Magazu carries Newtown past New Milford
NEW MILFORD — The fourth-ranked Newtown football team didn’t let a looming showdown with No. 1 Darien next week get in the way of its task at hand Friday night.
The Nighthawks were all business, improving to 2-0 with relative ease in a 34-7 victory over New Milford.
Newtown, which defeated Darien in the 2019 Class LL state championship game, has won 15 straight games.
This new group of Nighthawks is trending toward another dominant season in the South-West Conference, but with high expectations there is little contentment.
“Our start has been good, not great,” Newtown junior quarterback Dylan Magazu said. “Those were expected wins, but we can improve though. Always can be better.”
Magazu ran all over the Green Wave, rushing into the end zone three times while also completing a touchdown pass to help Newtown claim ‘The Boot’ awarded annually to the winner of the rivalry game.
Magazu totaled 115 rushing yards on six carries, while completing 10 of 14 pass attempts for 133 yards with no interceptions.
“Dylan has done a great job,” Pattison said. “He has had to improvise at times and we saw what he can do when he takes off and runs. He had a great game and he was a difference maker for us with some big plays.”
Defensively, Mark Sokk intercepted two of Newtown’s three interceptions, the first of which set up Magazu’s 28 yard rushing touchdown to open the scoring within the first 3 minutes.
“The defense is playing well, they created some turnovers,” Pattison said. “Mark Sokk had two so he had a very good game all over the field for us. We scored that first one off a pick, points off turnovers are huge.”
Newtown extended its lead to 14-0 in the first quarter when Magazu connected with Matt Jacobs on a slant for a 51-yard touchdown.
Magazu found the end zone with his legs for a second time with 7:58 remaining in the half.
Andrew Jacobs matched his brother Mark with a touchdown of his own on a 4-yard touchdown to put Newtown ahead 27-0 at halftime.
Magazu rushed 61 yards for his final touchdown early in the third quarter, extending the lead to 34-0.
“I feel pretty good with this group of guys surrounding me,” Magazu said. “We are going to get in some good practices this week and get ready for Darien.”
Having outscored Pomperaug and New Milford 76-24, the No. 4 ranked team in the state knows it has more work to do to replicate its recent success.
“We have spurts where we play really well, and we have spurts where we need to improve,” Pattison said. “In week one we had some turnovers and timely penalties. This week there were times where we were in the red zone and we came away with nothing, and that can’t happen.”
New Milford’s lone score came on a 10 yard rush by quarterback Reese Vanek with 9:02 left in the game. New Milford falls to 1-1 after defeating Stratford 49-28 in week 1.
“I saw that we still have a ways to go,” New Milford coach Sean Murray said. “But I also saw that we have a lot of heart. Our kids play hard and never quit, but if we want to get to the next level we have to keep working hard.”
PLAYER OF THE GAME Dylan Magazu, Newtown Jr. QB:
Magazu scored three rushing touchdowns (28 yards, 31 yards and 61 yards) and had a 49 yard passing touchdown. He totaled 115 rushing yards on six carries while completing 10 of 14 pass attempts for 133 yards with no interceptions.
QUOTABLE
“Our start has been good not great. Those were expected wins, but we can improve though. Always can be better.”—Dylan Magazu, Newtown QB