Football: Homecoming game gets away

Written by Brian Brennan
Thursday, 29 October 2009 11:01

Rain was not the only thing to put a damper on the Weston High football team’s homecoming game.

The Trojans had to play in some wet weather when they hosted Newtown last Saturday, Oct. 24. Although things appeared to go their way in the first half, the tide turned against them in the second as the Nighthawks scored three touchdowns for a 21-17 win.

“I realize the kids are giving me everything they’ve got and any coach would be happy with that,” Weston head coach Joe Lato said. “I really liked our execution on some of the plays but in the second half we just couldn’t make a play. Whether it was an open receiver or making a wrong cut or not catching a break on a couple big plays, we just didn’t execute.”

In the first quarter Weston won the coin toss but that did not help the score as it was forced to punt on a three and out situation. Newtown then marched down the field but Eddie Hutchins intercepted an errant pass by Newtown quarterback John Fracker to regain possession for the Trojans.

Robbie Cordisco led the Weston on a six-play, 62-yard drive, culminating in a 15-yard touchdown pass to classmate Ryan Farrell to give the Trojans a 7-0 advantage with 4:21 to go in the first quarter.

Following a Newtown three and out, Weston used the pass combination of Cordisco to Charlie Smith to get into position for another score. The senior quarterback completed passes of 28 and 38 yards to Smith on the drive, including a trick play in which Joey Falci took the snap, flipped the ball to Hutchins running from the right, who then in turn flipped to Cordisco coming to the left. Cordisco then threw the ball to a wide-open Smith at the six-yard line. On the ensuing play Hutchins ran in for Weston’s second score of the game to extend the lead to 14-0 with 30.4 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

In the second quarter with a steady rain now falling, both teams struggled to get points on the board. However, Weston caught a break as the quarter came to an end. Jack Crowell’s punt was touched by a Newtown receiver and recovered by Smith at the six-yard line. Weston settled for a Cordisco field goal to give them an unexpected 17-0 halftime lead.

With the rain turning into a torrential downpour, the Nighthawks took advantage and needed only 2:57 to get back into the game. A nine-play 55-yard drive was capped off by a touchdown from Fracker to Sean Devaney to cut the lead to 10. On Newtown’s ensuing possession, Fracker used his legs to bring the Nighthawks even closer. A 16-yard touchdown scamper by the senior quarterback made it a three-point game with only 16 seconds to go in the third quarter.

Weston’s first drive of the fourth quarter featured two crucial penalties and ultimately ended with an interception. With momentum clearly on the Nighthawks’ side, they marched down the field and took the lead on an eight-yard pass from Fracker to Ryan Korth.

Following back-to-back three and outs, Weston had the ball with 3:23 left and a chance to win the game. Cordisco made one last big play converting on fourth down to Ryan Farrell. However, once again a turnover ended the drive and sent Weston its fourth consecutive loss.

This week the Trojans will travel to Danbury to take on Immaculate at 1 p.m. on Saturday.