Newtown High School football team wins championship on anniversary of deadly shooting

by Marty Johnson - 12/14/19 10:30 PM ET

The Newtown (Ct.) High School football team won the Class LL state championship on Saturday, the 7th anniversary of 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary.

A last-second 36-yard touchdown pass lifted the Nighthawks to a 13-7 victory over Darien High School.

WOW! Holy crap. Newtown wins the CLASSS LL title 13-7 over Darien I’m the final play Jack Street hits Riley Ward for 36-yard TD #cthsfb

Newtown’s first state title since 1992 pic.twitter.com/BfSMc0rNIy

— Pete Paguaga (@PetePaguaga) December 14, 2019

“It was surreal,” Pete Paguaga, a senior producer at Hearst Connecticut Media told CNN. “It was a movie ending. I’m still searching for words to process what I saw.”

Twenty-six people, including 20 students were killed after a 20-year-old gunman walked into Sandy Hook Elementary armed with several guns and opened fire.

The tragedy sparked a nationwide debate on gun violence.

Tags Connecticut Newtown Sandy Hook massacre