Newsome runs over Gaither
By Evan Abramson
The Newsome Wolves (6-4 during the regular season) did a great job as they came to Gaither high school (8-2 during the regular season) and won the day 52-7 with the help of a stellar rushing performance and a solid impenetrable defense.
With the Wolves 524 rushing yards, it was pretty clear that the Cowboys were not ready for this rushing attack in this district 7A Regional Quarter Final playoff game. “Putting it simple and brief, it was just plain awful and embarrassing” said second year Gaither Head Coach Jason Stokes.
During the first half alone, the Wolves were able to dominate all aspects of the game and put up an impressive 31 points while the cowboys remained silenced. But thanks to a 63 yard drive, decent blocking, and a moderately paced running game, the Cowboys were able to put up 7 points on the board early in the 4th quarter.
“With all my rushing yards, I didn’t really care that I threw for 20 yards in the night. The run was working, it got the job done, and I am satisfied with my performance” said Newsome Senior Quarterback, Will Worth.
By himself, Worth put up an impressive 190 rushing yards, including 2 rushing touchdowns, a passing touchdown, 20 passing yards, and only one interception. Also doing his part was Newsome Junior Fullback, John Hendricks with 94 rush yards and one touchdown. Many other players helped out in the night, but a special shout out to the offensive line was in order for their hard work and their nice blocking which allowed several players to get the much needed yards their team needed to come through with a win was key to a victory according to Worth.
“Great preparation was done and we just need to go over a couple of things on the chalk board and we should be in good shape to get the next W (win)” said Newsome Head Coach Kenneth Hiscock.
According to the Gaither and Newsome coaching staff, the penalties amount was overwhelming. Both admitted a goal was to lower them and compared to the past, they did so, but 14 were still too high.
“We saw what they were capable of doing from the very first drive where they scored. We knew before this game what they were capable of. We just didn’t execute correctly and we didn’t play our best clearly” said Coach Stokes.
Overall, the Cowboys at home were able to score one touchdown eventually, putting up 95 offensive yards overall, 60 rushing, 35 passing, and they were just outplayed in Coach Stokes opinion. On average this season, the cowboys squad was able to put up 154 passing yards and 123 rushing yards, but didn’t get it done this night.
“In my honest opinion, I feel like we didn’t do anything right. We didn’t block, we didn’t make tackles, we didn’t throw very well, we didn’t run very well, I don’t know what we did well” said Coach Stokes.
“Embarrassing. Our passing game was off and that threw all of us off” said Coach Stokes.
At some point during the game though, it seemed as if something had just happened impacting Junior Cowboy Quarterback Alex McGough, and he just limped and limped on and off the field every change of possession. “Some might call it a punishment, and some might call it a lesson, but I decided to make my kids stay out on the field as long as possible and denied the optional running clock” said Coach Stokes.
With this win, the Newsome Wolves go on to face the undefeated Durant Cougars in the regional semi-finals. For the Cowboys, a period of thinking about their play tonight will occur and players of all class will try and improve on it and become the team that is respected and known as champions expressed by Coach Stokes.