For the first time since 2017, the Danbury Hatters Football team defeated the Trumbull Eagles. Even though the game was played at Brookfield High School, Danbury students came to support their Hatters Football team as they moved to 4-1 against the Eagles by a 34-13 score. The Hatters were led by Artez Taft who caught two touchdowns from Patrick Rosetting and Jackson Ciccone. 

Fumbles derailed the Hatters offense in the first half, but they were able to rebound in the closing half to take charge of the game. Coach Augie Tieri said, “we talk a lot about fighting through adversity and after a few penalty calls we really came back and had a successful rest of the game.” 

Malachi Hopkins led all Danbury rushers with 24 carries for 133 yards, while Ciccone had 11 carries for 69 yards to go along with his 2 touchdown passes. DJ Donovan also ran for a touchdown to open the scoring up in the 4th. 

For the Hatters, it was not weird to play a home game outside of Danbury. “It’s really our second home, we worked here almost everyday in the off-season so it really didn’t feel that different.” said senior captain Kile Jackson. 

The Hatters will now face their biggest task thus far, the 5-0 Newtown Nighthawks at Blue and Gold Stadium. Tieri believes being competitive will make Danbury successful.

 “We want to be competitive and to be able to make a statement around the state.” 

The Hatters and Nighthawks haven’t met in a long time as they will play as part of the scheduling alliance with the FCIAC, SWC, SCC, CCC and ECC. Newtown currently is 5th in the Class LL standings and the GametimeCT football poll, while Danbury sits 9th in the LL standings, just one spot out of the playoffs. 

This will be a major test for the Hatters as they play Newtown, then return home to face off against the Darien Blue Wave the following week. Senior Captain Jordan Agosto says that the Hatters need to have a strong start, “We need to have a strong start and a better start than what we had against Trumbull” 

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. in Newtown.