Newport Central Catholic had just shut out Boone County, 40-0 Friday at Covington Catholic, but senior Eddie Bivens didn’t bestow an “A” grade.
“I’d say ‘C’ ‘cause we’ve got more to prove,” Bivens said. “It ain’t a state championship yet.”
NewCath’s offense looked better than average.
Senior quarterback Manny Miles threw for 151 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 98 yards and two more scores. Bivens ran for 78 yards and two touchdowns and caught a third, and senior Grayden Schirmer caught four passes for 80 yards and a score.
NewCath’s defense was equally impressive – four interceptions (including two by Schirmer), two fumble recoveries and just 62 total yards allowed.
What NewCath (1-2) did Friday perhaps was the result of what happened the first two weeks – a 47-14 loss at Lloyd Memorial two weeks ago and Beechwood’s 53-6 thrashing last week.
“I mean, the first two teams we played were probably the best two teams on our schedule,” Schirmer said. “So it really just slowed the game down for when we were playing other teams.”
NewCath coach Stephen Lickert said his team did what it needed to do, but the seven penalties for 45 yards and three missed extra points bothered him.
“We got better, we improved, we found out who our guys are, and our guys went out and played,” Lickert said.
Boone County (2-1) sought its first 3-0 start since 2011. NewCath’s defense dashed those hopes with the six forced turnovers.
“We didn’t execute a lot of stuff that we’ve worked on all week, and then we knew we had to execute against a good team like NewCath,” Boone County coach Dan Court said. “If you don’t execute the little things, teams like that take advantage of you, and they did.”
Miles’ two first-quarter touchdown passes, a 13-yarder to Thomas Messer and a 26-yarder to Schirmer, were basically the same play – find open space between Boone County’s safeties.
“We’ve seen kind of the same defense we ran, so we’ve just be practicing that,” Miles said.
Schirmer’s defense (an interception) and offense (the 26-yard catch) gave NewCath a 15-0 lead with 6:48 to go in the first quarter. Miles capped a 12-play, 60-yard drive with a three-yard run less than four minutes later.
Even Boone County’s best drive ended in disaster. On second-and-7 on NewCath’s 29, Messmer picked off Michael Chiasson two yards deep in the end zone and ran to the Thoroughbred 49.
Miles and Bivens each ran for a score to send the game to the running clock with 1:12 left in the half.
As Lickert left the field, he asked his 8-year-old son Nolan, who brought his friend Cam Moeves, what his favorite part of Friday was.
“Scoring touchdowns,” Nolan said. “And winning.”
THOROUGHBREDS 40, REBELS 0
BOONE COUNTY — 0-0-0-0 — 0
NEWPORT CENTRAL CATHOLIC — 21-19-0-0 — 0
Scoring Plays
First quarter
NCC-Thomas Messer 13 pass from Manny Miles (Eddie Bivens run), 9:27
NCC- Grayden Schirmer 26 pass from Miles (Vincent Mazzocca kick), 6:48
NCC- Miles 3 run (kick failed), 2:52
Second quarter
NCC- Bivens 23 pass from Miles (kick blocked), 10:18
NCC- Miles 6 run (kick failed), 4:31
NCC- Bivens 1 run (Mezzocca kick), 1:12
Game Stats
Passing Yards: Boone Co. 74 (Chiasson 5-13-62-0 TD-3 INT, Goodridge 1-2-12-0 TD-1 INT); NewCath 157 (Miles 8-10-151-3 TD-0 INT, Ramirez 1-1-2-0-0, Fennell 2-2-4-0-0).
Rushing Yards: Boone Co (minus-12) (Johnson 6-6, Diaz 1-3, Randall 2-13, Chiasson 4-(minus-34)); NewCath 223 (Bivens 12-78, League 1-0, Anderson 3-17, Ramirez 3-15, Miles 8-98, Fennell 1-13, Hundemer 1-7, Brooks 1-(minus-5)).
Receiving: Boone Co. 74 (Randall 3-61, Johnson 1-(minus-1), Coughenour 2-14; NewCath 157 (Messer 1-13, Meyer 2-5, Schirmer 4-80, J. Stevie 3-25, Bivens 2-29, Fogelman 1-4).
First downs: Boone Co. 6, NewCath 19.
Turnovers: Boone Co. 6, NewCath 1.
Penalties: Boone Co. 7-45, NewCath 6-55.
Records: Boone Co. 2-1, NewCath 1-2.