By
G. MICHAEL GRAHAM
Fort
Thomas Matters Sports Reporter
NEWPORT – The Newport Central Catholic
Thoroughbreds football team is getting healthier and that turned into better
play Saturday.
But NewCath still made a number of
mistakes and that led to a 28-20 loss to the 5-0 Simon Kenton Pioneers in the
home opener at Newport Stadium. The Thoroughbreds dropped their third straight
falling to 1-3, including a 1-2 mark against opponents from Class 6A, District
6.
The Thoroughbreds had their chances. But
they made more mistakes than Simon Kenton, especially down the stretch.
“They (Pioneers) made plays when they
needed to,” said Eddie Eviston, NewCath head coach. “We kept fighting, but
could not make the plays when we needed to. We have to learn to be consistent. We
need to play every play like it’s our last. If we continue to do that, we might
be alright.”
NewCath took the ball down eight with 9:40
left from its own 38 and converted several third-down plays on a 16-play drive.
But the biggest mistake of the game came on that final play. On 4th-and-2 from
the Pioneer 5, the Thoroughbreds mishandled the snap and the Pioneers recovered
with 1:23 left in the game. That marked the game’s lone turnover.
The Pioneers ran out the clock in four
plays after that point. Pioneer running back Andrew Sampson broke free for a
35-yard run before quarterback Brennan Kuntz knelt twice in Simon Kenton’s
victory formation.
Mistakes in pass coverage and penalties
mostly led to the defeat. NewCath had 10 penalties for 85 yards and Simon Kenton
had eight for 56 yards.
Kuntz completed 17-of-30 passes for 241
yards and three touchdowns of at least 21 yards. His first touchdown pass came
from 38 yards out to Sampson with 7:37 left in the second quarter to pull Simon
Kenton within eight at 14-6. After a Sampson 8-yard run cut the lead to 14-12
with 5:16 left in the half, Kuntz found Lars McEntyre wide-open on a post route
with 53.6 seconds left to give the Pioneers the lead for good at 18-14 at
halftime.
Kuntz’ final touchdown came with 1:42 left
in the third. Kuntz broke free from NewCath pressure and found Jacob Huesman
for a 52-yard score as the Thoroughbreds could not get back in time on the
scramble. That made the final score of 28-20.
Simon Kenton outgained NewCath, 346-304 in
total offense. The Pioneers also had 19 first downs to 12 for the
Thoroughbreds.
The Pioneers did gain just 105 yards
rushing on 28 carries for an average of 3.75 per carry. The Thoroughbreds did
much better against the run than in the 42-16 loss at Campbell County on Aug.
31 thanks to the return of players like linebackers Brady Thacker and Jack
Sutkamp to their natural positions. The Camels ran for 302 yards on 42 rushes
for an average of 7.2 a touch.
“We’ve been waiting for these guys to get
back,” Eviston said. “For the most part, some of them were rusty. But some of
them played well. It’s good to have them on the field.”
On the offensive side of the ball, running
back Dylan Hayes had 138 yards on 17 carries for an average of just more than
8.1 a carry and one touchdown. Quarterback Josh Cain also had a big game
completing 15-of-24 passes for 188 yards and two touchdowns, including six to
Mac Franzen for 138 yards.
NewCath jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the
second quarter. Cain completed a 13-yard pass to Pete Collopy just 1:51 into
the game. Cain completed a 58-yard pass to Franzen to set up the score.
The Thoroughbreds went up 14-0 with 10:28
left in the second when Cain found Tyler Lyon from 11 yards out. That capped an
eight-play drive that Hayes set up with a 68-yard scamper down the right
sideline from the Thoroughbred 6.
NewCath cut the margin to 21-20 with 4:35
left in the third when Hayes scored from a yard out. He ran for 28 yards on the
six-play drive. Cain also completed a 43-yard bomb to Franzen on the play. But
NewCath did not convert the two-point run because of a bad snap.
“We were out of position (on NewCath’s
long pass plays),” said Jeff Marksberry, Simon Kenton head coach. “Our safety
came up and bit on something. We told our secondary to over the top and not let
anything get behind them.”
The Thoroughbreds travel to Alexandria to
battle Bishop Brossart to open Class 2A, District 6 action Friday at 7 p.m.
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