Christian Academy-Louisville's first four games gave us a pretty good indication that the Centurions were worthy of the top ranking in 2A. Week 0 saw a dominating defensive performance over a good South Oldham squad that's been rolling ever since that loss. CAL followed that up with convincing wins over back to back 6A opponents and 3A #4 Elizabethtown.

 

Newport Central Catholic looked solid, if not great, out of the gate against an improved Scott and an admittedly struggling Cooper. Then, the schedule got real with games against 6A Campbell County and four time defending 3A champ Belfry. The 'Breds took their lumps in those two games, but will likely be all the better for it. Perhaps being exposed to the size and physicality of the Camels and Pirates payed immediate dividends and helped prepare NewCath to knock off the top ranked Centurions as the 'Breds consistently won the battle in the trenches over CAL.

 

It should be noted that CAL appeared to be without the services of it's QB, Austin Carr. They obviously were not at full strength against NewCath, but nonetheless, this was still an impressive performance by the'Breds over the defending champs.

As I said in the game thread...and it is worth mentioning again...

 

The biggest takeaway I had from that game had nothing to do with Austin Carr.

 

NewCath gave CAL all they wanted up front on both sides of the ball, specifically their Defense vs. the CAL Offense.

 

This is without a doubt the most eye opening part of that game and is probably the biggest cause for concern for a CAL Offense moving forward that hasn't exactly been lighting the scoreboard up.

 

Losing Carr was a big blow clearly. Not only do you not have a quality veteran QB, but it also causes you to move Wright from his natural position so in essence it is like losing one and a half players. Yet, even had he played NewCath still would have competed very well in that game simply due in part to the play in the trenches.

My takeaway is this. If you have a strong d-line and have the ability to pressure the qb, wouldn't wright be the better option? He's very mobile. Carr is not. He's better suited scanning the field for the open man.

Is NCC the first team that has controlled the los? If it is, then I really like our chances. Both our O-lines and especially our D-line is solid. We were short 2 on the o-line Friday against FC, and the replacements did a good job. So we have depth.

I have no doubt being without Carr impacted the game. But it did give the best player in 2A the ball in his hands every snap.

We'll find out in about 3 weeks. As always it should be a classic.

I think it's worth mentioning that New Cath was without 2 OL in which sophomores that have not played before this game was taking the place of.

Without watching this game it is impossible to answer the question ask in this thread but it was a huge win for NCC

It's a big win for NCC and a tough loss for CAL but in the grand scheme of things it means nothing. It's a non-district game against a very good opponent for both teams. NCC can use it as positive to build on, CAL can use it as an illustration of their lack of invincibility other then that it's just another game.

I don't know who it says more about, but I sure know who it does more for. The past few years have seen the Breds struggle in big games. Even the semi-final win over Danville was a game of giveaways. This game, NewCath MADE the plays. They caught the interception to ice the game. They scored last and held the lead. They beat a team that is arguably better than Campbell County. This is a great platform to launch the rest of the season off of. We will see when they play Lloyd and Beechwood, but I really think that the confidence boost this gives will be enormous.