Newtown High wins football championship on 7th anniversary of Sandy Hook massacre

In Newtown, Connecticut, December 14 is normally clouded with sadness. It’s the anniversary of the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary.

But this Saturday — the seventh anniversary of the tragedy — ended with jubilation because the Newtown High football team rallied in the final seconds to win the Class LL state championship.

Playing on a foggy field, the Newtown Nighthawks trailed Darien as the clock wound down, but quarterback Jack Street connected with receiver Riley Ward for a 36-yard pass to win the game 13-7, CNN affiliate WTIC reported.

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

Newtown last won a championship in 1992.

Newtown became a byword in the national discussion of gun violence after a 20-year-old man walked into Sandy Hook Elementary armed with several guns on December 14, 2012.

He shot and killed 26 people, including 20 students, before killing himself. Earlier in the day, he’d killed his mother.