Another week ... another blowout win. Newtown High School's football team jumped out to a 40-0 halftime lead en route to a 47-0 thumping of host Bethel on October 15. This marks the fourth time in five games - all victories - that the Nighthawks have scored more than 40 points (the exception was a 34-0 whitewashing of New Fairfield on opening night when the Nighthawks must have been a tad rusty).

Hunter Cobb rushed 19 times for 104 yards and scored two touchdowns carrying the ball and a third on a reception. Ben Mason had a touchdown reception and returned an interception 80-plus yards for a score as time expired at the end of the first half, and quarterback Justin Dunn rushed 31 yards for a score. Dunn completed 10 of 16 passes for 154 yards.

Newtown's defense, which picked up its third shutout of the campaign, was led by Cormac Roe and Tom Long, each with five solo tackles.

"The guys come out here every day and go to work," Dunn said. "Our defense is playing great; everybody's playing great."

Despite the lopsided result, Newtown Coach Steve George saw plenty of room for improvement and felt his squad wasn't as sharp as it can be following a bye week. Missed blocks were among the mistakes the Nighthawks need to clean up, the coach said.

"The kids came out to play today - I'm not going to say we didn't but we made more mistakes than we usually do," George said. "We have high expectations. We expect to win every week."

Whether or not Newtown wins its next game in the usual blowout fashion may depend on how much the Hawks improve on their performance against winless Bethel. The Nighthawks will visit the 4-1 Bunnell Bulldogs on Friday, October 21; kickoff is at 7 pm.

"They're one of the best teams in the league," said George, adding that the Bulldogs throw the ball well, which stands to challenge the Newtown secondary.

"We've got a big test against Bunnell. Hopefully we can pull that out and become 6-0," Dunn said.