CIAC CLASS LL

QUARTERFINALS No. 8 NFA at No. 1 NEWTOWN

Location: Blue and Gold Stadium, Newtown Kickoff: 6:30 p.m. Records: NFA 7-3; Newtown 10-0.

Last game: NFA beat New London, 49-12, on Nov. 27; Newtown beat Masuk, 17-2, on Nov. 27

Top players: NFA, 6-1 168-pound senior receiver Andrew Cote (63 catches, 1,139 yards, 15 TDs), 5-9 150 pound outside linebacker sr. linebacker Nathan Cole (89 tackles), 5-11 155-pound so. quarterback Jayden Desilus (100-of-178 passing, 1,464 yards, 17 TDs, 8 INTs), 5-10 165-pound running back Xavier Fonvil (82 carries, 413 yards, 3 TDs), 6-1 190-pound senior receiver Nolan Molkenthin (38 catches, 465 yards, 1 TD) Newtown, 6-3, 225-pound sr. middle linebacker-fullback Jared Dunn (70 tackles, 7.5 sacks), 5-11 195 pound sr. quarterback Brandon Lombardo (63-of-101 passing, 896 yards, 13 TDs, 4 INTs), 6-1, 170-pound jr. Jack Street quarterback (54-of-98 passing, 732 yards, 7 TDs, 1 INT), 5-9 160 pound sr. receiver-defensive back Riley Ward (35 catches, 423 yards, 6 TDs), 5-10 175 pound sr. receiver-defensive back Jack Zingaro (22 catches, 335 yards, 2 TDs, 3 INTs)

Noteworthy: Newtown has won three CIAC titles (1981 Class M-I, 1990 Class M, 1992 Class M). The Wildcats hope to win the program's first CIAC championship. ... NFA is just the sixth three-loss team to qualify for the LL playoffs since the CIAC expanded to eight teams per division in 2010 . ... Newtown and the Wildcats have three common opponents via the Connecticut High School Football Alliance — Fairfield Prep, Shelton and West Haven. NFA lost to all three (Prep 33-28, Shelton 41-20, and West Haven, 27-13). The Nighthawks won all three (Prep 21-14, Shelton 34-24, and West Haven, 21-14) . ... Newtown has used a group effort to score rather than relying on a few players. It uses two quarterbacks, and no one has rushed for over 452 yards (leading rusher Miles Ricks was injured in the Week 5 win at Shelton and hasn't played since).