Newport entered Friday night fully aware of Holy Cross’ undefeated and historic run — an 11-0 record and the program’s first-ever perfect regular season. The Wildcats spent the week preparing specifically to put the Indians in a position they hadn’t experienced much this year: playing from behind.
“They’re a good team with great athletes, and we wanted to jump out on them because they haven’t been behind much,” Newport head coach Paul Wiggins said.
By the end of the night, Newport found itself in a rare spot as well — the only team all season to finish the job against Holy Cross. For the third straight year, the Wildcats ended the Indians’ postseason run, this time with an 18-3 victory in the Class 1A second round at Scott High School in Taylor Mill.
Newport’s plan unfolded immediately. On the opening drive, quarterback Jaden Conley hit Carvonta Roper for a 20-yard touchdown, giving the Wildcats the fast start they worked for all week.
“They have dominated so many teams,” Wiggins said. “It was big for us to jump on them and put pressure on them. I coached an undefeated team until we got beat in the region championship a few years ago, and I know the pressure.”
For a Holy Cross defense that had allowed just 66 total points entering the game — an average of six per contest — the youth of a roster featuring only five seniors finally showed.
“They’re still young,” Holy Cross head coach Curt Spencer said. “Every other time this year when they’ve faced adversity, they looked it in the eye and overcame it. They struggled with it today. True age showed. We made more mistakes — fumbled inside the one, fumbled a punt, and penalties killed us.”
The game was riddled with miscues on both sides. The teams combined for five turnovers and 24 penalties totaling 263 yards. Newport had two interceptions and 14 penalties for 135 yards. Holy Cross lost two fumbles, threw an interception, and committed 10 penalties for 125 yards.
While mistakes piled up for both teams, the difference was how each responded. Holy Cross’ inexperience surfaced at the worst times; Newport maintained its composure.
Among those were senior Kendell Buck-Barber, who has been part of all three postseason wins over Holy Cross. He delivered again with an interception, 17 carries for 79 yards, and two catches for 44 yards, all team highs.
“I’m a senior and this was important to me,” Buck-Barber said. “I want to play my heart out and give it my all. At any moment it could be my last game, and I don’t want that to happen.”
Newport’s 18 points marked the second-highest total scored on Holy Cross this season; only Bracken County scored more with 24 in Week 2.
The Wildcats’ second touchdown came in the second quarter on a four-yard run by Sean Hurry, answering Holy Cross’ only points of the night — a 37-yard field goal by Gabriel Romito — to take a 12-3 lead into halftime. Conley later extended the margin to 18-3 with a five-yard keeper with 5:22 remaining.
For Holy Cross, this wasn’t just the end of a season — it may be the beginning of something much bigger.
“We’ll be back,” Spencer said. “We had three seniors starting. We’re a year ahead of what everybody projected. We’ll be okay. I believe in these kids.”
Next up for Newport is a familiar road trip: a visit to Kentucky Country Day for the second straight year in the postseason. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. next Friday.
More photos below, provided by Charles Bolton:
WILDCATS 18, INDIANS 3
NEWPORT — 6-6-0-6 — 18
HOLY CROSS — 3-0-0-0 — 3
Scoring Plays
1st Quarter
(N) Conley 20-yard pass to Roper (9:41) Buck-Barber run failed
(HC) Romito 37-yard field goal (3:30)
2nd Quarter
(N) Hurry 4-yard run (2:15) Buck-Barber pass failed
4th Quarter
(N) Conley 2-yard run (5:22) Conley pass failed
Game Stats
Passing Yards: Newport 96 (Conley 7/12), Holy Cross 127 (Ferguson 11/23)
Rushing Yards: Newport 127 (Buck-Barber 17-79, Roper 4-27, Conley 9-16, Hurry 2-3, Z. Sharp 1-2, Chun Perez 1-0), Holy Cross 28 (Ferguson 15-23, B. Thornberry 1-7, Wilson 1-5, Oglesby 5-(minus)3, Maddox 1-(minus)4)
Receiving: Newport (Buck-Barber 2-44, Roper 3-28, K. Sharp 1-19, Jackson 1-5, Llanes 2-0), Holy Cross (B. Thornberry 4-44, C. Johnson 1-27, X. Thornberry 1-23, Maddox 3-18, Hunt 1-10, Oglesby 1-5)
Turnovers: Newport 2, Holy Cross 3
Penalties: Newport 14-135, Holy Cross 10-128
Records: Newport 8-4, Holy Cross 11-1