Momentum appeared to favor the Newport Wildcats late in the third quarter as they drove to the Newport Central Catholic eight-yard line.
But the host Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds made a defensive stand before pulling away in the fourth quarter for a 22-6 win in the Class 1A, District 3 opener for both teams at Covington Catholic. NewCath (3-4) once again brought back the Fireman’s Bell with its 26th straight win over the Newport Wildcats (4-3). Newport’s last win against NewCath came Aug. 27, 1999.
“Our guys did a great job flying around and making plays,” said Stephen Lickert, NewCath head coach. “We’ve battled through some injuries. But it can’t be like, ‘Oh, we can’t go anywhere without so and so. It has to be about the team and the next player stepping in.”
The defensive stand came with NewCath leading 9-6. Newport drove down the field, setting up a first-and-Goal after quarterback Kyle Lee found Kayveion Sharp for a 19-yard pass play. But after a negative play on first down, Lee threw three straight incompletions. He fired toward the back of the end zone on fourth down. But NewCath senior Mitchell Doeker deflected it down to give the ball back to NewCath.
“I saw the (Newport wide receiver) coming across the middle. I just saw the ball in the air and I had to get in front of it,” Doeker said. “We were ecstatic. It was a game changer.”
NewCath recoreded the game’s two turnovers defensively. Doeker intercepted Lee in the second quarter and Noah Ohradzansky had the other one in the fourth quarter.
The Thoroughbreds stuck mostly to the run with Demetrick Welch leading all rushers with 104 yards on 28 carries to go with a one-yard touchdown in the first quarter.
Five different Thoroughbreds had carries including quarterback Louie Collopy, who has taken over under center after senior Kolton Smith suffered a season-ending injury in the loss at Raceland two weeks ago.
NewCath pinned Newport deep in their own territory in the late stages of the second quarter, downing the ball at the Newport two-yard line. On the Wildcats first play from scrimmage, the ball went out of the back of the end zone to make it 9-0 Thoroughbreds with 3:52 left in the half, making it 9-0.
The Wildcats struggled to run the ball all evening, rushing for negative-11 yards. NewCath sacked Newport quarterback Kyle Lee three times. Senior Kameron Patterson got him twice and Carter Sleet had the other one.
“The whole game plan was to keep (Lee) contained,” Patterson said. “We did that well. I appreciate my team. Even though some people are injured, we still got the win.”
The Wildcats did have success through the air when Lee had time. Lee completed 11-of-20 passes for 167 yards with 85 of them coming on a touchdown pass to Rodzion Thompson to get the Wildcats within three before the half. Thompson caught the ball in the right flat, broke a tackle and raced to the end zone to cut the NewCath lead to 9-6 with 1:10 left in the half. Thompson led all receivers with five catches for 119 yards.
“We made some adjustments and some improvements from previous years to now,” said Ryan Hahn, Newport head coach. “It showed. They made a couple more adjustments than what I made. They made some good adjustments running with the quarterback and running away from the strength.”
NewCath went on a long and sustained drive that culminated with Sleet bulldozing his way to the end zone from 15 yards out to put the Thoroughbreds up 16-6 with 8:09 left in the game. After Doeker’s interception and a pass interference penalty, Collopy completed his lone pass five yards to Landon Kraft for a score with 3:38 left.
“We do this one drill where you have to keep your balance,” Sleet said. “So without that drill, I don’t think I’m making it another five yards. We all make each other better. If you stay on your feet, you’ll get somewhere.”
Both teams continue district play next week. Newport travels to Bellevue (3-5) on Thursday at 7 p.m. NewCath plays host to Dayton (3-4) at 7 p.m.
THOROUGHBREDS 22, WILDCATS 6
NEWPORT — 0-6-0-0 — 6
NEWCATH — 7-2-0-13 — 22
Scoring Plays
1st Quarter
(NewCath) Demetrick Welch 1-yard run (3:27) Owen Roeder kick
2nd Quarter
(NewCath) Safety (3:52)
(Newport) Rodzion Thompson 85-yard pass from Kyle Lee (1:10) pass failed
4th Quarter
(NewCath) Carter Sleet 16-yard run (8:09) Roeder kick
(NewCath) Landon Kraft 5-yard pass from Louie Collopy (3:38) kick failed
Game Stats
Passing Yards: Newport 156 (Lee 11/20), NewCath 5 (Collopy 1/4)
Rushing Yards: Newport -11 (Thompson 4-5, Stachel 1-(-1), Lee 7-(-15), NewCath 195 (Welch 28-104, Collopy 8-35, Bivens 7-35, Sleet 2-17, Doeker 1-4)
Receiving: Newport 156 (Thompson 5-119, Lowe 3-17, Sharp 1-20, Farrell 1-6, Stacks 1-5), NewCath 5 (Kraft 1-5)
Turnovers: Newport 2, NewCath 0
Penalties: Newport 7-38, NewCath 4-25
Records: Newport 4-3, NewCath 3-4