Welcome back to SPB “Masterpiece” Theater, where tonight we recap Friday night’s Bunnell-Newtown game at Pomperaug.
The game, which was a critical piece in the ongoing SWC race, was won by Newtown 27-12 on the strength of a 107-yard, two touchdown rushing night from backup QB Dan Hebert (making his first start in place of injured senior Will Arndt) and a big-play Nighthawks defense that made four interceptions, forced a fumble, blocked a punt for a safety and stopped Bunnell on fourth down in several crucial situations.
Thanks to Hebert and the D, Newtown built 20-6 lead by the fourth quarter. But despite all of its setbacks, Bunnell gamely battled back, made a few big stops, forced a few turnovers and finally pulled within six points late in the game.
Its final two drives of the night, however, ended with pickoffs, the last leading to Newtown lineman and basketball forward Matt Datin‘s 74-yard interception return touchdown that iced the game with seconds left.
It was a somewhat sloppy game, with lots of turnovers and missed opportunities on both sides, but an exciting one with a quite wild finish.
So Newtown, which has suffered more season-ending injuries to senior starters than most teams, hangs in there at 5-1 in the SWC, keeping pace with Pomperaug (5-1) in the race for second place and CIAC Class LL playoffs.
Bunnell, meanwhile, dropped its second straight game and fell to 4-2. The Bulldogs are pretty much out of the SWC race, which isn’t too big a deal. They’re still kicking in Class L (just a few percentage points behind 5-1 New Canaan, actually). Long way to go. But for a team of mostly underclassmen, not bad.
This concludes the video features for the week. It’s on to Week 7!
Nice job on the video Sean. Thanks for taking the time to come up there cover another SWC game.
great game
Was Rory Noonan, Will Arndt, and Ryan Korth hurt for this game?