im pretty sure Newports Nose Gaurd #74 Breandon Johnson would of made a big difference if he had played.

 

Injured?

Injured?

 

Yes, but will return for Walton.

Bradley Boone took his diet seriously over the summer and the first dividends paid off Saturday night. The Mason County senior quarterback, who earned the position after classmate Jake O'Mara went down with an injury prior to the season, led the Royals to a game-winning four-play, 47-yard drive that was capped off by his 3-yard dive with 17 seconds remaining to pull out a 32-28 win over visiting Newport that concluded the rare two-day Meadowview Regional Hospital Kickoff Classic.

 

“He's put a lot of pressure on himself,” Mason County coach David Buchanan said. “I'm really happy for him in this win. I'm happy for all of our kids.”

 

Boone was 7-of-15 passing for 119 yards and two touchdowns along with one yard rushing on three carries and the winning score. Not bad for someone who lost nearly 20 pounds over the summer by removing soft drinks from his diet.

 

“He's been very dedicated to being there for his teammates and I'm very happy for him,” Buchanan said. “I hope that he enjoys this win because he's earned it.”

 

The Wildcats, who began Friday with a strong but empty opening possession, broke through with a 55-yard run by Dominick Joseph in their second possession. Three plays later, Paul Price knifed through the pile from a yard out to draw first blood.

 

The Royals' misfortunes continued on the first play of their next drive when Andrew Kouns coughed up the ball and landed into the hands of Newport's Logan Osbourne at the 45. It was the final play before play was called for the night.

 

The postponement may have been a benefit for Buchanan's team. When he watched the game tape Saturday, he got to review the team's performance and was very critical.

 

“I'm not saying that we couldn't have won but the video of us on Friday was horrible,” Buchanan said. “It wasn't a whole lot better when the game started (Saturday) either but we kept on playing through it.”

 

When the two teams reconvened, neither defense had an answer for their opposition in the second quarter. Joseph capped off Saturday's first drive with a 3-yard scamper and Price found Ryan Ochoa for the conversion for a two-touchdown lead.

 

One minute later, Kouns atoned for his mistake from the night before and put Mason County on the board with a 47-yard burst.

“I didn't say a word to (Kouns) about fumbling because I knew how much it bothered him,” Buchanan said. “I just wanted to sort of leave him alone because he was more than motivated enough to atone for that mistake.”

 

A little more than four minutes later, Drew Spangler's 20-yard catch from Boone narrowed the Royals' deficit to one but Ryan Johnson sliced the extra point.

 

Price continued the track meet with a 46-yard strike to Brian Burton and Tyree Bolden's run moved the lead to nine. The dust finally settled on a 45-yard pitch-and-catch from Boone to Cameron Frame for a 22-19 score at halftime.

 

Buchanan stressed to the group about the marathon rather than the sprint.

 

“We just tried to get our guys to understand that a football game is four full quarters and whether we're winning or losing, the next play is important,” Buchanan said. “I think that we're a little bit more of a mature group, I think they understand that where an immature group, I think, would struggle with that.”

 

The Royals' best chance at taking the lead came on their opening drive of the second half but Boone's fake punt pass failed and it cost them dearly. Price ended an 11-play, 56-yard drive with a 15-yard run for his second score of the contest.

 

“We had it prepared, we just came up a little short,” Buchanan said of the fake punt. “It was doggone close.”

 

At first, the Wildcats almost hammered the final nail into the Mason County coffin when they recovered their onside kick. The Royals defense stood and forced a punt.

 

Mason County cut the deficit to two with 5:28 left in regulation on a 5-yard run by Rico Hill. When Newport failed to answer on its ensuing drive.

 

Boone had 1:24 to continue the team's regular season winning streak to 16 games.

 

It began with a 23-yard pass to Johnson, who drew an unnecessary roughness penalty while going out of bounds. Hill carried twice and, without burning the team's final timeout, Boone legitimized himself as the Royals' quarterback.

 

Buchanan debated whether or not he should've used the timeout before the scoring play but felt his squad had momentum on their side. But with how his team was playing in the last five minutes of the game, he felt like the gamble was worth the risk.

 

“I just thought we were better off to keep pushing,” Buchanan said. “We practice a lot of the tempo, the tornado and the quick stuff. I think that they've got an outstanding football team, I really do, but we also felt like if we could get to the fourth quarter and turn it into a slug fest... if we could turn it into a title fight that goes 15 rounds, we thought that in Round 15 we could maybe land a punch and sure enough, our guys did and I'm proud of them.”

 

Despite being outgained 329-280, Mason County got back in the game with discipline. The Wildcats were penalized 15 times for 116 yards and had a punting average of nearly 24 yards in five attempts. Meanwhile, the Royals had three flags for 20 yards.

 

Mason County hits the road for the first time this season with a trip Friday to Boyd County.

 

Newport 6 16 6 0 — 28

Mason County 0 19 0 13 – 32

 

Boone's heroics push Royals to 32-28 win

im pretty sure Newports Nose Gaurd #74 Breandon Johnson would of made a big difference if he had played.

 

Big kid, I noticed him on the sidelines, was walking fine. What was his injury?