Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter
The Newport
Central Catholic Thoroughbreds football team felt like another one got away
last week in a 12-7 loss at Covington Holmes.
The
Thoroughbreds said part of the reason was a bad week of practice. The Thoroughbreds
may be 2-4 overall. But they are still 1-0 in Class 2A, District 6 action and
face the Lloyd Memorial Juggernauts on Saturday in a crucial district contest.
“I think our kids understand we need to practice
better if we want to play better on Fridays,” said Eddie Eviston, NewCath head coach. “Our kids are responding right now. Obviously, things start to get real
in district play. We hope our kids respond on Saturday afternoon.”
The
Juggernauts come into the contest at 6-1 overall and 2-0 in district play.
Lloyd Memorial has wins over Owen County, Dayton, Walton-Verona and Gallatin
County and has lost to Garrard County in non-district action. The Juggernauts
edged defending state champion Covington Holy Cross, 36-35 on Sept. 21 before
beating Bishop Brossart, 28-0 last week in district action.
Of those
seven opponents, only two are not in Class 2A in Dayton (1A) and Garrard County
(3A) and only Walton-Verona (4-2 overall) and Gallatin County (5-2) have
winning records. Those seven opponents have a combined record of 19-25. Lloyd
Memorial has outscored those opponents, 228-145 for an average of about
32.6-20.7.
Bishop
Brossart is the only common opponent between the two teams. NewCath beat the
Mustangs, 58-0 on Sept. 21.
Aside from
Bishop Brossart, the Thoroughbreds have played teams in bigger classes in
Kentucky and Ohio. They’ve faced three 6A opponents, one 4A opponent and one
from Ohio’s third-largest Division III.
NewCath has
still outscored the opposition, 162-131 for an average of 27-21.8. NewCath’s
six opponents are a combined 18-13 outside of Bishop Brossart’s 1-5 mark.
Lloyd
Memorial will bring a spread offense attack against NewCath’s 4-4 scheme led by
senior quarterback Dexter Smith and senior wide receiver Akintomide Mejolagbe.
Smith leads the team with 576 yards rushing on 102 carries and 12 touchdowns for
an average of just more than 5.6 a carry.
“He has good instincts,” Eviston said of Smith. “He’s the one that makes their team go, especially on the offensive
side. Obviously, he’s someone who is circled on our scouting report. We know we
have to contain him as much as possible.”
Smith has
also completed 84-of-164 passes for 1,423 yards, 11 touchdowns and just three
interceptions. Mejolagbe leads the Juggernauts with 31 receptions for 693 yards
and four touchdowns.
The
Thoroughbreds have battled through injuries on defense. Players like junior linebacker
Jack Sutkamp have recently returned.
Defensively,
Lloyd Memorial brings a 3-4 scheme against NewCath’s spread formation. Dillon
Smith leads the Juggernauts with 20 tackles. Hayden Molitor has four interceptions
and Zach Riddle two fumble recoveries for the Juggernauts.
On the
other side, junior Ross Meek leads NewCath with 41 tackles. Also for the
Thorughbreds, Mac Franzen has two interceptions and Mason Myers has two fumble
recoveries.
Offensively,
NewCath has outgained opponents, 2,003-1,738 in total offense for an average of
333.8-289.7. Dylan Hayes leads NewCath with 592 yards on 93 carries with eight
touchdowns for an average of about 6.4 a touch even though defenses have keyed
on him like crazy. Quarterback Josh Cain has completed 83-of-143 passes for
1,077 yards, nine touchdowns and four interceptions. Franzen leads NewCath with
27 catches for 536 yards and three touchdowns.
“I think we’ve had a great week of practice,” Sutkamp said. “We’ve
been working extra hard this week. Practices have been longer. We have to
cleaning up to do offensively and I think we’ll be fine.”
Game time
is 1 p.m. at Newport Stadium.
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