown 79ers Blue team marched on the field pumped and ready for a rematch against the Norwalk Colts. Losing to the Colts early in the season only fueled the Nighthawk’s determination to win. Like a well-oiled machine, 79ers offensive linemen Chris Frascatore, Kyle Good, Brett Pierce, Sean Theis, Matt Heinlein, Will Archiere, and Jack Stenz made way for running back Jared Dunn for a touchdown against the Colts early in the first quarter.

Newtown quarterback Connor Moran added another touchdown for the team with a quarterback sneak giving Newtown a 12-0 lead against Norwalk. The Colts turned up the heat and managed to squeeze in two touchdowns and an extra point ending the half with a 13-12 lead for the Norwalk team. Fired up and tasting victory, Newtown defensemen Aidan Finnegan, Shane Luzietti, Luke Hannan, Luke Wellman, Sean O’Sullivan, Colton Stergue, and TJ Merrick dominated the second half of the game preventing Norwalk from making any further scores. The Nighthawk offensive line made a historic march downfield for one last touchdown by Jared Dunn finishing the season with a 19-13 win against the Norwalk Colts.

79ers Gold 21, Hudson Valley 0: On a cold and gray Halloween morning, the Newtown 79ers Gold football team ended their season with a one-sided 21-0 victory against a beleaguered Hudson Valley team. The Nighthawks got underway quickly against the Admirals with running back JP Iaropoli taking the hand-off from QB Michael Haddick and scoring on a 60-yard romp down the left sideline on the game’s first play. Following a successful point-after conversion, Newtown held an early 7-0 lead and would never look back. Newtown’s offensive line dominated the line of scrimmage and created running room for ball carriers throughout the game.

Lightning fast Jack Kuligowski ran past and around Hudson Valley defenders from 45 yards out late in the first half and Jeffery Garrity kicked a two-point conversion to give the gold squad a comfortable 15-0 lead going into halftime. In contrast to their first two touchdowns, hard-nosed running back Connor Haywood thundered over and through the opposition on successive plays and plowed into the end zone to close out scoring on the day.

The Admirals’ offensive attack ran aground against the Nighthawk’s swarming defense. Led by the relentless Eamon Doherty and Kevin Curry, Newtown’s defenders torpedoed Hudson Valley’s only legitimate scoring threat late in the game when Patrick Grover intercepted a pass and returned it 65 yards. Newtown’s aggressive team defense made gang tackles play after play, holding the Hudson Valley squad at bay. Free safety Kuligowski put an exclamation point on the defensive effort, running the alley and delivered a crushing sideline hit to the Hudson Valley ball carrier to stop a fourth down attempt early in the second half.

Members of the Newtown Gold team are: Grant Baker, Kevin Curry, Eamon Doherty, Justin Engler, Nick Fisher, Jeffery Garrity, CJ Giacin, Tommy Gies, Patrick Grover, Michael Haddick, Connor Haywood, JP Iaropoli, Danny Ingersoll, Nick Kalra, Jack Kuligowski, Jack Lydon, Doug McIntyre, Jack Mulligan, Lyle Petrellese, Nick Sabillon, and Kyle Shelton. Coaches are Jack Shpunt, Adam Carly, Neil Curry, and Doug Haywood. Team moms are: Cynthia Iaropoli and Zoey Haddick.

Grade 4

Nighthawks 19, Coppers 14: Game Captains were Luke Melillo, Michael Cotton, Nikolas Accousti, and Robbie Morrill. Avenging a tough regular season loss to the Coppers, the mighty Nighthawk fourth grade squad proved their metal with dogged determination and ferocious tenacity, going ahead in the final seconds of the contest to capture the CVL Rose Bowl Championship. Norwalk hosted the 8 am game and the Nighthawks got off to a quick start behind a Tucker Garrity TD run and a bullet-like Melillo-to-Garrity XP conversion. Ansonia came back hard, scoring two TDs in the half, but the Nighthawk D busted up each extra point attempt. At half-time, the teams went to opposite end zones and the scoreboard read 7-12.

The third quarter opened with a successful onside kick for the Nighthawks, but the Copper defense forced a three and out. Not to be upstaged, the Nighthawk D forced a pair of redzone fumbles, but then disaster stuck: a swarming Copper defense recorded a safety and the score was 7-14. With 3:03 left in the fourth quarter, Griffin Cross’s rumblin, bumblin, stumblin, gravity defying TD run put the prize in reach. Score: 13-14. The extra point was no good, and the Nighthawks had to execute an onside kick to keep their season alive. Garrity kicked, Daniel Mason recovered, and the fans went wild. With no timeouts left and the clock running down, Melillo led a drive for the ages from the 50, and with :03 left on the board, Garrity ran it left, exhibiting the speed that made him a threat all season long, and hit pay dirt for the go-ahead TD. The Nighthawk D finished off the game convincingly, and the season was over. Final score, 19-14, final record, 6-3.

The team was coached by Head Coach John McCafferty and assistants Ted Hannan, Mike Connors, and John and Chris Giglio.

Grade 5

Newtown Nighthawks 35, Shelton Seahawks 12: The Newtown fifth grade boys scared up a win on Halloween. In spite of throwing into a strong wind Ryan Kost completed a 20-yard pass to Simon Preston who ran for another 30 yards for the opening score of the game. Tackles by Josh Dunn and Mark Hall help get the Shelton offense off the field. A terrific block by Josh Dunn cleared the way for a 45-yard David Daria touchdown run. On the next series the offense faced a fourth and two, but a strong run by Liam Deakin set up a first down. David Daria followed that up with his second touchdown run of the day. In the second half Ryan Kost had more luck throwing into the wind completing passes to Simon Preston for a touchdown and Kyle Roche for the extra point. Late in the game Shelton showed some signs of life, scoring a touchdown, but the extra point attempt was stopped by Michael Garner. Newtown responded with one more touchdown. On the ensuing kickoff Shelton’s return man was able to squeeze down the sideline for their last score of the game, leaving the final at 35-12.

Grade 6

Newtown Nighthawks 34, Carmel Chiefs 6: The sixth grade Nighthawks easily defeated the Carmel Chiefs to become the 2010 Candlewood Valley League Champions. Right out of the gate, Ben Mason ran 50 yards for a touchdown and Nevin Zink kicked in the two extra points. The Nighthawks used an onside kick to return the ball, a Carmel player touched it, and the Nighthawks recovered. After first down runs by Zink, Mason, and Mitchell Savoca, Carmel recovered a Nighthawks fumble, but the Nighthawks held the Chiefs at the five-yard line. After the turnover, Patrick Conte scored with a quarterback sneak and Zink kicked for two more points. Bobby Haskins recovered a fumble by the Chiefs and Zink ran more than 20 yards for a first down before the clock ran out on the first quarter.

At the start of the second quarter, Colin McCafferty ran for a first down, Conte handed the ball off to Steven Moccio for a touchdown, and Savoca intercepted and ran 45 yards for a touchdown. Tackles by Justin Dunn, Matthew Bucci and Ryan Norton led to a turnover on downs. Dunn pitched the ball to Moccio for the Nighthawks’ third touchdown of the quarter.

At the start of the second half, Liam Garrison, Brandyn Chieffo, and Sean Wallace, made key tackles with help from George Pagett. Norton recovered a fumble, but despite a first down run by McCafferty, the Nighthawks turned the ball over on downs. An attempted pass by the Chiefs was broken up by Mitchell Long, but the next pass was complete for the Chiefs’ first and only touchdown. Near the end of the game, Peter DeBona recovered an onside kick, and a handoff to Will Whitlock resulted in a gain of a few yards, but the clock ran out before the Nighthawks could score again.

Grade 7

Bridgeport 12, Newtown 6: On a chilly Halloween-eve, Newtown put a major scare into the undefeated and defending CVL/State/Regional Champs before falling in this closely contested and very physical battle. The young Hawks opened up with a 61-yard touchdown drive that let the Chargers (who average 40+ points a game) know they were in for a long evening. Jared Pearson had consecutive first down runs of 14 and 23 yards, and Michael Doyle added an eight-yard first down counter before Pearson took an option to the left sideline, reversed his field and ran all the way to the right sideline for a 14-yard score that covered closer to 100 yards. Devin Luzietti recovered the ensuing on-side kick at the Bridgeport 41, and Newtown was on the verge of another score when they had a first and ten at the Bridgeport 13. However the Charger defense stiffened and the Hawks turned the ball over on downs. Bridgeport then marched 83 yards in 12 plays for the tying score, twice converting on third down.

A pivotal point on the drive (and for the game) was a questionable pass interference call on fourth and nine that kept the ball in the hands of the Chargers. Three plays later they tied it up on a 54-yard run. Bridgeport scored again just before halftime on a 19-yard run to take a 12-6 lead.

The second half saw Newtown bend but not break as they used a mix of players at different positions to compensate for several injuries. Jeremy Salaris, Ryan Shaw, and Luzietti led the team with seven tackles apiece. Nick Samuelson, Andrew Svanda, and Doyle followed closely behind with five each. Chris Blanco, Justin Appley, and John Delrossi used their speed on the line to disrupt the Charger blocking assignments. Shaw ended one threat with a tackle on a fourth down reverse for a nine-yard loss, while Samuelson and Svanda came up with big stops on third and fourth down on another drive deep in Newtown territory. Bridgeport’s first drive of the fourth quarter ended when a diving Charlie Fletcher recovered a fumble at midfield. Newtown had little success moving the ball in the second half against Bridgeport’s formidable defense, but they were able to maintain a field position advantage due to two quick kicks by Doyle that averaged 30 yards.

For the season, Newtown finished 8-2 (both losses to Bridgeport by a combined eight points). They had the toughest schedule in the league, with only one opponent having a losing record. They outscored opponents by a 266-113 margin, and out gained them by 75 yards per game (225 to 150).

Grade 8

Newtown 44, Monroe Lions 14: Newtown’s eighth grade football team showed up at Kennedy Stadium last Saturday in order to defend their four-year hold on the Candlewood Valley championship and returned with the same result by putting up a 44 to 14 victory over rival Monroe. Without throwing a pass all day, the young Hawks returned to their strength and power and ran all over the Lions defense. The combination of Julian Dunn, Sugar Shane Quimby, Nick Lotrecchiano, and Colton Smith carried the ball 19 times for 208 yards. Dunn found the end zone twice, while Smith and Quimby both scored each. Rat Rubino and Tim Krapf also found pay dirt by scoring early in the short yardage offense.

While the offense was doing their thing, the defense dominated from the start by shutting down the Lions’ high flying spread offense for most of the game. Dunn led all defenders with four tackles at the NT/LB position. Chipping in with three tackles a piece were Krapf, Logan Walsh, Quimby, Jake Lambert, and Pete Manfredonia. James Leuci added a sack and Lotrecchiano and Smith picking off the Monroe QB each. Big plays in the first half were made by Jaret DeVellis and Lotrecchiano breaking up passes on third downs.

The eighth graders travel to North Haven on Saturday to play the Shoreline Youth Football Conference’s champions, the 9-0 Madison Tigers in the semifinals at 5 pm. The Tigers dominated their division by scoring an average of 38 points per game. The winner of this game will play the 10-0 Meriden Raiders for the Connecticut State Championship for following weekend.