Southbury, CT — Newtown High School's football team bounced back from its first loss of the season with a 25-10 win at Pomperaug of Southbury in a chilly November 3 night. The Nighthawks fell behind 10-0 but battled back to tie the score at halftime, then recovered a fumble on the second half kickoff return and later went on to take the lead in the third quarter. After the Panthers scored on their opening drive, the Hawks buckled down defensively. Pomperaug was knocking on the door with first and goal but the Hawk D stood tall and, capped by an Andrew Grenier tackle for a loss, forced Pomperaug into a chip shot field goal of 21 yards. It was 10-0 after one quarter of play. In the second, a long completion by quarterback Jayden Cordova to Emmet Regan set up J.J. Haddick's 13-yard rushing touchdown. A 23-yard Will McManus field goal evened the score with 37 seconds left in the opening half. Brady Macey had an interception just before the break. Kieran Garrity recovered a fumble on Pomperaug's second-half kick return, just eight seconds into the third quarter, giving the Hawks the ball at the home team's 40. Newtown did not score on this possession but had set the tone for the remainder of the game. Jayden Taylor had a key third down reception to move the chains and followed that up with a 47-yard catch and run for a score, giving the Hawks the lead with exactly four minutes to play in the third quarter. Back on defense, Grenier had a one-handed tackle in the open field and, on the next play, Aydyn Gonzalez intercepted a deflected pass and returned the ball 40 or so yards along the left sideline for another TD. The extra point was blocked but NHS had a 23-10 lead with 2:06 left in the stanza. Newtown lost Cordova to an injury late in the third and Ryan Schoffstall took over under center. In the fourth, Justyn Gonzalez made a tremendous diving effort for an interception and got credited with the pickoff. Later, a quarterback sack by Evan Nikolis set up a combo sack by Jackson Chacon and Dylan Macey in the end zone for a safety to conclude the scoring. Read more about the win in the November 10 print edition of The Bee. https://www.newtownbee.com/11032023/back-in-the-win-column-defense-digs-in-for-hawk-gridders/