The Firemen’s Bell isn’t going anywhere.
Newport Central Catholic extended its dominance in the crosstown rivalry Friday night, slogging through a mistake-filled 26–6 win over Newport at Dixie Heights to claim its 28th straight victory in the series.
It wasn’t pretty. The two teams combined for 10 turnovers, five each, in a game where miscues and missed opportunities were the rule rather than the exception. But it was NewCath that managed to make the most of the chaos, turning several Newport giveaways into points to pull away after halftime.
“Our guys are gaining a lot of confidence,” Thoroughbreds coach Stephen Lickert said. “We’re still not playing our best football yet and that’s a good thing, but at some point it’s going to cost us if we don’t fix our issues and take care of our business.”
The first half was one both sides might rather forget. There were as many turnovers (six) as points, with the Thoroughbreds taking a 6–0 lead into the break after quarterback Emmanuel Miles connected with Jack Stevie for an 18-yard touchdown strike thanks to a Newport fumble inside their own 20.
Eventually, one of the many turnovers was bound to produce a defensive score — and it did in the third quarter. Vander Hundemer took on a deflected pass and returned an interception 20 yards for a touchdown, stretching the lead to 12–0 and draining momentum from the Wildcats.
“I saw that ball coming up and saw the end zone. I wasn’t going down when that dude grabbed me,” Hundemer said.
It was Hundemer’s first career varsity touchdown.
From there, the Thoroughbreds found their footing. Eddie Bivens broke loose for a 37-yard touchdown run to push the advantage further, and Miles and Stevie hooked up again for a 24-yard score to seal it late.
“We saw the defense was out there killing it for us and after that interception we saw Vander have, we just flipped the switch on offense,” Bivens said. “We finally started playing our game and doing what we know we could do.”
Newport avoided the shutout in the final minutes when Jaden Conley found DeMarco Jackson for a 30-yard touchdown, but it was too little, too late.
The victory marked NewCath’s second straight win and third of the season, continuing a midseason turnaround after a 1–4 start. Bivens powered the ground game with 76 yards on 16 carries, while Miles threw for 139 yards and two touchdowns and added 74 more on the ground.
For Newport, the absence of star playmaker Kendall Buck-Barber loomed large. Without him, the Wildcats struggled to generate offense, finishing with just 151 total yards and turning the ball over five times. Their defense held tough early, but the offensive miscues proved too much to overcome.
“At halftime we told the guys we were one play away from taking the lead,” Wildcats coach Paul Wiggins said. “It came down to execution and doing what you’re supposed to do and at times we’ve had trouble doing that.”
With the win, Newport Central Catholic keeps the Firemen’s Bell on “The Hill” for yet another year — 25 and counting — and does so looking like a team that has rediscovered its confidence.
“During the bye week, we got back to the basics of reading our keys and getting lined up and focusing on the right stuff,” Lickert said. “Just the simple basic things we do all summer we got away from and the bye week helped refocusing on that.”
Newport dropped to 3-4 and the hope is Buck-Barber will be back by the end of the regular season and in time for the playoffs. For now, they’ll look to navigate a way to a home playoff game if they can beat Bellevue and Dayton over the next two weeks.
“There’s no amount of words I can say to take the sting off losing an opportunity to get the bell back,” Wiggins said. “But we still have part of our destiny in our own hands. I reminded the guys we lost this game last year and then were one play away from going to the semifinals in the playoffs.”
PHOTOS: Slideshow provided by Charles Bolton
THOROUGHBREDS 26, WILDCATS 6
NEWPORT — 0-0-0-6 — 6
NEWPORT CENTRAL CATHOLIC — 6-0-6-14 — 26
Scoring Plays
1st Quarter
(NCC) Miles 18-yard pass to Stevie (2:58) Pass failed
3rd Quarter
(NCC) Hundemer 20-yard interception return (2:32) Run failed
4th Quarter
(NCC) Bivens 37-yard run (9:51) Mazzoca kick
(NCC) Miles 24-yard pass to Stevie (2:54) Mazzoca kick
(N) Conley 30-yard pass to Jackson (1:09) Pass failed
Game Stats
Passing Yards: Newport 94 (Sharp 4/15, 34 yds, 3 INT, Conley 4/5, 60 yds, TD), Newport Central Catholic 139 (Miles 11/17, 2 TD, 2 INT)
Rushing Yards: Newport 57 (Sharp 7-25, Conley 6-19, Roper 12-8, Harrington 1-3, Hurry 3-2), Newport Central Catholic 158 (Bivens 16-76, Miles 12-74, League 4-8)
Receiving: Newport (Jackson 3-44, Holder 2-21, Roper 1-16, Brandt 1-9, Conley 1-4) Newport Central Catholic (Stevie 3-59, League 1-43, Schirmer 2-18, Bivens 4-10, Messmer 1-9)
Turnovers: Newport 5, Newport Central Catholic 5
Penalties: Newport 11-76, Newport Central Catholic 6-35
Records: Newport (3-4, 0-1), Newport Central Catholic (3-4,1-0)