Newtown’s Jeffery Garrity (12) races downfield for a big gain in the football game against Danbury on Friday night at Newtown High School. No. 5 Newtown won 35-13.
H John Voorhees III / Hearst Connecticut Media
NEWTOWN — One team had been in these games, and the other not so much.
And that played out over and over under the lights in the Hawks Nest.
No. 5 Newtown displayed composure for four quarters, eventually wearing out upstart Danbury 35-13 in a SWC-FCIAC matchup Friday. Jeff Garrity, Jared Dunn and Jack Street all scored rushing touchdowns for the No. 5 Nighthawks, who are closing in on a playoff spot at 6-0. Street and Brandon Lombardo each threw TD strikes for Newtown.
It was another day at the office for the Nighthawks, who are used to competing against quality opposition. Newtown won its 16th straight game in the regular season, many of which have come against out-of-conference opposition.
Lombardo hits Jared Dunn, who makes the catch in double coverage — then says hello! — and Newtown leads Danbury 28-0’with 8 min left.
We are, of course, “dunn” here. #cthsfb pic.twitter.com/9dFGYOAHHU
— Sean Patrick Bowley (@SPBowley) October 26, 2019
“Especially this year with the out-of-conference schedule,” said Newtown senior James Knox, who blocked a punt. “I’m very glad and I believe the team is very glad that we play so many tough teams so far. For the guys who didn’t have experience, it’s given them tremendous experience and its built upon some lessons we learned last year.”
WEEK 7 HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL SCOREBOARD
Newtown grinded against a quick, athletic Danbury squad, steadily building their lead throughout. A blocked punt in the second quarter led to a short touchdown by Dunn, which made the game 14-0. It felt even larger when the Nighthawks defense got stops when required.
“We knew what we had to do coming into this game,” said Newtown’s Jack Mulligan, who had an interception on defense. “We had the bye week to prepare for them. We watched a lot of film, going through practice. … Their speed is obviously unbelievable and we had to stop them from getting to the edge.”
Newtown LB Jack Mulligan, who was all over the field and had a key pick in the 3rd Q to set up a TD, on No. 5 Newtown’s 35-13 win over Danbury #cthsfb pic.twitter.com/aAXy6uZAr9
— Sean Patrick Bowley (@SPBowley) October 26, 2019
The lone blemish for the Nighthawks was a pair of fumbles heading into the end zone that could have made the margin of victory even greater, but that was all that slowed the undefeated hosts.
It was just 14-0 at the break however as Danbury held tough. Mistakes plagued the Hatters (4-2) early, too. Key penalties negated big plays or allowed Newtown drives to extend, which stifled any momentum or possibilities of an upset.
Newtown blocks this Danbury punt, seemingly for a Will Swierbut TD. But the TD is called back on a penalty.
No matter, Newtown scores on a short Dunn TD run a few plays later. 14-0 Hawks, mid 2 #cthsfb pic.twitter.com/xL4uICJaI0— Sean Patrick Bowley (@SPBowley) October 25, 2019
“Of course it’s frustrating and last week we had some of the same issues and we were able to overcome it,” Danbury coach Augustine Tieri said.
“Against a team like this, it’s not going to happen. We recovered two fumbles on the 1-yard line and obviously it’s tough to battle out of there. But you have to be able to capitalized. … we liked our matches and had 1-on-1 matchups with guys we felt like we could win with unfortunately we couldn’t capitalize.”
Jack Street to Riley Ward on 1st play from scrimmage after a Danbury onside kick. 35-7 Hawks late #cthsfb pic.twitter.com/mEus4a4y45
— Sean Patrick Bowley (@SPBowley) October 26, 2019
Dunn added a touchdown catch in the corner on a fine effort to make it 28-0. In a reminder of what the future holds for the visitors amidst a difficult evening, sophomore Jackson Ciccone tossed touchdowns in the fourth quarter — to Xavier Ross and Artez Taft — for the Hatters.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Jeff Garrity, Newtown: The running back set the tone on the ground early and often. Stepped up in the absence of Miles Ricks.
Mulligan’s pick leads to this Garrity TD. 21-0 Newtown over Danbury just over 4 left, 3rd #cthsfb pic.twitter.com/eJq84W5c2u
— Sean Patrick Bowley (@SPBowley) October 26, 2019
QUOTABLE
“You’re looking at a Newtown team that has a lot of veterans,” Tieri said. “Those guys have been in playoff games and certainly played at that level, but our young guys have a lot of poise and the ability to play in these games. There’s a lot of lessons to be learned here as a program from a loss like this. Knowing my kids they’re going to use this at motivation.”
“For the kids the understand that they’ll be playing in big games and every game is going to be tough. That’s the good side of it,” Newtown coach Bobby Pattinson said. “The downside of playing quality opponents every week is that you start beating each other up a lot and you start to get nicked up.”
NEWTOWN 35, DANBURY 13
DANBURY 0 0 0 13 — 13
NEWTOWN 7 7 7 14 — 35
N—Jack Street 16 run (Devin O’Connell kick)
N—Jared Dunn 5 run (O’Connell kick)
N—Jeff Garrity 3 run (O’Connell kick)
N—Jared Dunn 17 pass from Brandon Lombardo (O’Connell kick)
D—Xavier Ross 17 pass from Jackson Ciccone (kick)
N—Riley Ward 53 pass from Steet (O’Connell kick)
D—Artez Taft 22 pass from Ciccone (pass failed)
