Bobcats Fall to Newtown in Season Opener

Facing the Bobcats for the first time since the 2008 South-West Conference championship game — in which Brookfield steamrolled its way to a 28-7 victory — Newtown again proved its legitimacy as one of the area's top teams as it shook off an early deficit and rode a strong debut from senior quarterback Will Arndt.

Arndt, a first-year starter, threw one touchdown and ran for another, helping the Nighthawks move to 1-0 on the season with a 21-13 win over Brookfield at Pomperaug High School.

"The thing I've been trying to hammer into (Arndt) the entire offseason is just don't make mistakes and let your playmakers make plays and that's what he did tonight," Newtown head coach Steve George said. "No turnovers, that's a pretty good margin right there and I think that's what won the game ultimately."

The Bobcats turned the ball over only once, but it ended up costing them seven points. With the Nighthawks leading 14-7 with 7:30 remaining in the fourth quarter, Eric McCabe recovered a muffed punt at Brookfield's 19-yard line. On the next play from scrimmage, Newtown running back Lou Fenaroli took a handoff and burst through the grasp of a would-be tackler and into the endzone.

"It was a great game. Newtown is picked to be everyone's favorite," Brookfield head coach Rich Angarano said. "I think Newtown knew they were in a football game, that's for sure. We made too many mistakes."

Some of those miscues included penalties, which haunted the Bobcats on their final drive. Trailing 21-13 with 4:05 left and the ball on the Newtown 47-yard line following a poor punt, Brookfield was whistled for holding and intentional grounding on its first two plays.

Although a roughing-the-passer penalty on 2nd down kept Brookfield's drive alive momentarily, the Nighthawks' defense stood tall and forced a turnover-on-downs to seal the victory.

"That's an exciting first game. I don't even know if I planned it to go out like that," Newtown linebacker, fullback Max Nacewicz said. "We definitely came out flat, but at halftime we said, 'You know what, this half's ours.'"

Brookfield jumped ahead 7-0 with 4:56 left in the first quarter, as running back Leaon Gordon (11 carries, 89 yards) scampered 34 yards into the endzone for the first of his two rushing touchdowns.

Aside from the early score, the Nighthawks' defense bent at times — Brookfield quarterback Brian Kelly also rushed for 57 yards to form a potent ground duo with Gordon — but it did not break. The Bobcats didn't score again until 5:15 left in the fourth quarter on a 30-yard touchdown run by Gordon.

"Rushing the ball, I think we did well," Angarano said. "We didn't finish a lot of things though."

The Bobcats stifiled Newtown's offense early — they allowed just one first down in the first quarter — but the Nighthawks made adjustments and neutralized the attack.

"We started throwing first down a little bit more because they were sending pressure a lot early and shutting down our run game on first down, so then we were in 2nd and 3rd and long," George said.

Newtown was held scoreless until 28 seconds left in the first half, when Arndt scored from four yards out on a quarterback draw, capping off a 66-yard drive.

With their adjustments in hand, the Nighthawks took the lead on their first possession following halftime. Two plays after Arndt (17 of 25, 208 yards, two total TD) converted a 4th and 1 from Newtown's 49-yard line on a quarterback sneak, he connected on a 17-yard screen pass for a touchdown.

Dan Hebert led Newtown with 67 yards on three catches, while Sean Devaney (54 yards) and Rory Noonan (26 yards) each had four receptions.

"It's definitely a big win. To start the season strong is always a good thing to do," Arndt said. "It's definitely a big confidence boost."