POMPERAUG FOOTBALL
NEWS

Newtown regains old form
By Ray Curren
SPECIAL TO THE NEWS-TIMES

SOUTHBURY Welcome back, Newtown High. You've been missed, except
by your rivals in the South-West Conference.

The Night-hawks, coming of a 3-7 campaign in 1999, announced loud and clear last night that
they are back in the SWC hunt with a systematic 39-16 execution of host Pomperaug,
a game that was 32-0 in favor of Newtown (5-1) late in the third quarter.

"In all honesty, we are just very focused right now," Newtown coach Ken Roberts said.
"I have the greatest group of senior captains I've ever had and we just keep getting better every week."

It was Newtown's defense that set the tone, dismantling Pomperaug's high-powered
offensive attack in the first half. Senior Kevin Fraser, who had more than 200 yards and
four touchdowns last week against Foran, had just 20 yards on six carries at the intermission.

Things were even tougher for Panther quarterback Joe Pugh, who was sacked four times
by four different Nighthawks. In all, Pomperaug (4-2) managed only 49 total yards and zero
points in the first half, and trailed 16-0.

"Whistle to whistle, they did a great job," Pomperaug coach Chuck Drury
said. "They made the plays and they just beat us."

Perhaps the biggest play in the game took place with three minutes still remaining
in a scoreless opening quarter. On a 3rd-and-26 from its own 31, Newtown
called a halfback option pass. The Panthers weren't fooled, but senior Nick Savino reached
up between two defenders to grab a pivotal 36-yard completion. Quarterback Rich Petretti
found Savino six plays later on 14-yard touchdown pass, and Newtown was off to the races.

"I think the turning point was when they completed the halfback pass on 3rd-and-a zillion,"
Drury said. "That was a big play."

Pomperaug's defense was still playing well, but Newtown used its special teams
for its next score. Savino took a punt on a bounce, made one cut to the outside and
went 81 yards for the touchdown.

The Nighthawks don't have a true kicker, so Petretti found Adam Hayden on the
conversion to make it 16-0. The Panthers got to the Newtown 31 late in the half,
but a sack by Andrew Dutton on a fourth-down flanker pass attempt stopped the drive.

Hayden, who carried the ball only four times in the first half and none since midway
through the first quarter, stopped any hopes of a Pomperaug comeback midway
through the third quarter.

First, Hayden bounced off several would-be tacklers and raced 48 yards for 1his
first touchdown. Eighty-two seconds later, Hayden raced down the left sideline again
for a 68-yard score and ran in the conversion. Suddenly, Newtown on the road
was up 32-0 with 3:10 to go in the third quarter.

For the contest, Hayden finished with 195 yards on just 16 carries, three touchdowns
and two conversions. Not a bad night for someone who spent most of the first half blocking.

"We expected what they did for the most part," Drury said. "Hayden got the ball more than
we had seen on film, but they were still running the same offense. We just couldn't stop them."

Said Roberts: "We don't have any stars on this team. We're going to use what is working
that day. We have a lot of weapons, and we'll use them all."

Newtown 8-8-6-7--39

Pomperaug 0-0-8-8--16

FIRST QUARTER

N Nick Savino 14 pass from Rich Petretti (Petreti run), 0:55

SECOND QUARTER

N Savino 81 punt return (Adam Hayden pass from Petretti), 8:31

THIRD QUARTER

N Hayden 48 run (Kevin Woesner pass from Petretti), 4:32

N Hayden 68 run (Hayden run), 3:10

P Joe Pugh 20 run (Robert Kulish pass from Pugh), 0:59

FOURTH QUARTER

N Hayden 4 run (Ross Coates kick), 5:44

P Andrew Robinson 4 run (Robinson run), 2:44

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

NEWTOWN: Hayden 16-195, Kyle Tobin 14-53, Petretti 3-10, Shawn Gleason 1-10, Sean Speer 2-4, Jon Werbeck 3-(-2), Matt Saunders 1-1, Kyle Nowak 1-3, Tom Ryan 1-3. TOTALS 42-277;

POMPERAUG: Kevin Fraser 11-56, Pugh 12-19, James Cangelosi 6-27, Keith Shalvoy 7-36, Bryan Shalvoy 3-24, Robinson 2-10, Robert Kulish 2-(-5). TOTALS 43-167.

PASSING

NEWTOWN: Petretti 2-4-0-16, Hayden 1-2-0-36. TOTALS 3-6-0-52.

POMPERAUG: Pugh 3-8-1-19.

RECEIVING

NEWTOWN: Savino 2-50, Matt McCarthy 1-4;

POMPERAUG: K. Shalvoy 1-10, Andrew Gollenburg 1-7, Kulish 1-2.