NewCath snaps four-game slide

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

NEWPORT – That familiar, good feeling of the thrill of victory found its way back to the Hill on Friday.

The Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds played tough defense the entire game before their offense finished off drives in the second half to beat the visiting Lloyd Memorial Juggernauts, 22-7 in the Class 2A, District 6 opener for both teams. The victory snapped a four-game losing streak for the defending 2A state champions. The Thoroughbreds have won 16 in a row over the Juggernauts dating back to 1991 and lead the all-time series, 31-6.

Simon Kenton handles NewCath, 30-7

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matter Sports Reporter

INDEPENDENCE – The Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds needed to control the line of scrimmage in order to have a chance Friday.

Instead, the host Simon Kenton Pioneers did that in a 30-7 non-district victory here. The Thoroughbreds (1-3) have dropped three in a row to bigger schools for the second straight year and Simon Kenton remained undefeated at 4-0.

Simon Kenton outgained NewCath, 335-137 in total offense, including 237-107 through the air. Pioneer quarterback Brenan Kuntz completed 19-of-29 passes for 257 yards and three touchdowns in the win. He often hurt NewCath when he broke outside containment.

“That was absolutely a big part of the game,” said Dan Wagner, NewCath Head Coach. “We spent a lot of time on the field defensively and you can’t let a kid of that caliber have that much time and make that many plays or he’s going to hurt you and he did.”

Kuntz completed most of his passes to senior wide receiver Grant Wassom. Wassom had seven catches for 123 yards. Sophomore Dillion Powell led the Pioneers with 13 rushes for 79 yards.

It did not help that NewCath played without several key players in the loss. Senior offensive and defensive lineman Stephen Brooks, senior offensive lineman/defensive end Matt Lenz, junior offensive/defensive lineman Jacob Wieland, senior and sophomore defensive end/wide receiver Luke Kues did not play and Wagner said they’ll probably be out next week. That left NewCath down to its fourth-string center.

“(Simon Kenton) is just bigger and stronger than us up front,” Wagner said. “We have to get better. We’re banged up and playing a lot of young kids on the offensive line. Our kids know we’re in a tough hole. We’ll keep positive and keep working hard. We don’t know what else to do.”

NewCath did not do much offensively until its second to last possession. Quarterback Mac Franzen completed 11-of-26 passes for 107 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Gray caught two passes for 47 yards to lead the Thoroughbreds. No NewCath player rushed for more than 24 yards.

Simon Kenton Head Coach Jeff Marksberry said the staff’s big concerns defensively were containing Franzen on scrambles up the middle and the Thoroughbred bubble screens. The Pioneers contained both.

“They (Pioneer defenders) were physical and ran to the ball well,” Marksberry said. “It looked like they knew what NewCath was going to do. They prepared well this week and you could tell.”

Penalties kept the Pioneers from more scores. Simon Kenton had eight for 45 yards to NewCath’s two for 10 years. The Pioneers had five false start penalties for 25 yards in the first half. That put them in fourth-and-long on several drives inside the NewCath 20 that they did not convert.

“The sad thing is I think we’d been penalized three times in our first three games,” Marksberry said. “We’d been playing really clean. I don’t know what the deal was. I know we weren’t very crisp in practice on Tuesday and Wednesday. I tell the kids all the time you’re going to play like you practice. I hope (Friday) illustrated that. I hope they saw that and will take that to heart.”

Defensively, NewCath sacked Kuntz three times. Jack Sutkamp, Jacob Smith and Kalvin Moore recorded one each. Smith also recovered a Simon Kenton fumble in the end zone.

Simon Kenton led 8-0 after the first quarter. The Pioneers scored just 2:01 into the game when Kuntz completed a 17-yard touchdown pass to Wassom before Powell completed the two-point pass to Logan Winkler out of the swinging gate formation.

The Pioneers extended the margin to 16-0 in the second quarter. Powell hauled in a 5-yard pass in the left flat for the score with 3:28 left in the half and Powell added the two-point run.

Simon Kenton then looked to use its depth to put the game away in the second half. The Pioneers do not have players going both directions while the Thoroughbreds do.

Powell extended the Simon Kenton lead to 23-0 just 1:35 into the second half and Tyler Smith added the extra point before the Pioneers made it 30-0 with 7:53 remaining. Kuntz completed a 14-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Heflin and Smith added the extra point after Simon Kenton intercepted a NewCath attempted screen pass.

The Thoroughbreds did avert their first shutout since a 45-0 loss to Ryle on Sept. 12, 2009 with a late touchdown. Franzen completed a 34-yard touchdown pass over the middle to Gray and Wyatt Boberg added the extra-point kick.

NewCath finishes its run of three straight games against Class 6A, District 6 opponents next week with a trip to Dixie Heights on Friday at 7 p.m. The Colonels (2-1) have won two in a row after beating Cincinnati Turpin, 38-7 on Friday.

NewCath hopes to get back into win column

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

The Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds football team would love for nothing more than to pick up a win or two these next two weeks, especially before district play begins.

The Thoroughbreds (1-2) felt like one got away in Friday’s 21-20 loss at Campbell County. They missed an extra-point attempt with less than four minutes left in the loss.

But they are in for a huge challenge in Independence on Friday against the Simon Kenton Pioneers at 7 p.m. This marks the second of three consecutive games against teams from Class 6A, District 6 of Northern Kentucky. NewCath Head Coach Dan Wagner has continued the tradition of facing bigger schools before district play begins.

“That means a lot to us,” Wagner said. “The Cooper game (a 31-22 loss in the second game of the year) is a perfect example. We know it was a game we were in position to win, but we kind of let it get away. We learned some things about ourselves that we would not get from a blowout win.”

Simon Kenton enters the game undefeated just like last year’s contest. The Pioneers opened the year with wins over 2012 Class 4A runner-up Collins (23-21), Covington Holy Cross (48-0) and Conner (42-35).

Simone Kenton escaped Newport with a 28-20 win in last year’s game. NewCath drove inside the Pioneer 20 in the game’s final minutes but lost a fumble allowing on the potential game-tying drive.

Simon Kenton comes into the game with a depth advantage. The Pioneers do not play guys on both offense and defense.

“This allows us to play fast,” said Jeff Marksberry, Simon Kenton Head Coach. “We are able to sub people in and keep people fresh. We have been able to get opponents tired.”

The Thoroughbreds know they must tighten things up defensively against the Pioneer Spread offense led by three-year, dual-threat starting senior quarterback Brenan Kuntz. Kuntz has completed 35-of-46 passes for 439 yards, four touchdowns and one interception and rushed for 256 yards on 36 carries and two touchdowns. Kuntz completed 17-of-30 passes for 241 yards and three touchdowns in the win last year.

Kuntz likes to fake or hand the ball off to Dillion Powell in the read option behind a big offensive line. Powell has 45 rushes for 250 yards and five touchdowns. Grant Wassom leads all Pioneer receivers with 13 catches for 183 yards and three touchdowns and Logan Winkler has 10 catches for 101 yards.

“We are working on responsibility football,” Wagner said. “If we do our job and get in the right spots, we will take our chances of slowing him down a little. We have to keep working hard and pay attention to the little things.”

Defensively, three individuals have rushed for more than 100 yards against NewCath. Campbell County quarterback Avery Wood carried the ball 32 times for 154 yards and three touchdowns.

“We have a lot of fast guys on the (defensive) line so we should be able to keep (Kuntz) contained,” said Tyler Lyon, NewCath senior tight end/defensive end. “Campbell County kept running the quarterback up the middle so we have something to fix there. That’s what killed us. They definitely controlled the clock.”

Opponents have scored 78 points against the Thoroughbreds and put up 1085 yards of total offense. That includes 738 on the ground.

The Thoroughbreds will face a Pioneer 3-4 or 3-5 defensive scheme. Conner quarterback and University of Kentucky commit Drew Barker had success against the Pioneers last week completing 27-of-44 passes for 344 yards and four touchdowns. The Pioneers have put up 1,077 yards of total offense and allowed 809. That includes 539 passing yards.

Junior linebackers Chris Hicks and Barry Deaton lead the Pioneer defense with 25 and 20 tackles respectively. Simon Kenton has recovered two fumbles and intercepted one pass defensively.

NewCath’s Spread offense is led by quarterback Mac Franzen. Franzen has completed 25-of-41 passes for 335 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 152 yards on 46 carries. Sophomore Jacob Smith along with seniors Kalvin Moore and Jack Sutkamp have shared the load in the backfield this year. Moore and Sutkamp also lead the NewCath defense.

“Those three guys (Franzen, Smith, Sutkamp) are great runners,” Marksberry said. “We have to make solid tackles against them.”

NewCath leads the all-time series against the Pioneers, 10-3. The Thoroughbreds won the 2011 meeting, 24-14.

Camels Edge Thoroughbreds, 21-20; NC volleyball drops two

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

If they equaled their in-county rivals on extra-point tries, the game might have gone to overtime where anything could happen.

Instead, the Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds football team found itself on the wrong end of a 21-20 defeat to the Campbell County Camels (2-1) on Friday in Alexandria. NewCath (1-2) still leads the all-time series against Cambpell County, 26-12, but has dropped the last two in the series.

The Camels defeated the Thoroughbreds, 42-16 last year also in Alexandria, but at the Pyramid at the Campbell County Middle School. Campbell County is playing its first season at the new field by the high school.

“We did see some progress,” said Dan Wagner, NewCath Head Coach. “Even though you hate to lose and this one hurts, I think we saw some kids come together. We didn’t pull it out in the end. But the kids believed we could. We’re playing a lot of sophomores so we’re going to have some issues. But they’re going to be pretty good by the time the end of the year rolls around.”

NewCath trailed 21-14 in the fourth quarter when wide receiver Tommy Donnelly took a pass from Mac Franzen and ran to the end zone for a 49-yard touchdown pass. But the Thoroughbreds missed the extra-point in what proved to be the difference in the game.

“We were missing somebody (on the offensive line) and we always tell the kids to take the penalty,” Wagner said. “It’s five yards. We got the illegal formation (penalty), kicked it anyway and ended up missing it. It’s little things like that. You try to cover them, but you can’t cover everything. If we’d have scored a few minutes later, we’d have gone for two. It was just a little too soon.”

NewCath simply had no answer for Campbell County senior quarterback Avery Wood. Wood ran the ball out of the Camel Spread offense 32 times for 154 yards, three touchdowns and an average of 4.8 yards per carry. Wood also completed 6-of-11 passes for 84 yards.

Wood had some help behind him as Cambpell County outgained NewCath, 326-210 in total offense including 240-66 on the ground. Alex Howard rushed the pigskin 10 times for 56 yards and wide receiver Nate Hess caught four passes for 49 yards with Jake Zabonick catching two passes for 35 yards.

“They have two huge offensive tackles,” Wagner said. “We’re not that big. We were doing everything we could not to break. I’m proud of the way they handled it. I just wish it was a different outcome.”

Franzen once again led the Thoroughbreds completing 14-of-19 passes for 144 yards and two touchdowns. Donnelly led NewCath with four catches for 76 yards and a touchdown with Tyler Lyon hauling in two more for 28 yards and a touchdown. No one had more than 39 yards rushing for the Thoroughbreds.

NewCath once again won the turnover battle in a loss. The Camels lost two fumbles and threw an interception while the Thoroughbreds did not turn the ball over. NewCath is plus-seven in the turnover category in the two losses and plus-five for the year.

Wood scored on a 2-yard run to put Cambpell County up 6-0 in the first quarter before NewCath responded. Jack Sutkamp scored on an 8-yard run and John Caudill added the extra-point as the Thoroughbreds led 7-6 after the first quarter.

NewCath extended the lead to 14-6 in the second quarter as Lyon hauled in a 4-yard pass from Franzen. But Cambpell County tied the game at halftime when Wood scored from 10 yards out and Josh Carroll ran in the two-point conversion.

The Thoroughbreds travel to Independence on Friday to face another Class 6A, District 6 opponent in the undefeated 3-0 Simon Kenton Pioneers. Game time is 7 p.m.

NC Volleyball drops two at LIVT:

The Thoroughbreds (3-6) dropped two matches to open the two-day Louisville Invitational Volleyball Tournament at the Ohio Valley Volleyball Center.

NewCath lost to Walton (Georgia) in the first match, 2-0 (25-19, 25-13). Setter Alyssa Maier led NewCath with 10 assists and Rachel McDonald had four kills.

The Thoroughbreds dropped the second game, also 2-0 (25-15, 25-14) to Kettering (Ohio) Alter. Maier led the Thoroughbreds with 12 assists and Keyaira Lankheit had four kills.

NewCath plays three matches Saturday. The first one starts at 9 a.m. against an opponent to be determined.

Thoroughbreds, Camels meet in in-county clash

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

A rivalry game is probably what these two teams needed coming off losses Friday.

The Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds and Campbell County Camels meet for the 38th time in Alexandria in a battle of 1-1 squads. NewCath lost to Cooper, 31-22 in the Skyline Crosstown Showdown and Campbell County lost at Highlands, 50-8.

The Thoroughbreds lead the all-time series, 26-11, but would love to quickly put away the tough memories from last year’s 42-16 defeat in what turned out to be their worst loss of the season. Campbell County quarterback Tyler Durham ran roughshod on the banged-up Thoroughbreds to the tune of 219 yards on 18 carries with two touchdowns against a NewCath defense missing injured linebackers Brady Thacker and Jack Sutkamp.

That loss turned out to be the second of three straight defeats. But NewCath rebounded to win their fifth state championship while Campbell County won the Class 6A, District 6 championship for the second straight year before losing 29-21 to Simon Kenton in the second round of the playoffs.

Durham graduated. But new Camel quarterback Avery Wood has shown some promise in Campbell County’s spread offense. Wood has rushed for 94 yards on 20 carries for an average of 4.7 touch and completed 23-of-49 passes for 240 yards and a touchdown. Camel County has rushed for 545 yards and passed for 350 and have allowed 381 yards rushing and 473 passing.

“We have to play tough, responsibility defense,” said Dan Wagner, NewCath head coach. “You can’t try to do too much and take care of your job. This is why we play these teams. It’s the only way we’re going to get better.”

Wood’s top targets have been Nate Hess and Jake Zabonick. Hess has 10 catches for 131 yards and a touchdown with Zabonick grabbing eight balls for 73 yards. Wood completed a lot of short five to 10-yard passes to Zabonick near the sidelines against Highlands.

Alex Howard leads Campbell County in the rushing department. Howard has 140 yards rushing on 25 carries with two touchdowns for an average of 5.6 yards per touch.

“We spent a lot of time Saturday with our kids reviewing the film and learning from the mistakes we made,” said Stephen Lickert, Campbell County head coach of the Highlands game. “Our kids are intently focused on correcting our mistakes. Our kids are used to having short memories and not dwelling on the past.”

The Thoroughbred 4-4 defense knows it needs to tighten up against the run as teams have rushed for 498 yards against them. Ashland’s Quentin Baker ran for 236 yards and Cooper’s Avery Bricking ran for 125.

The Thoroughbreds are rotating in a lot of players on the defensive line. But there is some youth and inexperience on the defensive side for NewCath. Opponents have passed for 261 yards against the Thoroughbreds.

“We just need to make plays,” Wagner said. “We’re missing tackles. Kids come through unblocked and we don’t make the play. We’ll go back to working hard containing and tackling. We have a lot of work to do defensively.”

Sutkamp leads NewCath with 32 tackles defensively and Stephen Brooks ranks second with 20. Kole Zenni and Brandon Gray have recovered two fumbles each for NewCath.

The Thoroughbreds have run the ball for 378 yards and passed for 191 yards offensively. Quarterback Mac Franzen and running back Jacob Smith lead the way with 137 and 102 yards rushing respectively. Franzen found a lot of real estate against Ashland in the middle of the field.

“Franzen is an impressive athlete who can beat you with his arm and his legs,” Lickert said. “We must be very disciplined in doing our jobs and making sure we contain him.”

Franzen has completed 11-of-22 passes for 191 yards. Tommy Donnelly, Smith and Michael Runyon have three catches each for 75, 52 and 36 yards respectively.

Campbell County showed some vulnerabilities defensively in its 3-3 stack defense against Highlands. The Bluebirds gashed the Camels for 399 yards of total offense, including 318 through the air.

Senior defensive lineman Patrick Berkemeyer leads the Camel defense. He recorded the lone sack for Campbell County in the loss at Highlands.

The Camels have a new home stadium this year by the high school just outside of Alexandria. Last year’s game took place at the Pyramid at the Campbell County Middle School. Game time is 7 p.m.

Meek not on Roster:

Would-be senior defensive lineman Ross Meek did not return this year for the Thoroughbreds. Meek finished second on the team last year with 103 tackles.

Wagner did not elaborate on the situation. He just pointed out that Meek is no longer with the team, but pretty much everyone else returned.

Jaguars pull away from Thoroughbreds in second half

 

G. Michael Graham Photo. The Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds line up in their recent win over Ashland. NewCath fell to Cooper, 31-22 on Friday in the Skyline Crosstown Showdown at Dixie Heights.

 

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

Most teams who come out plus-four in the turnover department win football games.

But that did not happen for the Newport Central Thoroughbreds in the Skyline Crosstown Showdown at Dixie Heights on Friday. The Cooper Jaguars still moved the ball better in a 31-22 victory. Both teams are 1-1 on the season.

Cooper lost all six fumbles and the Thoroughbreds threw two interceptions. But the Jaguars outgained the Thoroughbreds, 376-209 in total offense. NewCath could not stop the balanced Cooper attack. Jaguar quarterback Will Ludwig completed 17-of-29 passes for 214 yards and three touchdowns in the win.

“I knew they were going to be a pretty decent, tough team and they were,” said Dan Wagner, NewCath head coach. “We had momentum early and lost it. Once they got it, they didn’t let it go.”

His top target was Corey Fussinger. Fussinger had six catches for 77 yards and Aaron Morgan had five catches for 41 yards. The Jaguars also saw running back Avery Bricking run the ball 17 times for 125 yards.

“We didn’t do a really good job with one particular pattern that we have to fix,” Wagner said. “We didn’t do a real good job with one particular run pattern that we have to fix. I think we have people getting there, but the technique is lousy so we have to get better at it.”

Defensively, the Jaguars made things tough for the Thoroughbred offense. Jacob Newumann recorded eight tackles and four sacks with Fussinger adding another two sacks.

NewCath quarterback Mac Franzen completed 8-of-15 passes for 135 yards. Tommy Donnelly led the Thoroughbreds in that department with two catches for 63 yards.

The Thoroughbreds led 7-0 after the first quarter. Michael Runyon hauled in an 11-yard pass from Franzen. But Cooper came back to tie the game when Bricking broke free for a 45-yard run in the second quarter.

NewCath took its final lead in the second quarter when Jacob Weiland recovered a Cooper fumble in the end zone. But Logan Turner hit a 25-yard field goal to cut the lead to 14-10 at halftime.

The Jaguars pulled away with 21 consecutive points in the second half. In the third quarter, Ludwig hit Fussinger for a 9-yard score and Morgan for three yards to give Cooper a 24-14 advantage. The Jaguars made the score 31-14 in the fourth quarter when Tanner Kissel hauled in a 21-yard pass.

NewCath’s lone score of the second half came when Jack Sutkamp scored on a 2-yard run. Donnelly hauled in the two-point conversion pass from Franzen.

The Thoroughbreds hit the road Friday for an in-county game at Campbell County. Game time is 7 p.m. in Alexandria.

NewCath faces 2012 5A runner-up

G. Michael Graham Photo. Newport Central Catholic linebacker Jack Sutkamp lays out Ashland wide receiver Rj Washington in Friday's win while teammates Logan Neff (54), Kole Zenni (9) and Colin Hoover (6) converge. The Thoroughbreds hope for more hits like that during the year defensively.

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

The Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds football team tends to reload with the best in Kentucky.

Their opponent Friday hopes to develop that same consistency. The Thoroughbreds face the Cooper Jaguars for the first time in school history at 6 p.m. in the Skyline Crosstown Showdown at Dixie Heights.

Both teams are coming off successful 2012 campaigns. The Thoroughbreds won their fifth state championship with a 30-26 win over the Caldwell County Tigers in the Class 2A state championship and the Jaguars lost to Bowling Green, 34-20 a few hours later.

The two squads experienced different results in their season-openers on Friday. NewCath defeated Ashland Blazer, 37-26 and Cooper lost at in-town rival Ryle, 17-10.

Cooper’s head coach is Randy Borchers. Like NewCath Head Coach Dan Wagner, Borchers graduated from NewCath in 1996 so they both played for longtime head coach Bob Schneider.

“I look at (Cooper) and I see (the program) as first class all around. When we scrimmaged them last year, there’s no jawing,” Wagner said. “They take care of what they need to take care of. That’s probably the big thing Coach Schneider has instilled in pretty much everyone he’s been in touch with.”

Both teams have things they need to improve upon entering Friday’s game. The Thoroughbreds want to tackle better in their 4-4 defense. Ashland running back Quentin Baker recorded 238 yards rushing on 18 carries and two touchdowns Friday.

“It’s been a lot better focus (this week),” said Stephen Brooks, NewCath senior offensive lineman/linebacker. “We’ve been getting better at that by doing a lot of motor drills. We need to bring out feet through the hit instead of diving at (opposing running backs). We need to wrap up and follow through.”

NewCath faces another good skill position player on Friday in Cooper Senior wide receiver/defensive back Aaron Morgan. Morgan had one rushing for a minus-6 yards but did haul in four catches for 79 yards and a touchdown against Ryle. Morgan recorded 37 catches for 734 yards and seven touchdowns last year.

“He’s very shifty and if he gets in the open field, forget about him,” Wagner said of Morgan. “He’s very aggressive on defense. He breaks as well on the ball as any kid I’ve seen in a long time. I’m impressed with him.”

Both teams run Spread offenses. Cooper’s inexperience showed in the loss to Ryle. The Jaguars gained just 168 yards of total offense in the game. They graduated their leading rushers from last year in A.J. Morgan and Tyler Morris.

“Our players have the taste of success and they were able to learn from a very talented senior class last year on what it takes to be good,” Borchers said. “I tell our players every day that there is no pressure on them because everyone outside of our team feels this is going to be a down year. Our players do not like to hear this and believe that they have a chance to compete for a district title again this year and they want to prove all the naysayers wrong.”

The Thoroughbreds put up 360 yards in total offense against Ashland, including 304 on the ground. Quarterback Mac Franzen rushed for 103 yards on 11 carries and sophomore Jacob Smith had 86 on nine rushes. Franzen completed 3-of-7 passes for 56 yards. NewCath would not mind seeing more offensive balance and not turn the ball over four times like Friday. But things worked out there against Ashland.

“It will take some time,” Wagner said. “But to be honest, we didn’t need it (Friday). He dropped back a couple times. We have this deal where if he sees something, he’ll take it. That’s where he got a lot of his yards.”

Cooper runs 4-3 and 4-4 defensive sets. Aside from Morgan, Will Ludwing is the Jaguar quarterback and senior running back/linebacker Avery Bricking returns along with senior wide receiver/defensive backs Corey Fussinger and Richie Pauls.

NewCath is trying to rotate in more people defensively, especially in the trenches. The four teams that beat the Thoroughbreds last year did that.

“We always try to play a lot of kids,” Wagner said. “Sometimes we can and sometimes we can’t. I think we have more depth. I said this at the beginning of the year. We have what I think is a talented sophomore group. We can work them in. One time Friday, we had three sophomores in on the defensive line at the same time. We’ll take a few lumps here and there. But all in all, they did pretty well.”

Borchers hopes to see the offensive balance they displayed last year. The Jaguars rushed for just five yards in the loss to Ryle and suffered from two blocked punts, a short punt and what Borchers called “terrible kickoff returns.”

“We need to find a way to get the ball in our playmakers’ hands and allow them to make plays,” Borchers said. “NewCath is very aggressive and fundamentally sound defensively. We need to be patient and take what they give us.”

NewCath takes on three 6A opponents after this game. The Thoroughbreds will battle Campbell County, Dixie Heights and Simon Kenton following this game.

NCC outlasts Ashland, 37-26

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

NEWPORT – Friday’s victory gave great signs toward another big year based on the way they tend to improve as the season progresses.

The Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds held off the visiting Ashland Blazer Tomcats, 37-26 to open the season. The two teams had not met since NewCath Head Coach Dan Wagner’s senior year in 1976 – a 21-7 Tomcat win.

“They had trouble stopping us, which I didn’t really think they could stop us after the second or third series,” Wagner said. “But then by the same token, we had trouble stopping them. In Mac (Franzen’s) first football game (at quarterback), we’re not going to come out and play perfect football. It doesn’t work. But we stopped when we had to. I just told them that was the worst we’ll play all year.”

It marked just the second win in the series against eight defeats for the Thoroughbreds. The other NewCath win came 19-0 in the Class AA playoffs in 1965.

The defending 2A champion Thoroughbreds appeared to be in better condition, especially in the second half. Temperatures reached the 80s.

“It doesn’t matter if you are there at 6:30, quarter til 7 or 7 p.m., it’s still muggy,” Wagner said. “They said the humidity was supposed to go away. It didn’t. We had some kids go down. But they had someone go down every other play, which seemed to benefit us in the long-run because it let us rest.”

It also marked the debuts as head coaches for both teams. Wagner and Ashland Head Coach Tony Love served as defensive coordinators last year before the schools promoted them. Love took over when longtime Head Coach Leon Hart retired and Wagner took over when three-year Head Coach Eddie Eviston took the Offensive Coordinator job at Georgetown College.

Ashland did outgain NewCath, 380-360 in total offense. But a lot of that came because the Thoroughbreds recorded four turnovers to two for the Tomcats. Both teams lost two fumbles each and NewCath threw two interceptions.

The inexperienced Tomcat defense that returned just two starters from last year’s 9-3 squad could not stop the balanced Thoroughbred Spread offense. NewCath ran for a combined 304 yards on 40 carries for an average of 7.6 yards a carry and five touchdowns. Franzen had 11 carries for 103 yards with Jacob Smith going for 86 yards on nine carries. Teammates Jack Sutkamp had 66 yards on nine rushes and Kalvin Moore had 40 yards on seven touches.

“Mostly what we do is have alley protection,” said Jacob Wieland, junior offensive lineman. “We’ll usually do that to the weak side of the ball. That gives Mac a lane to run through if the play is busted.”

The NewCath defense knew it had to stop Ashland sophomore standout tailback Quentin Baker on offense. Baker ran for 238 yards on 18 carries and two touchdowns out of Ashland’s Diamond formation attack.

“We had a game plan for (Baker) going in,” said Luke Kues, NewCath sophomore defensive end. “The only reason he had any good plays is we missed tackles. We have to work on that. He’s a good athlete so we all needed to fly around to him because you don’t know if one person is going to take him down because he’s that good. We also need to wrap up, which I was guilty of not doing once or twice.”

Neither team passed a lot except for late when Ashland had to pass to try to get back into the game. Franzen completed 3-of-7 passes for 56 yards and Ashland’s Hunter Prince completed 7-of-15 for 42 yards. No receivers on either team had more than one reception.

The Thoroughbred defense may have bent some, but did come up with some crucial stops. Stephen Brooks came up on 4th-and-1 with 1:49 left in the third quarter and NC held Ashland on downs after the Tomcats drove into scoring territory late in the fourth quarter. Sutkamp landed a jarring hit on a screen on fourth down with 27 seconds to give NewCath the ball back.

“I saw more things we need to fix on defense than anything else,” Wagner said. “We’ll just keep working to get in better shape.”

NewCath took the lead with 9:30 left in the first quarter. The Thoroughbreds lined up trips left. Franzen swung the ball to Smith. Smith broke through several tackles and scampered 53 yards to the end zone to put NewCath up 7-0 after John Caudill made the extra-point attempt.

Ashland responded when James Queen scored from 13 yards out with 6:06 left in the quarter. The Thoroughbreds led 7-6 after the PAT failed.

NewCath drove down the field late in the first quarter and scored six seconds into the second when Jack Sutkamp. That gave NewCath a 13-6 lead before Baker broke free for an 80-yard scamper to tie the game at 13 with 9:38 left in the half.

But the Thoroughbreds promptly responded when Franzen scored from 22 yards out. NewCath worked the clock well in the final minute of the first half. Caudill hit a 26-yard field goal with 1.1 seconds left to put NewCath up 23-13 at halftime.

Baker broke free again for a 46-yard touchdown run with 9:25 left in the third. NewCath still led 23-19 after Moore blocked the PAT.

The Thoroughbreds came back with a touchdown drive of their own. Moore scored from three yards out with 5:08 left in the third quarter to put NewCath up 30-19.

Smith scored his second touchdown from 18 yards out with 10 minutes left in the game to put NewCath up 37-19. But Ashland did not quit as Prince completed a 13-yard touchdown pass to Queen with 7:33 left in the game to make the final score of 37-26.

The Thoroughbreds return to action on Friday at 6 p.m. at Dixie Heights. They take on the defending Class 5A champion Cooper Jaguars. Cooper and head coach Randy Borchers, a 1996 NewCath alum, lost 17-10 at Ryle to open the season.

NewCath opens tough pre-district schedule against Ashland Blazer

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

The Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds football team is not afraid to play teams in bigger classes to prepare for district play and this year is no different.

The defending Class 2A champions open the year against one of the top 10 teams in Kentucky in overall wins on Friday in the Ashland Blazer Tomcats. Ashland ranks ninth in the state with 645 wins in school history.

“We’re using those first five games as a measuring stick,” said Dan Wagner, NewCath Head Coach. “When we come out of those first five games, we’ll have played as good of teams as we’ll see in the playoffs. We always pride ourselves on being ready as the year goes along.”

Both teams come into the season with new head coaches. Unlike other head coaching changes, they were in-staff promotions so the players were already familiar with them. Wagner and Ashland head coach Tony Love served as defensive coordinators on the respective staffs previously before last year’s head coaches moved on. NewCath head coach Eddie Eviston took the Offensive Coordinator job at Georgetown College after the Thoroughbreds won their fifth state championship last year and veteran Ashland head coach Leon Hart retired.

Ashland enters the season fresh off a 9-3 campaign. The Tomcats constantly battle the Johnson Central Golden Eagles for district championships in Class 4A, District 8. The Tomcats lost 52-13 to the eventual state champion Highlands Bluebirds in the second round of the playoffs last year. But they trailed the Bluebirds just 15-13 at halftime of that game.

The Tomcats also play a challenging non-district schedule. That includes an annual game against southern Ohio power Ironton.

“We have always played a very challenging schedule. This year is no different,” Love said. “Similar to NCC, we are not afforded the ‘rebuild’ mindset by our community. Our players know this and take great pride in ‘the next man’ up and having no excuses.”

Both teams lost a good load of talented seniors from last year’s team. The Thoroughbreds (11-4 last year) are breaking in many new faces in their spread and 4-4 defenses after graduating 15 seniors from last year’s 2A state championship team. They beat Covington Holmes, 24-0 in two and a half quarters worth of scrimmage time on Friday. Quarterback Mac Franzen, Jack Sutkamp and Kalvin Moore scored rushing touchdowns for NewCath. Franzen plays defensive back with Moore and Sutkamp manning linebacker spots on the defensive side of the ball. Sophomore Jacob Smith is the leading returning rusher from last year.

Franzen previously said the passing game is coming along. Receivers like Tommy Donnelly will be looking to help carry the load.

“We want to get the ball and spread it around,” Wagner said. “We have enough people to be able to do that. Obviously, time will tell but I think we’ve got some young kids that are ready to step up and start playing. We have to get through these first five games and get them ready for these last five.”

Ashland graduated all but two starters on defense. The Tomcats run similar offenses and defenses to NewCath. Senior defensive lineman Luke Johnson and senior defensive back James Queen lead the Tomcats on the defensive side of the ball.

“Not knowing your opponent creates several challenges, especially early in the year where you don’t have a body of work to be able to study and break down,” Love said. “However, in some ways it can be beneficial because it forces the players to focus on the fundamental rules and keys we teach our players. In my opinion, it becomes relative due to the fact the other team is experiencing the same situation.”

The Tomcats will build their offense around sophomore running back Quinton Baker. Former University of Kentucky standout Al Baker’s son ran for 932 yards in nine games last year before missing the playoffs because of injuries. Hunter Prince will be the quarterback for Ashland.

“Basically on the end, they have a tackle that comes down under the other tackle,” said Colin Hoover, NewCath junior offensive/defensive lineman. “That usually means he’s crossing on the other side of the field and getting the handoff. We need to contain (Baker) and not let him get outside.”

Wagner said he’s been pleased with the team’s work ethic in practice this week. Moore and Franzen previously said their class wanted to provide strong senior leadership this year.

“Our kids know how to work. I’ll give them that,” Wagner said. “Obviously, you have to kick them in the tail occasionally, figuratively not literally to get them moving. We’ve been there and they know what it takes to get to the state finals so we’ll just keep working doing the same things we do. Senior leadership will do that for you.”

Game time is 7:30 p.m. at Newport Stadium. The Thoroughbreds also play Cooper, Campbell County, Dixie Heights and Simon Kenton before opening District 6 action.

Highlands falls to Trinity, NCC beats Holmes in scrimmages

G. Michael Graham Photo. The Highlands defense pursues Trinity quarterback Reggie Bonnafon in Friday's scrimmage at Marshall Stadium. The Shamrocks won the three-quarter scrimmage, 48-21. Both teams are tied for the most state championships in Kentucky with 22 each.

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

LOUISVILLE – Scrimmaging the highly-ranked Louisville Trinity Shamrocks definitely prepares you for the regular season.

It was not as bad as last year’s 63-31 Shamrock victory. But Trinity still won 48-21 in three quarters worth of action Friday at Marshall Stadium. The Shamrocks have won all four scrimmages in four years between the two teams that share the state record of 22 state football championships. Trinity entered the season ranked second in the USA Today Preseason Top 25 poll.

Trinity outgained Highlands, 526-255 in total offense mostly through the air. Shamrock standout quarterback Reggie Bonnafon completed 22-of-28 passes for 377 yards and four touchdowns against a banged-up Bluebird secondary. Highlands played most of the scrimmage without junior defensive backs Andrew Abner and Griffin Urlage. Abner could be seen on crutches on the sidelines when the junior varsity and freshmen teams scrimmaged on different sides of the field.

“If we prepare for (Bonnafon more), we do special things for him,” said Dale Mueller, Highlands Co-Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator. “But we just went out and played our base (defense). We have a lot of respect for them. They’re a heck of a football team.”

Cody Swabek led Trinity with 10 catches for 177 yards and three touchdowns. Teammate C.J. Ott had six catches for 158 yards and a touchdown.

“We now understand what it’s like going against a team faster than us,” said James Hinkel, Highlands junior defensive back. “We have to execute and make sure we stand with our feet under us. We need to make sure we stay square with (opponents) and be ready to move where they move.”

Offensively, Highlands put up 255 yards of total offense, but could not establish a consistent running game against Trinity netting 10 yards. Trinity sacked Highlands quarterback Drew Houliston several times.

Houliston completed 14-of-29 passes for 245 yards. Junior Jensen Feggins led Highlands with four catches for 88 yards and a touchdown. Feggins broke several tackles on his touchdown reception.

“It teaches us that we need to be a lot quicker for teams that are going to be close or even with us, maybe even better,” said Kyler Dalton, Highlands junior offensive lineman. “We need to keep our feet moving and keep the (defensive) linemen out of Drew’s face to give him time to throw.”

Highlands did make a lot of plays defensively. Senior standout lineman Seth Hope had two tackles for a loss and junior linebacker Jacob Noe recovered a fumble.

“We got better (Friday) than we had all year. It’s a thing where you get a lot of plays on film and you go back and look at them and learn how you did,” Mueller said. “We play as hard as we can, but we don’t play the scrimmage like a game. We don’t prepare for them like a game. Neither do they. But it’s a valuable day for us.”

Trinity led 14-0 after the first quarter and 21-0 before Highlands scored on a Feggins 23-yard touchdown reception. Following another Trinity score, Houliston completed a 10-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Hergott. The Shamrocks led 35-14 after two quarters.

The Bluebirds did have a chance to score in the first quarter. But they did not run their traditional full-house goal-line formation and could not punch it in.  

Trinity also won the third quarter 13-7. Zach Harris scored from three yards out with 3:50 left in the stanza.

Highlands opens the season in a week against the University Christian (Fla.) Fighting Christians on ESPNU. Game time is 3:30 p.m.

Injuries:

Highlands did see several players not play because of injuries. Senior offensive lineman Johnny Kemplin said he’s out for the year because of back issues.

Newport Central Catholic shuts out Holmes, 24-0:

The Thoroughbreds shut out the Bulldogs in the scrimmage at Thomas More College on Friday.

The varsity teams played for 2.5 quarters then the reserves took the field. Both teams have new head coaches in Dan Wagner at Newport Central Catholic and Ben Nevels at Holmes.

The Thoroughbreds knew they had to contain Holmes senior standout running back Jonathon Scruggs. The Bulldogs displayed more one and two-back shotgun sets unlike the Diamond formation they ran last year.

“We did okay with that,” Wagner said. “We bottled (Scruggs) up for the most part. You can’t do that with one guy. You need all 11 there. We made sure he went side-to-side and not straight ahead.”

NewCath scored its three touchdowns on runs. Quarterback Mac Franzen broke off a 45-yard touchdown run with Jack Sutkamp and Kalvin Moore adding the other two. John Caudill added a 32-yard field goal.

“We obviously have a lot of work to do,” Wagner said. “As long as we keep improving, we could be okay. We’ll see how it goes.”

NewCath opens the season Friday against Ashland Blazer in Newport. Game time is 7 p.m.

Highlands travels to Trinity for annual scrimmage; NC faces Holmes

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

It may be just a scrimmage.

But the Highlands Bluebirds will be taking the trip to Louisville Trinity seriously. After all, it will feature the two teams tied for the Kentucky state record of 22 state championships each for the fourth consecutive season.

Highlands is looking for its first win in the series. The Shamrocks won the previous three scrimmages, including a 63-31 verdict last year in Fort Thomas. Trinity led 51-0 at halftime. The closest Highlands came to beating Trinity was 2010 when the Shamrocks edged the Bluebirds, 49-42 in Fort Thomas. That may have some people concerned that some of the Highlands players may go down there intimidated.

“We can’t be nervous. We can’t go in there scared,” said Seth Hope, Highlands senior defensive end. “We just need to do what we do. We want to get everyone ready to play varsity football and use it to prepare for the rest of the season.”

The varsity teams played four quarters last year to simulate a game before the junior varsity and freshmen teams played on two sides of the field. The varsity teams will play for three quarters before the junior varsity and freshmen teams take over for three quarters.

“It’s a great experience playing Trinity who is one of the best teams in the country,” said Dale Mueller, Highlands Co-Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator. “It really helps us for the rest of the season. Although it’s just a scrimmage, our guys get fired up for it. They have a lot of good football players and we have a lot of good football players. They just have to get the feel of going out and playing a football game.”

Trinity comes into the season ranked second in the USA Today Preseason Top 25 poll despite heavy losses to graduation. But the Shamrocks tend to reload every year. They’ve won seven of the past eight large-class state championships. The last time Trinity did not win it was 2009 when arch-rival Louisville St. Xavier beat them in the 6A title game, 34-10.

The Shamrocks have played for a state championship every year since 2000 except 2004. Dixie Heights beat Trinity, 14-10 in the second round of the 4A playoffs that year.

“In any football game, you have to do your job each time and you have to get a win in your job,” Mueller said. “You also have to do your job the best you can. If you play a good team like Trinity, you have more battles. It’s harder to win all those battles. Football is such a unique game. There are 11 guys on the field and all 11 of those guys count. They’re all involved in making the play go.”

Offensively, Trinity graduated its top passer, receiver and running back in Travis Wright, James Quick and Daylyn Dawkins. Quick took his talents to nearby University of Louisville.

But the Shamrocks do return Reggie Bonnafon. He will move from wide receiver to quarterback where the Shamrocks expect him to lead as a dual-threat. Bonnafon completed 4-of-4 passing attempts for 42 yards and three touchdowns last year and caught 27 passes for 394 yards and five touchdowns.

“As a Highlands defense, we shouldn’t have any problems (with dual-threat quarterbacks) if we do what we do,” Hope said. “As long as everyone stays in his gap, gets his assignment right and does what he needs to do, our defense is built so that we shouldn’t have problems with that.”

Bonnafon will throw to seniors Cody Swabek, Drew Chandler and sophomore Robert Jones. Donald Brooks returns as the top running back with Woody Campbell and Scott Liebert leading the Shamrock offensive line.

Hope leads the Highlands defense. The Bluebirds gave up an average of about 18 points per game last year.

The Highlands offense will face a Trinity defense hit heavily by graduation. Defensive end Jason Hatcher took his talents to the University of Kentucky. But Aaron Roseberry, David Bowling, Adam King and Connor Foos expect to contribute on the defensive line with Jake Savage, Jack Harrison looking to make an impact at linebacker and William Washle and Canon Jackson looking to make noise in the defensive backfield.

“They’re more athletic and fast than most of the teams we play,” said Jaylen Hayes, Highlands senior running back. “They’re returning a few linebackers who are fast. We’re just going to go down there and play our hardest.”

Drew Houliston will take over at quarterback this year. He will be surrounded by plenty of weapons in the Bluebirds Spead offense.  

Game time is 7:30 p.m. in Louisville.

Hope verbally commits to Cornell:

Hope recently verbally committed to play college football for the Cornell Big Red of the Ivy League. That’s the alma mater of Mueller and local restaurant owner Jeff Ruby. It is located in Ithaca, N.Y. Cornell finished 4-6 overall and 2-5 in Ivy League action last year.

The Big Red just hired a new head coach in Jeff Archer. He graduated from Cornell in 2005.

“With Cornell, I was definitely thinking about my future,” Hope said. “I had a few full scholarship offers but I thought in the long-run I had a choice with what I wanted to do with my life. I thought Ivy League was the way to go. After I had the Ivy League decision made, I chose Cornell because I like the campus. It looked like a lot of cool things to do up there. It was a lot less preppy than the other Ivy League schools I saw. It will be the beginning of a new era and I’m glad to part of the new era.”

Field Updates:

Mueller said David Cecil Memorial Stadium will be ready by the season-opener against University Christian out of Jacksonville (Fla.) on Aug. 24. That game starts at 3:30 p.m.

Fans will notice a new press box and scoreboard. Crews have worked diligently throughout the summer to prepare it for the season. The Bluebirds have six home games this year.

“I can’t say enough about our administration,” Mueller said. “They have done a phenomenal job of getting everything ready. I am so pleased the way everything has gone.”

NC scrimmages Holmes:

The Thoroughbreds scrimmage the Bulldogs on Friday at Thomas More College.

Newport Central Catholic scrimmaged Cooper last year and played Holmes in the regular season last year. The schools swapped on the NewCath schedule this year.

The Bulldogs won that contest, 12-7 on Sept. 28. But the Thoroughbreds did not lose game posting nine straight wins on the way to their fifth state championship.

NewCath will be breaking in many new faces fulltime this year after 15 seniors graduated from that team. The vaunted spread offense and 4-4 defenses will return with some tweaks.

“We have a lot of (positions) to replace,” said Dan Wagner, NewCath Head Coach. “It’s nice because they’re familiar with us and know what we want to do.”

The NewCath defense faces Holmes running back Jonathon Scruggs. He was a key piece to the Bulldogs’ Diamond formation offense last year and new Holmes head Coach Ben Nevels will probably build the offense around him.

“It will be good to face a running back the quality of Scruggs,” Wagner said. “It is a challenge and it will give a good idea of how to handle a back of his caliber.”

Game time is 7 p.m.