By
G. MICHAEL GRAHAM
Fort
Thomas Matters Sports Reporter
CINCINNATI – Many point to one play as the
difference-maker in a tight win or loss.
But it’s actually a number of plays that
can change the outcome of a football game. The Newport Central Catholic
Thoroughbreds found that out in a tough 27-24 loss at the Cincinnati McNicholas
Rockets on Saturday. Rocket senior quarterback Austin Ernst completed the game-winning
touchdown pass with 47 seconds left.
McNicholas runs a lot of read-option plays
out of its spread formation. Ernst fakes a few handoffs to the running backs,
rolled right and found receiver Matt Curan for a 6-yard score and standout
kicker Pat DiSalvio added the extra-point.
The Thoroughbreds (1-1) could not make
anything happen out of their final possession as the Rockets escapted with a
win in their season-opener. NewCath won last year’s meeting 23-13 en route to
an 11-2 mark while the Rockets finished 2-8 after driving to the Ohio High
School Athletic Association Division III state semifinals in 2010. This marked
just the fifth loss for the Thoroughbreds since Eddie Eviston took over as head
coach in 2010.
“We knew they were going to do (the
read-option) and they do it well,”Eviston said. “They made plays when they
needed to make plays, and we didn’t. We just have to be mentally sharp on every
single play. We weren’t exactly.”
The Rockets showed a lot of balance out of
their attack. Ernst carried the ball 13 times for 78 yards and completed
13-of-24 passes for 187 yards to seven different receivers.
Dylan Hayes had another big game at
running back for the Thoroughbreds. He ran the ball 16 times for 95 yards with
two more touchdowns bringing his overall total to six touchdowns for the year.
“We tried to do what they gave us,”
Eviston said. “We made some adjustments and were able to move the ball better
in the second half. It’s tough early in the season to get a read on some of
these teams. We have to adjust on the fly and I think our kids did that well.”
NewCath quarterback Josh Cain completed
14-of-21 passes for 156 yards. Pete Collopy and Dan Ruwe had five receptions
each for 54 and 41 yards respectively.
Both teams had one turnover each. Mac
Franzen picked off a tipped pass from in the end zone for NewCath and ran the
ball out to the Thoroughbred 3 to thwart a Rocket scoring chance at the end of
the first half.
But
McNicholas scored seven crucial points off NewCath’s lone turnover. Kevin
McHale picked up a Thoroughbred fumble and ran it in from five yards out to put
the Rockets up 7-0. DiSalvio added a field goal a few minutes later to make it
10-0 McNicholas.
NewCath tied the game at 10 in the second
quarter. Cain found Collopy from 23 yards out with 10:38 left and John Caudill
hit a 15-yard field goal with 6:49 left.
The Rockets came out and took the lead to
start the third. Ernst scored on a 9-yard scamper.
But NewCath tied the game with 18 seconds
left in the third. Hayes scored from 20 yards out on a draw play. Cain
converted a 3rd-and-19 on a quarterback draw during the drive.
McNicholas came out in the fourth and took
the lead at 20-17 when DiSalvio hit a 19-yard field goal. But the Thoroughbreds
responded with a 10-play, 80-yard scoring drive. Hayes scored from five yards
out to put NewCath up 24-20 with 3:23 remaining in the game.
The Rockets covered 63 yards in six plays
on the game-winning drive. The first four plays covered at least 11 yards.
Overall, McNicholas had 18 first downs and
converted 4-of-10 on third down. NewCath had 15 first downs and converted on
3-of-10 opportunities.
NewCath travels to Campbell County (1-1)
on Friday for a 7 p.m. contest.
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