Thanks to the Nkysports.com crew for allowing me & nkypete to "invade" the booth.

 

Turnovers doomed the Wildcats, but they have one hell of a team. Congrats on a great year.

 

Tonight we saw a hell of a game turned in by the NewCath offensive line (Colin Hoover, Logan Neff, Kobe Tallon, Jacob Raleigh, & Jacob Wieland) as they opened up plenty of running lanes for Jake Smith. Also, they gave Patrick Henschen all day to throw the ball multiple times.

 

Breds did a great job forcing the fumbles and pouncing on them, a couple from the booth you couldn't tell who came up with them, but pretty sure Eric Anderson came up with one, as well as, Austin Neff who also forced a fumble.

 

The NewCath "D" needs to limit the long pass plays, the Wildcats QB, Paul Price, had quite a few tonight. He had some beautiful passes, especially to Ryan Ochoa.

 

15 NewCath penalties (115 yds.) is not acceptable by any stretch. :poop::no:

 

NewCath

Jake Smith 27/176, 5 TD's

Patrick Henschen 12-19 189, 1 TD

Nate Enslen 4 98, 1TD

Brandon Gray 5-79

 

Newport

Price 11-19 193, 1 TD, 17/54, 1 TD

Joseph 11/36, 1 TD

Ochoa 5-129, 1 TD

NewCath tops rival Newport, 42-26, to advance

 

NewCath junior running back Jake Smith rushed for five touchdowns, while Newport had four critical turnovers Friday night in NewCath's 42-26 win in the regional finals of the 2A KHSAA state playoffs.

 

Smith finished with 176 yards on 27 carries. He helped the Thoroughbreds answer Newport's scores and take advantage of its miscues. NewCath will advance to take on Shelby Valley next week in the state semifinals, after it took down Prestonsburg, 20-14, Friday night. The win marked the second-straight regional title for the Thoroughbreds under second-year head coach Dan Wagner.

 

"Jake's pretty darn good," Wagner said simply when asked about Smith's standout performance.

 

Three fumbles cost Newport dearly in the first half.

 

"Those turnovers were huge," Wagner said. "We tried to get them to do some things that they weren't comfortable doing, but they were still able to throw the ball deep on us. Fortunately, we came out with a win."

 

the rest of the story....NewCath tops rival Newport, 42-26, to advance

Seems to happen every year. New cath plays the brutal early schedule, takes their lumps, get better, peak at the right time, and challenge for the state. No one should be surprised by this. Kudos to Newport on good season

When Price runs 17 times for only 54 yards, you have done an excellent job as a d line. Can't wait to catch this replay. Looks like it is starting to really click.

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

It came down to beating their in-town rivals another time to earn a trip into the mountains of eastern Kentucky.

The Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds football team had to beat the Newport Wildcats (8-5) in the Class 2A, Region 3 finals to earn a third straight trip to the state semifinals. They used their balance and turnovers to accomplish that feat with a 42-26 win at Newport Stadium on Friday.

NewCath (7-5) travels to Region 4 winner Shelby Valley (11-2) this upcoming Friday in the Class 2A state semifinals as a result. Host Shelby Valley held off Prestonsburg, 20-14 in overtime in the region title game.

The Thoroughbreds had beaten the Somerset Briar Jumpers in the previous two state semifinal contests. But Somerset finished a winless 0-10 this year so NewCath will have to travel further away this season unlike two years ago.

NewCath avoided the fate of three years ago. The Thoroughbreds also beat Lloyd Memorial for the second time in the second round of the playoffs that year but lost to Covington Holy Cross, 24-21 in another regular season rematch in the region title game. Holy Cross won the 2A title that year.

In Friday’s win, NewCath took advantage of five Newport turnovers while committing none. The Thoroughbreds recovered 4-of-5 Wildcat fumbles and recorded an interception.

“We told the kids all week there are two things we wanted to learn,” said Dan Wagner, NewCath Head Coach. “We wanted to win the turnovers and we definitely won the turnover battle. The other thing was the discipline end. We had some penalties but they weren’t unsportsmanlike conducts. They were holds. Anyone who knows football knows you can call holding on every play. Those two areas were huge.”

The Thoroughbreds outgained the Wildcats, 415-338 in total offense, including 228-146 on the ground. The Wildcats had 14 first downs to 12 for the Thoroughbreds.

Junior Jacob Smith had another wonderful game for the Thoroughbreds. He rushed for 177 yards on 26 carries and added five touchdowns. John Harris followed with 34 yards on 11 carries.

“Our offensive line played really, really well,” Smith said. “They had great blocks and gave great protection on everything. I give all the credit to the offensive linemen. We thought they’d make some changes (defensively based) on what happened in the last game. But they didn’t and we executed very well.”

The NewCath offensive line protected sophomore quarterback Patrick Henschen well. Henschen completed 12-of-19 passes for 187 yards. Brandon Gray led the Thoroughbreds with five catches for 78 yards and Nate Enslen recorded four for 92 yards.

“Pat had a very confident, mature game,” said Dave Schneider, NewCath Offensive Coordinator. “He did some things he hasn’t done all year. It’s nice to see. The whole group played well. We had to do some five-step drops because (Newport was) taking (the quick stuff) away.”

The one area where NewCath struggled was penalties. The Thoroughbreds had 15 for 125 yards and the Wildcats had just four for 35 yards.

The Thoroughbreds contained the dynamic rushing duo of quarterback Paul Price and running back Dominic Joseph. Price completed 11-of-19 passes for 192 yards and a touchdown. Ryan Ochoa led the way with five catches for 135 yards and Brian Burton had five for 40 yards.

“We knew it was either screen pass or turn and chuck it as far as you can,” Wagner said. “We got burned three or maybe four times on the long pass. We were disappointed with that. But we got the win so that’s all that matters.”

But neither Price nor Joseph ran wild on the ground. Price had 15 carries for 52 yards and a touchdown with Joseph gaining 35 yards on 17 carries and a score.

The Thoroughbreds led 6-0 after the first quarter. Smith scored from a yeard out with 4:32 left in the first quarter.

Newport cut the lead to 6-3 just two seconds into the second quarter when Taylen Spicer hit a 24-yard field goal. But the Thoroughbreds went on a 19-0 run to build a 25-3 advantage.

That started when Smith ran it in from a yard out with 10:33 left in the quarter and continued when Henschen hit Enslen for a 33-yard touchdown pass with 9:29 left. The Thoroughbreds then made it 25-3 when Smith broke free for a 68-yard touchdown.

Newport gained some momentum with 13.1 seconds left in the quarter. Joseph ran it in from a yard out to trim the margin to 25-11 Thoroughbreds at halftime.

The Wildcats kept things close in the third quarter. Price hit Ochoa for a 35-yard score with 9:58 left in the quarter. NewCath led 25-18 at that point before Ryan Hans made a 30-yard field goal to put the Thoroughbreds up 28-18 with 5:53 left in the third quarter.

The Wildcats came closer with 10:14 left in the game. Price scored from three yards out and he ran in the two-point conversion to cut the Newport lead to 28-26.

But the Thoroughbreds put the game away. Smith had runs of a yard and 24 yards with 4:52 and 3:33 left in the game.

NewCath has won 16 straight against Newport dating back to 1999. The Thoroughbreds moved to 43-18-1 in the all-time series.

 

Fort Thomas Matters Sports: Thoroughbred football wins another district rematch

Jacob is a great kid and athlete. I know why his mom moved him I have talked to her before. I was not being negative towards him at all, just would have liked to see him wearing the red and black.

Nice year for Newport. Turnovers were a killer in this one but I was very impressed with NCC's qb tonight.

Jacob is a great kid and athlete. I know why his mom moved him I have talked to her before. I was not being negative towards him at all' date=' just would have liked to see him wearing the red and black.[/quote']

 

You were being negative about the whole Newcath team. To insinuate that the team is nothing without him, is ridiculous. Newcath always find a way to put the right players in the right position, when one is hurt, they're always one or two that steps up and fills the spot. Jacob is an awesome athlete, and would be an asset to any team, but give the BREDS team credit. One player does not make a team, they win as a team lose as a team. Moving on.....

What a good game to watch for the second week in a row. Glad to see Newports run this season and Congrats to NCC. The Refs seemed to have called a good game here tonight maybe missing the one call but overall was done well it seemed. Last weeks Newport-Walton game was very poorly officiated and tonight's match up probably should have been different based on game changing calls. Good luck to the boys of NCC and bring home a trophy for NKY Football.

You were being negative about the whole Newcath team. To insinuate that the team is nothing without him, is ridiculous. Newcath always find a way to put the right players in the right position, when one is hurt, they're always one or two that steps up and fills the spot. Jacob is an awesome athlete, and would be an asset to any team, but give the BREDS team credit. One player does not make a team, they win as a team lose as a team. Moving on.....

You're ridiculous. Thank you.

You're ridiculous. Thank you.

Really???? Lol

You're ridiculous. Thank you.

 

And just how am i being ridiculous?? By stating the truth?? Come on, give the whole BREDS team credit, where the credit is due.

:stop: Let's make a quick turn in this thread before head towards "Albuquerque".

The NCC QB played a heck of a game. I was impressed with his poise and decision making. He's just a Soph, right? If so, he's going to be a good one!

 

To say what if Jacob Smith stayed at Newport is silly, What if B. Johnson (who played a great game) stayed at Holmes?

I agree. The NewCath qb seems to have developed a lot as a player since I saw him play earlier in the season. Making much better decisions with the ball