A couple of long gallops (92 yards by Kyle O’Connor and 65 yards by Kevin Canavan) had the Newtown Pop Warner Pee Wees off and running in their showdown with Bethel last weekend – off and running to a 23-0 victory.

The win pushed the Nighthawks’ record to 3-0.

Here are the results –

89ers

A case of fumblitis was all the 89ers needed to get stuck into a 12-0, first-quarter hole.

A hole they never quite got themselves out of. They almost did, though, as the Nighthawks fell to Bethel, 25-21.

Mike Allwein, Dan Hebert, Brandon Gesauldi and Matt Sharpe played strong defense while Andrew Cebry – once again showing his blazing speed - sparked the offense with three touchdowns.

Blocks by Mike LoBosco and Jack McManus opened the door for Cebry. The offense line of Tom Bauer, Mike Senf, Dean Baye and Pat Mullins also played well for the ‘Hawks.

Junior Pee Wees

John Fracker scored on a quarterback keeper late in the third quarter as the Junior Pee Wees toughed out a 6-6 tie with Bethel last weekend.

The drive started at the end of the third quarter. Connor Byrne completed a pass on fourth-and-four, William Arndt scampered 20 yards on a nifty reverse, and Fracker rumbled into the end zone on a keeper. Bethel held tight at the goal line on the extra point attempt, stopping the ‘Hawks from stealing the game.

Bethel capitalized on a Newtown turnover and ran a sweep 37 yards into the end zone within the first few minutes of the first quarter to take a 6-0 lead. The Nighthawks stiffened on the extra point attempt, keeping the Bobcats’ lead at just six.

Fracker led the offense on the next series, rambling 35 yards into Bethel territory. But the turnover bug reared its ugly head again, giving the Bobcats the ball on their own 30-yard line. Mitch Udiskey, Brendan McNamara and Max Nacewicz anchored the defense with stellar plays to stop the rest of Bethel’s drives. Seamus Boyle also had a nice hit in the first half of the game, making sure to stop Bethel on one of its attempts to gain some yardage.

Both teams had opportunities in the fourth quarter, but were unable to make anything happen.

Pee Wees

Kyle O’Connor scored two touchdowns (one from 92 yards out) and Kevin Canavan added a touchdown of his own to lead the Pee Wees to a convincing 23-0 win over Bethel.

The Nighthawks started out on defense, but a strong tackle by “Legs” Canavan and a fumble recovered by Kurt Nacewicz brought the offense on the field. Nicky “Bones” Tarantino, Canavan and “OC” O’Connor sparked the 49-yard scoring drive that ended with OC’s four-yard touchdown run.

Nacewicz booted the point-after and Newtown lead 8-0.

Jamie Vavrek, Robbie “The Diesel” O’Donnell, Mike “Shin Guards” Poeltl, Tucker “KC” Schmidt, AJ “Mad Dog” Ritchie and Keith “The Truck” McGrath made some strong defensive stops to keep Bethel off the board in the first quarter.

In the second, Canavan scored on a 65-yard gallop and Nacewicz added the two-point kick to put Newtown ahead, 16-0. Tory Deakin ended Bethel’s ensuing drive with a sack of the quarterback and soon after O’Conner was scampering 92 yards for his second touchdown. Vavrek completed the conversion pass and Newtown lead, 23-0.

Tim Wilmott, Mike Kearns, Matt Jones, Brian Kuruc and Kevin O’Connell made key defensive plays in the second half. At the same time, Dana “The Driver” Hansen and Zach “The Detonator” Dent helped spark the offense.

Junior Midgets

 

Jake Devellis scored two touchdowns – one on a three-yard run and the other on a five-yard run – to lead the Junior Midgets to a 16-6 win over Bethel.

The ‘Hawks got started quickly, as Collin Babbage recovered the opening kickoff. Eight plays later, Devellis was in the end zone and Brian Reszoly was booting the point-after through the uprights for an 8-0 Newtown lead.

But Bethel did not fold. It took the ensuing kick-off and marched 61 yards on 13 plays and scored on a two-yard run. The point-after kick was blocked by Kenton Lord, however, keeping the ‘Hawks ahead 8-6.

Dan Curtis had a nifty punt and Martin picked off a Bethel pass, but the ‘Hawks could not score as the first half wound down.

In the second half, fullback Zach Conger put together some punishing runs and Mark Scheunemann made a big play on a busted reverse, picking up about 12 yards, but the end zone still eluded the Nighthawks.

That soon changed.

On one of their ensuing drives, Cody Marus ran up the middle and Mitch Rucinski earned some big gains on the off-tackle and toss sweep. When the ‘Hawks were faced with fourth down, DeVellis tossed a halfback option pass to Reszoly and all Reszoly had to go to get the first down was to go up and over the defensive back to made a one-handed, falling away catch.

The completion put the ball on the Bethel 12. Conger ran the ball to the seven and DeVellis carried the ball to the five. Then Martin tossed the ball to Devellis on the option play and DeVellis outran the defensive back to the corner of the end zone.

Charlie LoBosco punched the kick through the uprights for a 16–6 Newtown lead. Just 3:50 remained in the game and Bethel was unable to get any closer.

Midgets

It was share the wealth time for the Midgets – Will Mahony, Tyler Tarantino, Erik Dreher and Conor Martin all scored touchdowns as Newtown trampled Bethel, 28-0, last weekend.

After defensive stops by Skyler Gojdosik, John Aminti, Pat McNulty and Eric Puffer stopped Bethel cold on the opening drive, the offense took over and quickly scored on a 50-yard run by Mahony (behind the blocking of Brett Mauro, McNulty and Chris Elias). Mahony added the extra point kick and the Nighthawks were ahead, 8-0.

McNulty and Puffer once again sparked a defensive stop and that allowed the offense to take over again. Mahony had a big run down to the Bethel 10, where Tarantino got the call to bring the ball into the end zone for a 14-0 Newtown lead.

The ‘Hawks made good on their next drive, as well. Ryan Manning rushed for seven yards behind Connor McNamara and Tom Jackman. Dreher then followed with a couple more yards before quarterback Kris Kling pitched to Tarantino for a big carry to the Bethel 17. Lucass Vendel picked up five yards before Matt Kuruc opened a hole, allowing Dreher to bring the ball all the way down to the one.

There, Dreher scored the third TD and Mahony added an extra point kick to give Newtown a 22-0 lead. In the second half, Kling – on a fourth-and-six play – tossed a pass to Martin, who rambled 46 yards for the final touchdown and a 28-0 Newtown lead.

Matt Mascolo, Lance Bennet and Dan DeLaVega continued to power the offense while Nick Ciarelli, Tanner Schmidt, Kurt Koloniaris, Matt Boland (interception) and Jamie Goodwick sparked the defense in the shutout win.

The Newtown Pop Warner football program will host Pomperaug this weekend at Taylor Field behind Hawley School.