Story Matters

Story Matters

THE Official HHS Football Site

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

NewCath hopes to bounce back against Campbell County

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM
Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter
A common trait of the Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds is their ability to pick themselves up after a loss.
The proud football team finds itself in this situation when it heads to Alexandria on Friday for another non-district clash with the Campbell County Camels of Class 6A, District 6. Both teams are 1-1 overall.
The Thoroughbreds have not lost consecutive games since Eddie Eviston took over as head coach in 2010. NewCath is 25-5 during that time and 137-35 since the start of 2000. The Thoroughbreds came into 2012 tied for fifth in Kentucky with Louisville St. Xavier with 136 wins since 2000.
The last time they did lose consecutive games was Sept. 18 and 26, 2009 when Campbell County and Covington Catholic handed them 21-17 and 28-14 defeats respectively. Campbell County has been on NewCath’s schedule since 2007 and that was the Camels’ lone win in five games in the series.
The Thoroughbreds will face a team on the rise. The Camels finished 4-8 last year, starting off 0-5, but bounced back to go 3-1 in Class 6A, District 6 action to win their first district championship in 31 years. They lost at home to Lexington Lafayette, 20-7 in the second round of the playoffs.
Dual-threat quarterback Tyler Durham is a big reason for that turnaround. Durham ran for 217 yards and three touchdowns and threw for 140 yards and one touchdown in Campbell County’s 34-14 win at Milford (Ohio) on Friday.
The Camels moved Durham to quarterback from running back last year. The 6-foot-4-inch, 215-pound senior ran for 1,588 yards and 19 touchdowns last year. The Camels employ a shotgun offense with a running back in the backfield.
“We have to get all 11 players on defense to the ball,” said Jake Haas, NewCath offensive and defensive lineman. “Our defensive ends are working hard this week to contain (Durham) on the outside. We have to wrap him up.”
Newport Central Catholic’s 4-4 defense had problems with the read-option attack in the 27-24 loss to Cincinnati McNicholas on Saturday. The Rockets gained 336 yards on 51 plays using one and two running backs in the backfield.
Quarterback Austin Ernst rushed for 78 yards on 13 carries and completed 13-of-24 passes for 187 yards. Ernst led the Rockets down the field in six plays 63 yards completing the game-winning touchdown pass to Matt Curran with 47 seconds left in the game from six yards out.
NewCath is trying different players at different positions trying to find the right combinations. Linebacker Pete Collopy led the Thoroughbreds with five tackles in the loss Saturday.
“It’s still early in the season,” Eviston said. “We’ve had injuries and other things go on. That’s always going to continue to happen, especially for a school our size. We have to continue to do that to put guys in the right spots to make sure we’re successful.”
NewCath does not have to worry about that at the running back spot. Senior Dylan Hayes has 233 yards on 39 carries for an average of just less than six per touch to go with five touchdowns. He has six overall.
The Thoroughbreds would love to get things going in the passing game, especially in the deep routes, out of their spread attack. Quarterback Josh Cain threw for 156 yards completing 14-of-21 passes, including a 23-yard strike to Collopy. Cain has completed 30-of-45 passes for 278 yards on the season.
“Dylan (Hayes) has proven he’s a solid runner,”Eviston said. “We need to open things up for him in the passing game. Josh (Cain) can do that. He continues to make good reads and get the ball to our athletes.”
Campbell County employs a 3-3 stacked defense that allowed an average of 24.2 points per game year. Covington Catholic standout quarterback Blake Bir 22-of-35 passes for 295 yards and three touchdowns in the Colonels’ 37-0 win over the Camels on Aug. 17.
Game time is 7 p.m. at Bob Miller Stadium in Alexandria.
NewCath, McNicholas highlights

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