By Kim J. Harmon

It has been an uncanny habit of theirs to pull off a thrilling – if not miracle – win in the traditional Thanksgiving matchup with Masuk and one more of those would have put the Newtown High School football team into the CIAC Class LL playoffs for the first time since 2000.

But it was not to be.

Masuk, just four days after being pounded by Bunnell in the South-West Conference championship game, also needed a win to secure a trip to the CIAC Class L state playoffs and didn’t let the quick turnaround slow them down enroute to a 34-13 win last week.

What had worried Newtown head coach Ken Roberts about his team – the lack of size on the offensive and defensive lines – was one of the things Masuk exploited. The Panthers threw the ball just five times, sticking to the ground and churning out 319 yards as Dustin Smith scored three touchdowns and rushed for 107 yards while Conor MacClay rushed for 153 yards.

But it took the Panthers a good 16 minutes to gain the upper hand in the game. The Nighthawks seemed to serve notice on the opening kick when Erik Dreher leveled a punishing hit on the return man and then helped the defense finally stop the Panthers near midfield.

Neither team managed to get too close to the end zone, but the Panthers got their break in the second quarter when Joe DeVellis fumbled the ball at the 40 on a punt return. A few moments later, Smith scored on a 16-yard bolt up the middle.

Later, Joe Greenfield recovered a fumble at the Masuk 37, but the ensuing drive stalled when Bob Lapple was unable to corral a fourth-and-four pass from Tucker Kass. Masuk turned around and, with 35 seconds left in the half, scored on a 14-yard run by Smith that staked the Panthers to a 14-0 halftime lead.

The game was in danger of totally unraveling at the start of the second half, but Jamie Goodwick came up with a huge fumble recovery on the kick and that allowed the ‘Hawks to put together an 11-play, 71-yard drive that ended when Kass found Joe Bowen on a 25-yard seam pass with 7:49 left in the third period.

The locals then dodged a bullet when Masuk quarterback Steve Cardi, with his team on the Newtown 10, was unable to handle a high snap in the shotgun. Travis Speer recovered, but the ‘Hawks were unable to convert the turnover into points.

Following a punt, Thomas Hutchison made a TD-saving tackle for the ‘Hawks but the locals were unable to keep the Panthers out of the end zone as Smith added his third touchdown of the night on a three-yard run to stake the Panthers to a 21-7 lead.

In the fourth, MacClay scored back-to-back touchdowns of 4 and 16 yards to put the Panthers ahead 34-7. The ‘Hawks managed a little something with 1:08 left in the game when Kass – who was 9-of-25 for 117 yards on the night – hit DeVellis on a short five-yard scoring pass.

The locals collected just 164 yards of total offense on the night with Kass finishing as the leading rusher with 29 yards on seven carries. With the loss, the ‘Hawks dropped to fifth in the CIAC Class LL standings, just 10 total points behind Shelton.

Masuk 34, Newtown 13

Second quarter: Masuk – Smith 16 run (Palmer kick); Masuk – Smith 14 run (Palmer kick). Third quarter: Newtown –Bowen 26 pass from Kass (Nelson kick); Masuk – Smith 3 run (Palmer kick). Fourth quarter: Masuk – MacClay 4 run (kick failed); Masuk – MacClay 16 run (Palmer kick); Newtown – DeVellis 5 pass from Kass (pass failed).

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing: Masuk – Conor MacCloy 25-153, Dustin Smith 19-107, Steve Cardi 6-29, Scott Christy 9-26, Chris Cosmedy 3-6, Vin DeAguila 1-minus 2 (Totals: 63-319); Newtown – Tucker Kass 7-29, Chris Potter 9-15, Joey DeVellis 2-3, Jake DeVellis 1-minus 2 (Totals: 19-45).

Passing: Masuk – Steve Cardi 2-4-0, 4 yards, Vin DeAguila 1-1-0, 8 yards; Newtown – Tucker Kass 9-25-1, 117 yards.

Receiving: Masuk – Ray Palmer 2-4, Nick Bacarella 1-8; Newtown – Joey DeVellis 5-37, Joe Bowen 3-66, Chris Potter 1-14.