Warriors outpaced by Newman Knights 62-24

Newman Catholic compiles school-record 687; Rockford’s Bushbaum throws for 410

By Andrew Larson

sports@charlescitypress.com

MASON CITY — Had Friday night’s game at Newman Catholic only been 12 minutes long, the Warriors would have gone home happy with a 12-0 victory.

However, after Rockford took a two-possession lead by the end of the first quarter, there still remained three more quarters of football to play and they were not as kind to the Warriors as the first had been as they ending up losing, 62-24.

Rockford got off to a very impressive start, thanks to a 100-yard interception return for a touchdown by junior Wesley Johnson midway through the first. Shortly after Rockford took advantage of another Newman miscue, this time a Knight fumble, and eventually turned it into a 2-yard plunge into the end zone by junior Tanner Grady.

As accident prone as they were in the first quarter, the Knights let the whole stadium know who the more physical team was and they did it often in the second quarter, where they scored 34 points. Senior running back Peyton Scott, scored three times during the surge, including an 84-yard run put Newman Catholic up 20-12.

Rockford scored two more times in the third quarter. Johnson got to show off his sprinting skills once again, this time on a 70-yard catch and run that went all the way to the house.

Then senior tight end Weston Engels got in on the action on the Warriors’ next possession, powering his way to a 69-yard touchdown catch and run.

Both passes came from Zach Bushbaum.

It wouldn’t be enough to match the Knights in the quarter, however, who cared very little for the Warriors’ defense on their way to four touchdowns during the quarter, two coming from senior fullback Skylar Alexander who had three total scores on the night, to complete the homecoming rout.

Alexander had 200 yards on 29 carries, but that didn’t even lead the Knights, who 253 more yards on just 16 carries from senior Scott.

The Knights compiled 687 yards of total offense, which is a school record.

The Warriors put up some impressive numbers themselves. Bushbaum threw for 410 yards on 18 of 38 passing. Grady was the recipient of most of that with 228 yards on 13 receptions.

After the game, Warriors head coach Nick Johnson took heart from the potential his team showed on the night.

“We saw some good things early on, but what we need to do in that situation is keep the throttle down,” Johnson said.  “Make them believe they can’t win. We call that ‘slitting the throat’. The good news is we learned we can do some things on offense.”

The loss moves Rockford to 0-5 on the season and 0-3 in Class A-3 District games, while Newman Catholic improves to 4-1 and 2-1.

Next Friday, the Warriors travel to North Butler; Newman Catholic will travel to West Hancock.

NEWMAN CATHOLIC 62,

ROCKFORD 24

Scoring by Quarter

Rockford 12 0 12 0 — 24

Newman Catholic 0 34 28 0 — 62

Scoring Summary

R – Wesley Johnson 100 interception return (Run failed) 6-0, 1:47 1st.

R – Tanner Grady 2 run (Pass failed) 12-0, :03 1st.

NC – Skylar Alexander 5 run (Caden Kratz kick) 12-7, 10:18 2nd.

NC – Peyton Scott 6 run (Kratz kick) 14-12, 9:43 2nd.

NC – Scott 84 run (kick failed) 20-12, 6:29 2nd.

NC – Scott 4 run (Kratz kick) 27-12, 1:00 2nd.

NC – Josh Fitzgerald 7 pass from Austin Eckenrod (Kratz kick) 34-12, :04 2nd.

NC – Alexander 8 run (Kratz kick) 41-12, 9:29 3rd.

R – Johnson 70 pass from Zach Bushbaum (Pass failed) 41-18, 9:10 3rd.

NC – Eckenrod 2 run (Kratz kick) 48-18, 6:17 3rd.

R – Weston Engels 69 pass from Bushbaum (Pass failed) 48-24, 5:19 3rd.

NC – Alexander 38 run (Kratz kick) 55-24, 3:54 3rd.

NC – Ben Jacobs 28 run (Noah Jorgenson kick) 62-23, 1:07 3rd.

PASSING — R — Zach Bushbaum 18-38-4 410 2 TDs; NC — Austin Eckenrod 8-16-1 138 TD.

RECEIVING — R — Tanner Grady 13-228, Weston Engels 5-68 TD, Wesley Johnson 1-69, Kaden Lyman 1-14, Dillon Schriever 1-29; NC — Josh Fitzgerald 4-74 TD, Peyton Scott 2-38, Brady Gatton 1-15, Ian Holmgaard 1-11.

RUSHING — R — Tanner Grady 12-28 TD, Weston Engels 3-6; NC — Peyton Scott 16-253 3 TDs, Skylar Alexander 29-200 3 TDs, Ben Jacobs 5-44 TD. Jac Leininger 8-33, George Schmit 1-15.