JUNIOR MIDGETS

Newtown 18, Bethel 0

Kevin McCarthy scored a pair of touchdowns (one on a pass from John Fracker) and the Newtown Junior Midgets defeated Bethel, 18-0, to not only finish the regular season undefeated but also to secure the No. 1 seed in the Candlewood Valley League playoffs.

Max Nacewicz also scored on a six-yard push up the middle.

Newtown started driving the field right away, but although their initial foray ended on the Bethel 16 its next drive – keyed by a great punt return by Kyle Vignone – ended on a 20-yard touchdown run by McCarthy.

Fracker had an impressive block on the run.

As the defense continued to dominate (allowing just three rushing yards in the first period), Kevin O’Connell disrupted a swing pass deep in the backfield and, later, scooped up a fumble on another hit behind the line. Two plays after the fumble recovery, Fracker went to the air and connected with McCarthy on a deep pass in the endzone for the touchdown.

Ryan Korth made a big fourth down stop on Bethel’s next possession and Newtown closed out the half with a 12-0 lead.

With the offense back on the field in the third quarter, Fracker quickly began to pick apart the Bethel secondary with his arm, highlighted by a long pass to a leaping O’Connell at the Bethel six. On the ensuing play, Nacewicz crashed through the middle and powered his way into the endzone for the touchdown.

Once again, Newtown had converted a turnover into points and now led 18-0. And Vignone, James Sharpe and Lewis Thompson all had big defensive plays in the fourth period to secure the win, the shutout, and the No. 1 seed.

Lineman Rob Franzino, Matt Yitts, Alex Nuefeld, Bryan Kilmurray, Chris Giglio, Mitch Lobuglio and Eric Johnson repeatedly opened holes for their running backs all day. Receivers Crevier, Ian Kirner and Tyler Reszoly caught passes or made nice blocks downfield.

On defense, strong line play by Andrew Seymour, Haakon Sorenson, Thompson and Nick Dinelli repeatedly thwarted run attempts. Cody Fischer and Korth sealed the corners from their defensive end positions and disrupted offensive plays throughout the game.

JPW BLUE

Newtown 33, Bethel 33

The first football game played on the new turf field at Treadwell Park was a barnburner as the Newtown Junior Pee Wee Blues and Bethel battled to a 33-33 tie. Bethel scored the equalizer with less than a minute to play.

Riley Wurtz scored three touchdowns while Drew Tarantino and Justin DeVellis had one apiece to power the Blues. Great blocking by Nicholas Pedalino, Ryan Manion, James Leidlein, Andrew Ryan and Tarantino (leading the sweeps) keyed the rushing attack.

Phil Reynolds added a very important extra point late in the game and DeVellis added two more extra points.

Cooper Gold, Chris Stanton, Christian Barrett and Dean Baye were strong on the line right from the get go. Luke Moore, Michael Senf, Alec Woznick and Kyle Morrisey were also solid up front for the Big Blue, which must defeat Aspetuck and Ridgefield in order to qualify for the playoffs.

MIDGETS

Newtown 34, Monroe 0

Kyle O’Connor scored a pair of touchdowns (one off a fumble return) as the Newtown Midgets blanked Monroe, 34-0, in action back on October 15 at Weston High School.

Nick Tarantino and Zack Dent also scored rushing touchdowns while quarterback Tucker Schmidt hit Tory Deakin for another score.

The Hawks opened up a 7-0 advantage on a four-yard run by Tarantino (Brendan Blawie ran in the extra point). After that, Ian Archer and Kevin Brown made some nice hits to contain Monroe and get the ball back for the offense.

And the Hawks wasted little time getting on the scoreboard again as Kyle O’Connor – on the first play from scrimmage – took a handoff, cut to the outside and scampered 51 yards for a touchdown to give the Hawks 13-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

In the second quarter it was all Newtown as the defense continually pounded Monroe. Monroe earned just a few yards running up the middle and could not sustain any consistency due to the pressure of Connor MacNamara and Bryan Purus.

The Hawks then got the ball back and drove it up the field. An eight-play, 55-yard drive was finished off by Zack Dent with a three-yard touchdown run up the middle. Tim Willmott kicked in the extra points as Newtown headed into halftime with a 21-0 cushion.

The Hawks increased their lead in the early stages of the third quarter. On a play action fake, Schmidt found a wide open Deakin and completed a 32 yard touchdown pass. Blawie again ran in the extra point to give Newtown a commanding 28-0 lead.

The Hawks defense still confused Monroe as they could not get a first down in the third quarter. The fourth quarter just got started and a Monroe fumble was quickly scooped up by O’Connor, who returned it 35 yards for Newtown’s final score.

MIGHTY MITE BLUE

Newtown 19, Monroe 0

Julian Dunn scored a pair of touchdowns and Colton Smith scored one as the Mighty Mite Blues defeated Monroe, 19-0, to remain undefeated.

At 7-0, the Blues have outscored their opponents 170-8, demonstrating a dominating combination of offensive and defensive fire power.

Late in the first quarter, Dunn busted up the middle for 20 yards and his first TD. Dunn then broke through the Monroe defense for a 50-yard scamper right before halftime and capped off his personal scoring efforts by adding the point after.

The second half brought the other side of the touchdown twins to life as Colton Smith sprinted for a 55-yard TD around the right end (Smith also had a second 50-plus TD called back due to a penalty in the first half).

The exceptional offensive line play by Matt Bouton, Jeremy Solaris, Ryan Shaw, Mike Doyle, Nick Strokis, Joe Santella, Stephen Grasso and Colin Reilly powered the offense and allowed backs Jack Martin, Jack Lago, Max Rucinski and Santella to contribute to the rushing attack.

The defense – led by the strong linebacker play of Rucinski, Dunn, Smith and Lago – has allowed just one touchdown all year. The speed on the corners of Martin, Santella and Reilly close off almost any attempts to sweep and, finally, the constant interior line pressure from Grasso, Eric Street, Nick Samuelson, Nick Barrows, Scott Gregson, Jonathan Sherman, Strokis and Bouton make scoring on the Blue a tall order.

The Blues will be in Ridgefield on Saturday to close out the regular season.

 

MIGHTY MITE GOLD

Bethel 27, Newtown 20

Nick Lotrecchiano scored three touchdowns but the Mighty Mite Gold fell short against Bethel, 27-20.

Linebackers Chase Wurtz, Bubba Condon, Chance Mcmahon, Lotrecchiano, Bryce Mather and Brian Kiley put forth a valiant effort in trying to slow Bethel down. The offense fought back with the front line blocking of Colton Maroney, Mike Cirone, Connor Lemay, Marcus Elken, Ryan Marron and Matt Elias leading the way.