Jamie Vavrek scored the lone touchdown on a one-yard plunge, lifting the Newtown Pop Warner Pee Wees to a tough, 6-0 win over Pomperaug last weekend at Taylor Field. The win kept the Pee Wees undefeated at 4-0.

Here are the rest of the results –

 

Defense Big In

89er Tie

 

Although the opposition ran the ball up and down the field and controlled it throughout most of the second half, the 89ers made the big defensive stops – four times inside the 10 – to earn a tie against undefeated Pomperaug.

One of those big stops was on a Dan Hebert interception, another on a forced fumble by Mike Lord, and another – perhaps the biggest – on a bone-crushing hit at the two-yard line by Kory Kling on the final play of the game.

Mike Lobosco, Nick Dinelli, Pat Capozziello and Justin Spath also played well on defense.

Offensively, the 89ers had a tough time against the hard-hitting Warriors. But on a key play, with the 89ers facing a third and long from their own 30, Andrew Cebry broke a tackle in the backfield and followed blocks by Spath and Jack McManus on a 70-yard touchdown scamper.

Lord ran in the extra point, using a head fake that left the defender grasping at air.

Costly Penalties

Doom JPWs

 

It was just one of those days when everything that could have gone wrong, did.

While most of the game was played between the 30s, the Warriors took advantage of a fumbled punt and some costly penalties to score touchdowns in each half and saddle the Junior Pee Wees with a 13-0 defeat.

On the bright side, Brian Kilmurray, William Samuelson and William Arndt had solid games for the defense, while John Fracker hooked up with Shane Wurtz for a 15-yard pass during the Nighthawks most impressive drive, which ultimately ended in a turnover. The team hopes to bounce back this weekend, when it travels to Monroe.

 

Pee Wees Scrape

By Warriors

The Pee Wees remained undefeated at 4-0, but it wasn’t easy.

The Nighthawks barely scraped by Pomperaug, 6-0, in a game ruled by defense upsets and saves at the goal line. Rob O’Donnell, Tory Deakin, Keith McGrath, Nicky “Bones” Tarantino, Brian Kuruc and Mike Poeltl set the defensive tone early for the ‘Hawks while Kevin “Legs” Canavan and Kyle “OC” O’Connor picked up the pace for the offense.

But the game – despite additional effort from Mike “Animal” Hadgraft, Dana “the driver” Hansen (eight yards on two carries), Zack Dent (three defensive stops) and Tim Wilmott (TD-saving tackle on a third-quarter kick return) – remained scoreless.

Until the fourth quarter.

O’Donnell carried the team on its only scoring drive, rushing for 36 yards and setting up Jamie Vavrek for a one-yard touchdown plunge. The point-after was no good, but on the ensuing kick Pomperaug fumbled and Kurt Nacewicz made the recovery to seal the win.

– Mat  Kuruc provided the report.

Junior Midget D

Stingy In Loss

In a quagmire at Taylor Field on Sunday, the Junior Midgets held Pomperaug to just 22 yards of total offense … but lost a heartbreaker, 2-0, to drop to 3-1 on the year.

The turning point in the game came in the third quarter. The sequence started when Pomperaug blocked a Newtown punt and recovered the ball, taking it down to Newtown’s 15-yard line. The Nighthawk defense held and allowed the offense to take possession at the 14. The ‘Hawks were pushed back seven yards when Jake DeVellis was tackled in the backfield on an halfback option pass.

Then, on a fourth down punt attempt, a low snap forced the Newtown punter down to one knee, giving the Warriors the safety.

In the first half, the Nighthawks missed a big scoring opportunity when the defense recovered a fumble on the Pomperaug 13. The offense pushed the ball down to the seven before being pushed back by the Warrior defense.

Mitch Rucinski was the leading rusher on the day with 39 yards on four carries. Zach Conger had 33 yards on eight carries. Stephen Oberstadt had a big pass to Ian Cooper for an eight-yard gain to also spark the offense, which accumulated just 83 total yards.

 

Mahony Scores

Two TDs

 

Will Mahony scored a pair of touchdowns and Matt Boland added another touchdown as the Midgets blanked Pomperaug, 20-0, on a wet and muddy Sunday.

The conditions became a factor in the game right away, as Newtown fumbled on its first series (but recovered its own fumble). The Midgets had some trouble moving the football early, but so did the Warriors as Conor Martin, Erik Dreher, Tyler Tarantino and Tanner Schmidt made some big defensive stops.

A Martin fumble recovery gave Newtown the ball on the Pomperaug 19. Tarantino carried the ball to the 11 behind a nice block from Alex Dahlmeyer and Ryan Manning pushed the ball even closer, to the eight, before Mahony went in for the score.

Jamie Goodwick made a headfirst dive into the mud on the ensuing kick to recover the onsides, but Newtown was unable to capitalize. The Midgets, though, were soon back in the end zone after Matt Mascolo, John Aminti, Mahony and Goodwick stiffened on D and kept Pomperaug pinned deep in its own end, forcing a punt. On the first play from scrimmage following that punt, Boland rambled in for the score.

Mascolo added the extra point.

The defense came up big again as Tom Jackman made a great hit to force a fumble. Mahony recovered the ball to set the offense up. After Kris Kling completed a nine-yard pass to Martin, Mahony got the call and followed a Manning block for a 40-yard touchdown run.

Chris Salvatore, Will Paskey, Lucas Vendel, Gajdosik, Dan DeLaVega, Nick Ciarelli, Matt Kuruc, and Travis Dachenhausen continued to spark the Newtown defense to the shutout.