By Kim J. Harmon

For 24 minutes last Friday night, it looked as if the Nighthawks were going to do it again . . . that is, pull off another improbable victory at Bruce Jenner Stadium.

It was Homecoming, the place was packed, and it was a perfect time for another upset. The ‘Hawks seemed to take all of that into consideration, playing a solid half of football and taking a surprising 12-0 lead over Pomperaug (3-1-1) into the lengthy halftime break.

But then it all fell apart.

The things the ‘Hawks did in the first half, they didn’t do in the second.

The things they didn’t do in the first half, they did in the second.

And after two halves of football – one the antithesis of the other – the ‘Hawks found themselves on the short side of a 35-18 loss to the Panthers which dropped Newtown to 2-4 on the year.

Oh, it looked much better in the first half. With just three minutes gone in the game, Sean Raby rambled in for a touchdown that gave Newtown a quick 6-0 lead on Pomperaug.

And then the defense took over and squelched whatever threat the running game (i.e, Brian Shalvoy) offered and cut off the varied options of Pomperaug quarterback Joe Pugh.

After Dave Roodhuyzen cut off one of those options, with an interception at the 35 yard line, Newtown began another first period march that resulted in a touchdown and a very surprising 12-0 lead.

The drive had apparently been stalled on the 28 yard line thanks to a pair of holding penalties, but since it was too far away to kick a field goal two close to punt, Les Russell did a quick drop on fourth-and-13 and hit Nick Savino on a flag pattern for the touchdown with 2:09 still left to play in the first.

From there, well into the second period, it was a game of three-and-out between Newtown and Pomperaug. Neither team could grab a first down until Raby, with some punishing runs, was able to move the Newtown offense from its own 26 to the Pomperaug 47. But soon after, Russell was repelled on a keeper and then sacked to kill the drive.

Once again, Pomperaug was stalled thanks to the Nighthawk defense. Then – though no one knew it at the time – the Newtown offense took one of its last real cracks at the end zone. The ‘Hawks started on the Pomperaug 45 and soon moved to the 29 for a third-and-six play. Russell was sacked back at the 38 and then tried one last pass on 4th-and-15 with 29 seconds left in the half.

Nothing.

Still, the ‘Hawks went into the break with the 12-0 lead.

Trouble was, it was so fleeting.

The Panthers took advantage of a blocked punt, set up shop at the Newtown 37, and quickly moved down the field where Shalvoy punched through the Newtown line from the two yard line for the touchdown with 6:26 left to play in the third.

Newtown 12, Pomperaug 7.

A fumble on the kick off gave the Panthers the ball on the Newtown 26. Five plays later, Corey Nattinger was slicing through the Newtown line for a two-yard touchdown (followed by a two-point conversion).

Pomperaug 15, Newtown 12.

It went from bad to worse.

An interception gave the Panthers the ball on their own 22. Moments later, on a third-and-11 play, Pugh dropped back and heaved a bomb into double coverage. The two Newtown defenders went up, but the ball glanced off their hands right into the hands of Robert Kulish, who scampered 68 yards for the touchdown and the 21-12 Pomperaug lead.

Just 1:50 later, Pugh ran in 35 yards for another score and a 28-12 Pomperaug lead.

And 3:41 after that, Pugh struck again, rolling out left and then cutting up field 68 yards for another Pomperaug touchdown and a 35-12 lead.

The ‘Hawks did find the end zone one last time, with a little more than two minutes left, when Rich Petretti and Raby hooked up on a seven-yard pass play that trimmed the Pomperaug lead to 35-18.

Despite the melt down, the Newtown defense held the Pomperaug rushing attack relatively in check. Sure, Pomperaug rushed for 192 yards (Pugh for 112 and Shalvoy for 52), 102 of those yards came on two carries. Newtown was led by Raby, who gained 73 yards on the ground – more than half of the Nighthawks’ rushing attack.

Newtown will attempt to rebound Saturday when it travels to Immaculate for a 1:30 pm kickoff.

 

POMPERAUG     0          0          15         20         -          35

NEWTOWN        12         0          0          6          -          18

 

First Quarter

N - Raby 13 run (kick failed)

N - Savino 28 pass from Russell (pass failed)

 

Third Quarter

P_- Shalvoy 2 run (Frantz kick)

P - Nattinger 3 run (Henriques from_Pugh)

 

Fourth Quarter

P_- Kulish 70 pass from Pugh (kick failed)

P - Pugh 34 run (Frantz kick)

P_- Pugh 68 run (Frantz kick)

N - Raby 7 pass from_Petretti (pass failed)

 

INDIVIDUAL_STATISTICS

Rushing

POMPERAUG:_Pugh 8-115, Shalvoy 18-52, Fraser 5-22, Orrico 1-5, Nattinger 3-minus 2. TOTALS: 34-192.

NEWTOWN:_Raby 13-73, Tobin 7-27, Hayden 5-10, Hunzeker 4-7, Saunders 3-5, Russell 4-10, Petretti 2-8. TOTALS:_38-138.

 

Passing

POMPERAUG: Pugh 3-for-4, for 88 yards.

NEWTOWN:_Petretti 5-for-10 for 79 yards; Russell 1-for-5 for 27 yards.

 

Receiving

POMPERAUG:_Kulish 1-70, Henriques 1-15, Nattinger 1-4.

NEWTOWN:_Raby 3-43, Savino 2-39, Martenson 1-24.