By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM
Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter
For the
second straight year, it came down to the experience against a first appearance
with experience winning out.
The Newport
Central Catholic Thoroughbreds had to use a 21-0 run in the third quarter to do
it. But they managed to pull away from the hungry 10-3 Gallatin County Wildcats
on Friday in Warsaw by a 34-12 count.
NewCath has
appeared in 14 consecutive regional championship games and won it for the ninth
time dating back to 2000 to go with four region championships in the 1980s. But
it definitely did not come easy playing on a grass field for the District 6
champions.
The
Thoroughbreds have also won 21 district championships including 10 in a row.
They are 9-4 following their eighth straight win.
“We started off rough as everyone could tell,” said Wyatt Boberg, NewCath senior wide receiver. “At halftime, our coaches told us to get it
together and we did exactly that.”
NewCath
advances to the state semifinals for the third time in four years against a
familiar opponent in the Somerset Briar Jumpers (8-4). Somerset rallied at
Prestonsburg, 28-21 on Friday. The Thoroughbreds have beaten the Briar Jumpers
in the state semifinals in 2005, 2006 and last year on the way three of their
five state championships.
“I think they got the (anything can happen message)
loud and clear,” said Dan Wagner,
NewCath Head Coach. “We came out and did
what we wanted to do. Give (Gallatin County) credit. They played with a lot of
emotion. We knew we were going to get that. We battled and battled and finally
got it back.”
The
Thoroughbreds avoided the same fate suffered by the team they beat 30-26 to win
the state championship last year. Undefeated and top-ranked Class 2A defending
runner-up Caldwell County (12-1) lost 27-14 to the District 1 foe Murray Tigers
– a team Caldwell County had beaten 42-13 on Oct. 18. Murray (9-4) plays host
to District Louisville DeSales (12-1) in the other 2A semifinal Friday.
NewCath
used more offensive balance to stave off the upset bid. The Thoroughbreds
gained 348 yards on 59 plays to 281 on 66 for the Wildcats.
NewCath
used Jack Sutkamp more out of the backfield than usual. He finished with a
team-high 103 yards on 15 carries. Sophomore Jacob Smith followed with 12
carries for 73 yards.
Senior
quarterback Mac Franzen had another good night passing the ball. He completed
9-of-11 passes for 102 yards and three touchdowns and added another rushing
touchdown. The offensive line protected well for NewCath.
“I think (solid protection) begins in practice,” said Matt Lenz, NewCath senior offensive lineman. “Each and every day, we just work as hard
as we can. The (younger linemen) work just as hard as us. Each and every game,
their confidence is getting better. We need that because they’re a valuable
part of this team. Without them, I don’t think we’d be where we are.”
Smith and
Wyatt Boberg led the Thoroughbreds with two catches each for 44 and 29 yards
respectively. Smith had two touchdowns and Boberg added one.
“There weren’t any major (offensive) adjustments,” said Dave Schneider, NewCath Offensive Coordinator. “We just did a better job with what we were
doing. We had our opportunities in the first half. We had the ball inside the (Gallatin
County) five twice where we should have scored. It’s been a long time since we
played in the mud. It probably had some effect. But it seemed like we had good
footing.”
Gallatin
County quarterback Austin Champan completed 14-of-31 passes for 220 yards and
two touchdowns. Most of that came on the 88-yard drive to end the game that
resulted in a Nate McCoy 34-yard touchdown as time expired. McCoy finished with
five catches for 108 yards and Eversole had four for 72.
The
Thoroughbreds keyed on Gallatin County fullback Chris Brown. He had just 35
yards on 12 carries.
“We did okay,”
Wagner said. “They scored on their first
and last drives. In between, we shut them down. We shut the run down.”
NewCath
scored first when Sutkamp scored from 20 yards out. But Gallatin County
responded when Chapman hit Jeff Eversole on a 29-yard touchdown pass to tie the
game at 6-6. The score remained the same entering halftime as neither team
converted on point after touchdown attempts.
But the
Thoroughbreds came out on fire in the third quarter holding the Wildcats to
zero net yards of offense. Franzen hit Smith for a 29-yard score and John
Caudill made the kick to put Newcath up for good at 13-6.
Franzen
then hit Smith for a 15-yarder at 20-6. Junior Brandon Gray set up the play
with a 23-yard interception return to the Gallatin County 22-yard line.
Franzen
then hit Boberg for a 13-yard score in the third quarter before he scored his
touchdown from a yard out in the fourth quarter. The Thoroughbreds led 34-6 at
that point.
NewCath
finished with 14 first downs and held Gallatin County to just nine. Some of the
Wildcat first downs came on Thoroughbred penalties.
The
Thoroughbreds have eliminated the Wildcats from the playoffs for the third
straight year. But this marked the deepest playoff run for District 5 champion Gallatin
County (10-3) since it started playing varsity football in 2006.
