“We have the potential to be pretty good. It’s going to take a lot of hard work. It’ll just depend on how well we can jell together and mature.” – NHS football coach, Bob Zito, before his team embarked on an 11-2 season that finished with four school records, one state record, and a berth in the CIAC Class L playoffs.

 

By Kim J. Harmon

Even though it was coming off a season in which it finished 12-1 and scored a state record 510 points, key losses – and a schedule that would played almost entirely on the road due to field reconstruction – head coach Bob Zito was guardedly optimistic about his football team back in 1997.

At least, he was guardedly optimistic when interviewed in early September about the prospects for upcoming season.

Behind his office door, though, he must have been positively giddy – because what he had, what he must have known he had, was the most prolific offensive team in the history of Newtown High School and the state of Connecticut.

When it was all said and done, the Nighthawks finished 11-2 with four school records, another state record, and another trip to the CIAC Class L playoffs.

Oddly enough, it all started with a non-conference debacle in Danbury as Staples High School rushed for 447 yards in a 40-14 win over Newtown. Andrew Gellert, in his first season of high school football, opened the day with a 40-yard touchdown pass from Pete Ivey … but from there, it was all Staples.

The Nighthawks rebounded quite well, trouncing Bunnell, 45-13, and silencing their early-season critics. The ‘Hawks scored 26 points in the first period alone and had a comfortable 39-7 lead at the half. Ivey was 5-of-7 for 89 yards, throwing two touchdown passes in the opening period.

“It was like the Newtown teams of old,” coach Zito said at the time. “We got back to the basics and executed. Our size really took over the game. It was nice to get back on the winning track like that.”

The following week, the ‘Hawks continued to roll with a 36-12 win over Stratford as junior Grant Werbeck scored a pair of touchdowns. Ivey completed just six passes in 14 attempts, but those six passes led to three touchdowns and 149 yards.

The juggernaut kept rolling the following week as Ivey was 17-of-26 for 260 yards and three touchdowns in a 53-6 win over Brookfield. Gellert returned an interception 55 yards for a TD – one of his school- and state-record 15 interceptions for the season.

Jonathan Law was next to suffer under the cleats of the Newtown offense, which amassed almost 350 yards in a 49-7 win. Gellert caught five passes for 74 yards and three touchdowns.

The following week, the ‘Hawks returned to a home, of sorts, as they hosted Pomperaug on Taylor Field behind Hawley School. It was the first Newtown High game played on the field in 28 years and the Nighthawks made the best use of it with a 49-0 shellacking of Pomperaug. Saputo rushed for 88 yards on four carries, caught a pass for 23 yards, completed a pass for 25 yards and scored three touchdowns. Gellert, meanwhile, brought another interception all the way back for a TD as the ‘Hawks improved to 5-1.

Things got a little tougher for the offense the following week against New Fairfield – a little tougher. The ‘Hawks gained better than 300 yards, but only scored 28 points on the day. Thanks to the defense, which forced six turnovers, it was plenty as the ‘Hawks earned a 28-7 win on a cold, wet day.

The offense was in much better form on Halloween night that year as the ‘Hawks pounded Foran, 36-0, in Milford. Ivey was 10-of-21 for 151 yards and three more touchdowns while Saputo rushed for 155 yards on 15 carries and scored a TD on a 10-yard run. The game put Ivey over the 1,000-yard mark in passing.

For the third straight week the Nighthawks were greeted by rain on the football field, but in the annual Boot Trophy game with New Milford the wet conditions scarcely slowed the locals down in a 41-6 win. Saputo rushed for 144 yards and three touchdowns. Werbeck scored on a 90-yard run and Ivey tossed a touchdown pass. Lineman Jeff Chuongvan had a chance to play out of the backfield and scored on a one-yard run.

The ‘Hawks clinched the Colonial Division title and a trip to the SWC championship game with a 47-14 pounding of Notre Dame of Fairfield. Saputo rushed for 138 yards and four touchdowns – bringing his rushing total to 859 yards (9.4 per carry) and giving him 20 TDs (with five two-point conversions) on the year.

There was no stopping the ‘Hawks in the SWC title game as they blasted Stratford, 53-13, as Mike Reynolds rushed for 144 yards and three touchdowns, Saputo rushed for 123 yards and a touchdown (not to mention bringing back a punt 58 yards for another TD) and Ivey passed for 169 yards and three touchdowns. Gellert even brought another interception back for a touchdown.

The annual Thanksgiving game with Masuk was almost an afterthought, but the Panthers were tough and held Newtown under 20 points for only the second time all year. Trouble was, the Panthers didn’t score at all in a 19-0 Newtown win. All 19 points came in the second quarter as Saputo rushed for two touchdowns and Raby rushed for another.

If only the season could have ended on a brighter note, but the ‘Hawks ran into a powerful Hand of Madison team in the CIAC Class L semifinals and were summarily manhandled, 31-6. The only Newtown score came in the third quarter on a three-yard run by Saputo. The ‘Hawks had just 262 yards of total offense while Hand amassed better than 370 – almost all of it on the ground.

In the final reckoning, Saputo rushed for 1,139 yards on 129 carries (8.8 per carry), caught 24 balls for another 281 yards, and scored a school-record 25 touchdowns. Reynolds rushed for 751 yards on 112 carries (6.7 per carry) and helped the ‘Hawks, as a team, rush for 2,807 yards on the year.

The passing game was no less prolific as Ivey was 111-of-228 for a school-record 1,755 yards and 24 touchdowns and hit Gellert a school-record 50 times for 925 yards. Gellert finished with 15 touchdowns while Werbeck finished with 10.

The Nighthawks were so good, so dominating, they put four players on the CIAC All-State team that year – Joey Saputo, Andrew Gellert, Joe Wasko and Jeff Chuongvan.

Now, the ‘Hawks did score 35 fewer points than the year before and did gain about 200 fewer yards in offense than the year before, but with Saputo, Ivey and Gellert all setting school records the ’97 team could, arguably, be the greatest offensive team in school history.

Can anyone argue with that?