The Bearcats did improve their schedule quite a bit. This is the sixth year of the program's existence. Building a program is process that has no shortcuts. The culture has to be developed and built on that foundation. Walton should have their best team yet next season. The Bearcats had the majority of their contributors as the season went on who were underclassmen. NC is the Class of AA in the state and gives vision to where Walton wants to be.

Hopefully the basketball parents don't have kids playing football.

 

No worries big guy. The basketball parents you are trying to make a jab at all left for other schools. All is well for more good football.

 

Congratulations to the Bearcats on their great season. They have nothing to hag their head about. Congrats to the Breds...no hopefully they can get another title.

No worries big guy. The basketball parents you are trying to make a jab at all left for other schools. All is well for more good football.

 

Congratulations to the Bearcats on their great season. They have nothing to hag their head about. Congrats to the Breds...no hopefully they can get another title.

 

Glad to hear. Hopefully patience rules and the program continues to evolve.

Congrats to NCC for moving on. Nice season for Walton but full of injuries and other pitfalls. They battled on and the future is bright for them.

Best arm of the night was the ref who could throw a penalty flag from 30 yards downfield over the heads of 22 players and 4 other refs into the NCC backfield to call a penalty. Very impressive. I think the second half started with at least 4 penalties on 4 or 5 plays. NCC a hold that wiped out the long kickoff return, NCC with a hold that reduced a long run to a 15 yards gain, NCC with a chop block that brought back another gain, WV with a face mask.

Best arm of the night was the ref who could throw a penalty flag from 30 yards downfield over the heads of 22 players and 4 other refs into the NCC backfield to call a penalty. Very impressive. I think the second half started with at least 4 penalties on 4 or 5 plays. NCC a hold that wiped out the long kickoff return, NCC with a hold that reduced a long run to a 15 yards gain, NCC with a chop block that brought back another gain, WV with a face mask.

Need to keep same area refs calling the games.

Mac Franzen was sensational. 181 rushing yards and 153 passing yards out of the 494 total yards of offense the Breds put up. Breds defense with yet again another fantastic performance. Good game plan by Coach Wagner and his defensive coaches. Breds looked focused on the job at hand during pregame warmup. They seem to play with a certain swag this time of year and the coaches do a great job not letting them look ahead.

Mac Franzen was sensational. 181 rushing yards and 153 passing yards out of the 494 total yards of offense the Breds put up. Breds defense with yet again another fantastic performance. Good game plan by Coach Wagner and his defensive coaches. Breds looked focused on the job at hand during pregame warmup. They seem to play with a certain swag this time of year and the coaches do a great job not letting them look ahead.

 

If not for a "phantom" holding call, you could add 76 more.

By Dave Malaska

 

NEWPORT, Ky. – The offense may have provided the flash, but it was Newport Central Catholic's defense that brought the thunder as the Thoroughbreds shut out Walton-Verona, 36-0, Friday night to advance to next week's Class 2A regional final.

 

In a cold drizzle at Newport Stadium, NewCath held the Bearcats' powerful ground game off the scoreboard and to just 164 yards of total offense. The Bearcats came in averaging 34 points per game behind the backfield of Mason Compton and Chris Latimore, who combined for more than 2,000 rushing yards this season.

 

Friday night, Mason fought hard for 97 yards on 26 carries. Latimore finished with 45 on 15 carries.

 

"We repped on them all week, knowing we had to stop 37 (Compton) and 39 (Latimore). They're big, strong ball carriers," said NewCath coach Dan Wagner. "We did a great job tonight, keeping them from hurting us. I think we've been tough against the run all year, but we did a great job tonight."

 

Meanwhile, senior quarterback Mac Franzen led the 'Breds with 181 rushing yards — including a second quarter 94-yard scoring run — and 153 passing yards as NCC galloped to the win. Franzen rushed for two scores and threw for another while sophomore running back Jacob Smith added 110 yards on 15 carries and his own score as the Thoroughbreds put up 494 yards of offense.

 

Early in the game, the it looked like the Bearcats would draw first blood, though.

 

Walton advanced to the NCC 30 on the opening drive of the game, helped by a roughing the punter penalty at midfield, but NewCath's defense made its first big play of the night to keep the game scoreless.

 

On third-and-11, NCC's Michael Runyon intercepted quarterback Justine Kline's throw at the 2-yard line. Pinned deep, the Thoroughbreds went three and out on the ensuing possession.

 

It would be their only ineffective possession of the night, getting five scores over their next six possessions and driving to the Walton 1-yard line the only time they failed to put points on the board.

 

NewCath went up, 7-0, on a 12-yard pass from Franzen to Brandon Gray a minute into the second quarter, capping an 11-play, 86-yard drive. The next time they touched the ball, Franzen broke through the line then beat the defense down the sideline for a 94-yard run that put NCC up 14-0 at the half.

 

The Breds opened the second half with another long drive, going 74 yards in 12 plays to go up by three scores on a 1-yard end zone dive by senior Jack Sutkamp. Later in the third quarter, Franzen ran for his second rushing touchdown from 20 yards out to cap a 59-yard drive.

 

NewCath put the final nail in the coffin of Walton-Verona's season at the start of the fourth quarter when Smith scampered in from nine yards out to make it 36-0.

 

NCC will face Gallatin County in next week's regional title game. The Wildcats beat Carroll County, 49-26, on Friday.

 

Along with bottling up Walton's running game, NCC also teed off on Kline, the Bearcats' quarterback. The junior completed only two of 11 passing attempts for 21 yards. The Thoroughbred defense added four hurries and two tips to Runyon's interception in the harassment of Kline.

 

"We've thrown better this year, but Newport has great pass rushers," said Walton coach Jeff Barth. "They're a great football team. Hell, they're the defending state champion. That's no secret."

 

"We started the year with 45 (players) and ended it with 27 and equipment," he added of his injury-riddle squad. "I'm damned proud of the 27 that finished the season. We're still building our program. Obviously, we're not where we want to be yet, but we're making the right strides."

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

The Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds football team can easily add this clause to the old saying, “Winning is contagious.”

Shutting out second-round Class 2A playoff opponents is also contagious.

The Thoroughbreds did that for the third straight year and fifth time since 2004 with a 36-0 blanking of the Walton-Verona Bearcats on Friday at Newport Stadium. The 8-4 Thoroughbreds advanced to their 14th consecutive regional title game as a result.

“This was the best game we’ve had so far other than that one drive where we had some penalties,” said Dan Wagner, NewCath Head Coach. “All you want to do is try to keep getting better. I said from the beginning that it’s amazing that you don’t have to tell these kids to work hard. We go out and off they go. It’s all a credit to the seniors.”

NewCath blanked Covington Holy Cross (52-0) last year in the second round and Lloyd Memorial (49-0) the year before. The other two second-round shutouts came in 2007, also against Holy Cross (28-0) and in 2004 against Fairview (42-0).

NewCath has not lost in the second round of the playoffs since 1999. That came in the form of a 28-6 loss to Bellevue.

The Thoroughbreds also recorded their third shutout of the season. They blanked Bishop Brossart (41-0) and Covington Holy Cross (48-0) in district action during the regular season.

The Thoroughbreds dominated the line of scrimmage against the Bearcats (9-3). NewCath gained 492 yards of total offense and 16 first downs on 50 plays to 168 yards and eight first downs on 55 plays for Walton-Verona.

Defensively, NewCath focused on Walton-Verona junior running back Mason Compton. He finished with 100 yards rushing on 26 carries.

“I can live with that,” Wagner said. “We stuck them pretty hard. In the first quarter, we roughed the kicker and gave them a few more downs but after that, we stopped them and they really didn’t get close (to scoring). I’m happy with the way they performed (defensively).”

NewCath did most of its damage on the ground rushing the ball 40 times for 372 yards. Senior quarterback Mac Franzen led the way gaining 179 yards on 12 carries to go with two touchdowns and sophomore Jacob Smith had 16 carries for 145 yards and a score.

“The offensive line played really well,” said Dave Schneider, NewCath Offensive Coordinator. “They had a really nice week of practice and they’re starting to gel. We ran a trap several times and they did a nice job executing the trap. It will be interesting to see how we progress as teams start to get better.”

Franzen also completed 6-of-10 passes for 120 yards. He completed a 12-yard score to Brandon Gray to give NewCath the only touchdown it needed in the second quarter.

But Franzen broke loose for a 94-yard touchdown run later in the quarter. That gave the Thoroughbreds a 14-0 lead after John Caudill made the second of four extra-point attempts.

The Thoroughbreds added to their lead in the third quarter. Jack Sutkamp scored from a yard out and Franzen scored on a 20-yard scamper to put NewCath up 29-0.

“They definitely trust (Franzen),” Schneider said. “He is our leader. He’s done a nice job maturing into that position. It took a while. But he’s done a nice job.”

NewCath scored one more time in the fourth quarter. Smith scored on a 9-yard run.

Off to Warsaw:

NewCath hopes to capture its 9th Region crown since 2000 on Friday at Gallatin County.

The Wildcats downed Carroll County, 49-26 to make it to the regional title game for the first time in school history with a school-record 10-2 record. They are in their eighth season of varsity football and had just one playoff win prior to this year. They moved into Class 2A in 2011.

“They run a Tony Franklin (Spread) system,” Wagner said. “It similar to what Bellevue runs so we have to get prepared. It’s the first team that we’ve seen throw the ball (a lot) in a while.”

The Thoroughbreds have only faced the Wildcats twice in school history and they happened to be in the first round of the playoffs the previous two years. NewCath won last year’s game 49-13 after beating the Wildcats, 56-0 two years ago.

Gallatin County does like to throw the ball. Quarterback Austin Chapman had completed 92-of-176 passes for 1,930 yards in 11 games for the District 5 champions, who only beat one-win Holy Cross, 26-19 in the first round of the playoffs.

His leading target has been Nate McCoy. McCoy has 47 catches for 1,062 yards and 13 touchdowns in the first 11 games.

The Wildcats have had three players rush for more than 355 yards. Chris Brown leads the way with 869 yards and 11 touchdowns.

NewCath is a perfect 12-0 all-time against teams from District 5. The Thoroughbreds have never played Trimble County.

 

Fort Thomas Sports: NewCath records fifth second-round shutout since 2004

After a quick 1st quarter, time wise, the Breds roll on. Mac Franzen was the star of the game tonight, running the ball and passing. Beside his 94 and 12 yard TD runs, he had a 76 yarder called back for a "phantom" holding call. Don't know the passing numbers, but he looked good there as well.

 

The Breds run defense with another "stellar" job tonight, curious to see the final numbers. Walton-Verona's Mason Compton had a few nice runs (34 and 15 yards), but other than that he was shutdown, as well as, Chris Lattimore. The Walton passing game was "hurried" all night by the Breds "D" line getting in the backfield, I think Kline complete only 2 passes all night, one on the 1st series and one on the last.

 

The 1st quarter Walton takes the opening kickoff and after a 1st down are forced to punt, but a "gift" running into the kicker call extends the drive. However, a few plays later Brandon Gray with the INT on the 2 and the Breds take over. Breds are forced to punt after one series, and the Bearcats likewise. The quarter ends with the Breds marching.

 

A few plays into the 2nd quarter, Mac Franzen hits Brandon Gray in the endzone for a 12 yard TD. Following a Walton-Verona 57 yard punt down to the NewCath 6, Mac Franzen takes off up the middle and hits the sideline and goes 94 yards for the score. The half comes to a close as Walton has a very nice "goal line" stand, as Jake Smith is denied the endzone on 4th and 1 from the 1.

 

Breds get the ball to open the 3rd quarter and a few plays in Mac Franzen again on a QB keeper outraces everyone down the sideline for the 76 yard run, but the "phantom" holding call brings it back. However, the Breds move the ball down the field and Jack Sutkamp finishes the drive off with a 1 yard run. On the extra point attempt, the snap is high and holder Mac Franzen races to the pylon for the 2pt. conversion. The Bearcats turn it over on downs on their next possession, and a few plays later Mac Franzen with a "nifty" run from 21 yards out pushes the score to 29-0.

 

The Breds Jake Smith scores from 10 yards out less than a minute into the 4th on one hell of a run to start the running clock. Walton again turns the ball over on downs and the Breds end the game taking a knee at the Bearcats 13.

 

Congrats to the Walton-Verona players and staff on yet another great season (9-3 overall), this is a program heading in the right direction year after year. :thumb:

 

2nd Quarter

NewCath - Mac Franzen 12 yd TD pass to Brandon Gray (Caudill kick) 11:05

NewCath - Mac Franzen 94 yd TD run (Caudill kick) 7:39

 

3rd Quarter

NewCath - Jack Sutkamp 1 yd TD run (Mac Franzen run) 7:50

NewCath - Mac Franzen 21 yd TD run (Caudill kick) 2:38

 

4th Quarter

NewCath - Jake Smith 10 yd TD run (Caudill kick) 11:02

 

Sorry to Mikey Runyon, he made the INT.

Congrats to NCC for moving on. Nice season for Walton but full of injuries and other pitfalls. They battled on and the future is bright for them.

 

They started with 42 and finished with 27, that's a 35% difference.

That was #20 Mike Runyon with the pick. By the way, that was definitely a phantom holding call, I watched it this morning.

They started with 42 and finished with 27, that's a 35% difference.

45 players...

Starting with 45 and ending with 27 may sound bad but it is actually a sign that those 27 know what it takes to compete at a level where this program hopes to get to eventually. A lot of the newer programs suffer a dip in numbers after the "charm" of fielding a football team wears off but they will get the numbers eventually. Heck it is likely the school is headed towards 3A size in a few more years.