The Newport Wildcats football team has moved the ball consistently through the air all season averaging an even 198 yards per game in the regular season.
But when the Wildcats have added in some balance with the run, they’ve been even more successful. Newport had that and more scoring 40 unanswered points in a convincing 54-14 Class 1A playoff win over the Holy Cross Indians at Highlands on Saturday. The Wildcats (8-3) hit the eight-victory mark and won a playoff game both for the first time since 2019 with the win.
“We controlled the ball and knew exactly what we were doing,” said Ryan Hahn, Newport head coach. “It was a good team victory for us. There is a lot of things that we have to fix – penalties, stupid mistakes – in all facets of the game.”
Newport rushed in triple-digits for the fourth time this year as a team going for 145 yards on 25 carries. The Wildcats moved to 6-0 when they’ve rushed for 80 or more yards in a game and 8-1 when they’ve rushed for positive yardage.
The rushing and receiving leader in Rodzion Thompson led the way with three touchdowns. Thompson returned two kickoffs including one 70 yards for a touchdown, rushed for 85 yards on seven carries and two touchdowns. Ayden Stachel added 49 yards rushing on five carries and put the Wildcats up for good with a 23-yard touchdown with 1:56 left in the first half to give the Wildcats a 20-14 halftime lead.
Newport quarterback Kyle Lee completed 14-of-19 passes for 245 yards and two touchdowns to seven different receivers. Kayveion Sharp had a team-high 89 yards receiving on three catches and Amontae Lowe had a team-high four catches for 31 yards. Landon Stacks and Keegan Farrell had touchdown receptions as the Wildcats kept Lee upright for the most part, sacked just twice.
“We were more focused (in the second half),” said Carson Sanders, Newport lineman. “We protected our quarterback. It is amazing to see. We block well and (the Newport skill position players) run down for the touchdowns. It brings the energy levels up.”
The Wildcats dominated the trenches on both sides, especially in the second half. Newport sacked Holy Cross quarterback Donovan Ambrocio nine times. Sanders and Sean Hurry led the Wildcats with eight tackles each with Kendall Buck-Barber and Khalil Buck-Barber had seven each. Sanders had five sacks with Sean Hurry and Javon Burke recording three and one sack each. Hurry and Burke also combined on another sack.
Holy Cross (5-6) put up just 118 yards in total offense as the Wildcats made them go backwards in the rushing category, finishing with negative 33 yards. Ambrocio completed 13-of-19 passes for 140 yards to go with one touchdown and two interceptions. Davonte Ryan led the Indians with four catches for 87 yards and one touchdown and Andrew Bales added four catches.
“It was a matter of agility. Our defensive ends had to read the running backs and get to the quarterbacks,” Hurry said. “We really just trail after each other so if one misses a tackle, somebody else is there to fill in. We had a lot of good rushes and closed a lot of gaps on the run plays (in the second half).”
Both teams turned the ball over three times. Sharp and Khalil Buck-Barber had interceptions for the Wildcats and Farrell recovered a fumble. Bales tied the game at 14 with a 33-yard fumble return with 6:47 left in the first half. Ryan and Trevin Figgs also recovered fumbles for the Indians.
Newport opened the game with a long and sustained drive that Lee capped off with a 6-yard touchdown run with 6:19 left in the first quarter. But Holy Cross came back and took its lone lead at 7-6 with 11:12 left in the first half when Ambrocio found Ryan for a 16-yard touchdown pass.
But that lead did not last long. Thompson found the seam for a 70-yard touchdown and Lee ran in the two-point conversion to put Newport up 14-7.
“The first half was great. We blew a coverage on a kickoff and we knew better,” said Bruce Kozerski, Holy Cross head coach. “Other than that one, they didn’t really get any decent returns. But the second half didn’t start well. Before you knew it, we had guys nicked up. We had injuries in spots where we were already thin. If you can’t block at the line of scrimmage, you can’t run the ball. (Ambrocio) played his (tail) off under fire all game long. I’m proud of all these guys. I think they gave us everything they had. They just had nothing left in the tank.”
The Wildcats began to pull away with two late touchdowns. Thompson ran it in from eight yards out. Then after recovering a fumble deep in Indians territory, Lee scored from five yards out with 1:58 left in the third quarter to put Newport up 32-14.
“We were in the locker room (at halftime) talking about everything,” Thompson said. “We just got everything right. We had a little breakdown. We have a lot of young and older kids. But we’re all leaders. We don’t get mad at each other.”
Newport put the game away with 22 points in the fourth quarter. Lee hit Farrell for an 18-yard touchdown pass and Stacks for a 24-yard touchdown pass to give the Wildcats a 46-14 advantage. The game hit a running clock with 1:24 left when Thompson broke free for a 67-yard touchdown run.
Newport goes to District 4 champion Ludlow (7-4) on Friday for the second round of the Class 1A playoffs. The Wildcats pulled off a 16-14 win there Sept. 15. Newport is seeking its first trip to the third round of the playoffs since 2014 and Ludlow has not been beyond the second round even longer than that.
“We know their tough and they only got better,” Hahn said. “But our kids are ready for the test. It’s going to hopefully be a nice Friday Night game for us and we’re going to turn everyone loose.”
Holy Cross graduates nine seniors from this year’s team. But the five wins is the most for the Indians since they drove to the 2A state semifinals in 2016.
WILDCATS 54, INDIANS 14
HOLY CROSS — 0-14-0-0 — 14
NEWPORT — 6-14-12-22 — 54
Scoring Plays
1st Quarter
(N) Lee 6-yard run (6:19) pass failed
2nd Quarter
(H) Davonte Ryan, 16-yard pass from Donovan Ambrocio (11:12) William Fisk kick
(N) Rodzion Thompson, 70-yard kickoff return (11:01) Lee run
(H) Andrew Bales, 33-yard fumble recovery (6:47) Fisk kick
(N) Ayden Stachel, 23-yard run (1:56) run failed
3rd Quarter
(N) Thompson, 8-yard run (3:42) pass failed
(N) Lee, 5-yard run (1:58) pass intercepted
4th Quarter
(N) Keegan Farrell, 18-yard pass from Lee (10:30) Thompson run
(N) Landon Stacks, 24-yard pass from Lee (5:32) pass failed
(N) Thompson, 67-yard run (1:24) Thompson run
Game Stats
Passing Yards: Holy Cross 151 (Ambrocio 13/19, Maddox 1/4), Newport 245 (Lee 14/19)
Rushing Yards: Holy Cross -33 (Figgs 8-19, Bales, 2-minus-2, Maddox 1-minus-3, Colegate 4-minus-7, Ambrocio 13-minus-40), Newport 145 (Thompson 7-85, Stachel 5-49, Lee 11-9, Lowe 2-2)
Receiving: Holy Cross 151 (Ryan 4-87, Bales 4-15, Thornsberry 2-16, Hunt 2-15, Figgs 1-18, Ambrocio 1-0), Newport 245 (Lowe 4-31, Sharp 3-89, Farrell 2-37, Kendall Buck-Barber 2-19, Thompson 1-26, Stacks 1-24, Stachel 1-19)
Turnovers: Holy Cross 3, Newport 3
Penalties: Holy Cross 10-94, Newport 12-100
Records: Holy Cross 5-6, Newport 8-3