NEWTOWN — Amazing isn't it? Newtown's Joe DeVellis has terrorized the SWC for more than three years, yet he still gets an earful of short jokes from opposing players on game night.

"I've heard 'em all," the 5-foot-7 DeVellis said. "It's kinda funny. A few weeks ago, the Brookfield kids were saying, 'Man, you look a lot bigger on film. Aren't you a little short to be out here?

"I also get, 'Hey, the middle school is down the street. Why don't you go back there?'"

Luckily, DeVellis has a quick enough wit to respond. And he does respond.

A lot. "I'll be the first one to tell you, I talk just as much," he said. "I try to have fun with it. I try to spin it back any way I can."

But for DeVellis, the greatest satisfaction comes from catching a touchdown pass against chatty defensive backs, or denying them to imposing receivers.

"They'll talk, then I catch a ball and it'll quiet them for a second," said DeVellis, a four-year starter for the Nighthawks. "It's a great feeling."

Still, there's one thing DeVellis doesn't have an answer for yet.

While he and the Nighthawks have been solid over the years, they have constantly fallen short of being a top-notch contender in the SWC.

"The last three years, we've had players, we've been right there, but we always seemed to lose to someone we shouldn't have," DeVellis said.

"This year, especially the seniors, we've all said we don't want to look back on that we could have done this, or could have done that."

They

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will get their chance tonight when Newtown, which is 3-0 for the first time in 11 seasons, hosts 3-0 Bunnell at Blue and Gold Stadium in a game coach Ken Roberts calls the school's "biggest in 10 years."

And they'll be pinning most of their chances on one of the smallest players on the field.

"Yeah, he's a little short, and he doesn't look like a football player," Roberts said of his senior captain.

"Basically, the thing that makes him the player that he is in football is he's very intelligent and very confident. He knows where he should be and he gets there. He's an athlete."

DeVellis has scored 11 touchdowns as a receiver, tailback and punt returner in his career, including nine his junior season. Yet, Roberts admits he hasn't unleashed his best player in 2006. DeVellis has scored just twice, once on a 90-yard punt return.

Then again, Newtown has found plenty of offensive production elsewhere in backs Chris Potter and Tyler Tarantino, receiver Bob Lapple, quarterback Tucker Kass and of course DeVellis' sophomore brother, Jake, who has seen time at quarterback as well as tailback.

But Roberts said it's only a matter of time before Joe DeVellis gets going.

"We're definitely going to get him the ball Friday night," Roberts said. "And wherever the ball is, Joe's going to be there."

Adding more incentive, Newtown is 0-6-1 against Bunnell since Roberts has been coach. The two teams tied in 2004. Last season, DeVellis tied up Bunnell's Dwight Franklin and held the 6-foot-4 all-state receiver to just two catches.

But he had his own touchdown catch called back on a penalty and Newtown lost 21-18.

"We're very excited to have another shot against them at home again," DeVellis said. "Whatever happened last year is in the past.

"Last week, beating Bethel was a big win to set this up. We're definitely excited to have a chance to play a big game. We're here to prove that we're for real."

Bunnell at Newtown

WHEN — Tonight, 7

WHERE — Blue and Gold Stadium

RECORDS — Bunnell 3-0, Newtown 3-0

LAST YEAR — Bunnell 21-18

PLAYERS TO WATCH — Bunnell: Sr. QB/FS Steve Smith (6 rush TDs, 7 pass TDs); Sr. WR/DB Davon Polite; Sr. WR Michael Easley. Newtown: Sr. WR/FS Joe DeVellis; Sr. OT/DE Kevin Regan (3.5 sacks); Sr. RB/CB Chris Potter.

OUTLOOK — Two of the SWC's most explosive offenses figure to set off more fireworks in this pivotal game. Newtown averages 31 points a game. Bunnell averages 34. That means this game comes down to which defense breaks first.

— SEAN PATRICK BOWLEY