This season's Newtown versus New Fairfield high school football game was - in multiple ways - the polar opposite of last year's battle of South-West Conference foes.

That was a good thing for the Nighthawks, who avenged their lone regular-season defeat of a year ago, doing so in dominating fashion, with a 34-0 triumph at Blue & Gold Stadium, on September 9. It was a hot, sticky, midsummer-like night as opposed to last year's frigidly cold November clash in New Fairfield, when the Rebels held Newtown to a season-low seven points.

Host Newtown scored early and often in the opener, building a 27-0 halftime lead. When all was said and done, Hunter Cobb had three touchdowns and Ben Mason a pair of scores.

Mason had scoring runs of 48 and 53 yards in the opening half, and Cobb reached paydirt on a 58 yard burst, and again with a scoop and score when he recovered a fumble and returned the ball 44 yards to the end zone in the first half. Cobb's 54-yard run in the second half capped the scoring.

Mark Hall and Jack Mulligan had interceptions as the defense stymied the Rebels all night long. Safeties Cobb and Hall were among Newtown's standouts on defense.

The offensive line of Seth Willis, Rolt McIntyre, Erik Benson, Steve Macejko, Derek Ivey, and Dan Mason gave Newtown quarterback Justin Dunn and the running backs time and space to do their thing.

"They commanded the game," Newtown Coach Steve George said. "Up front, we played really well. We pushed them off the ball."

Cobb had success in part because of the work of the line, but certainly earned his TDs.

"He did what I told him to do. He hit the seams," George said. "His hard work in the weight room in the offseason paid off."

Jack Miller also did well running the ball, making defenders miss, or work awfully hard to stop his progress.

"He's shifty, he's strong, he's hard to take down," George said of Miller.

The lopsided score might have caught some followers of the teams by surprise, but the Nighthawks expected to dominate, according to Cobb and George. And the Hawks didn't have revenge on their mind; as George pointed out the loss was last year.

"We just had so much confidence coming into this game," Cobb said.

Newtown's coach thought his team wasn't playing to its capability throughout the preseason, and that his group still has a long way to go.

"We really worked the kids the last seven or eight days to prepare for this game and we were ready for tonight," George said. "We know we have some good players on our team."