After a head-scratching loss to Sumrall last week, Newton County coach Bobby Bass made some changes as he “grounded” his squad and had a physical week of practice.
The Cougars responded with a dominating 49-0 win over Richland on homecoming on Friday night.
Newton County (2-4) will travel to Mendenhall on Friday night in a key 5-4A contest.
Bass said the Cougars got physical this week and it showed on Friday night against the Rangers.
“This was the most physical week of practice we have had,” Bass said. “And it showed up. We were a lot more physical on both sides of the ball. We ran the ball inside and outside. And I thought we controlled the line on defense. There were some licks passed out there, and there were six or seven kids doing it at the same time. When you have that many around the ball, it makes a difference.”
The Cougars got the ball to open the game and drove 70 yards in nine plays, as L.T. Phillips scored on a 5-yard run. Cade Mangum hit the first of his PATs, and Newton County led 7-0.
The Cougars started to pull away in the second quarter. The first score of the second came on a 24-yard touchdown pass from Grey Hale to Tylan McNichols.
The Cougars added another score in the second on a 1-yard run by Kimari Brown. County led 21-0 at the half.
“Nothing against them, but they haven’t played the people we have played,” Bass said. “We played a really good non-division schedule. I think if we can be consistent and do our jobs and play hard, we should see some results from that non-division schedule.”
The Cougars pulled away in the second half as Brown opened up the third with a 57-yard touchdown run. County added an 8-yard run from Phillips and a 16-yard touchdown pass to Bryon Pruitt in the third to lead 42-0.
Jaquez Redwood added a 14-yard touchdown run for the Cougars for the final margin.
“I thought our kids responded well, and we had a good week of practice,” Bass said. “It was a lot more competitive for positions this week, and I think that paid off. I took some privileges away, and somebody called it being grounded. But we played a lot harder, and that was the bottom line. It was a good win for our team.”
The Cougars had their best offensive night of the season with 346 yards rushing on 40 carries. Hale was 8-of-12 passing for 95 yards, giving NCHS 441 yards of total offense.
Brown led the rushing attack with 157 yards on 13 carries and two TDs. Phillips had 129 yards on 18 carries with two TDs. Redwood had 39 yards on six carries with a TD. Bishop Tillman had 35 yards receiving on three catches while McNichols had 27 yards on two catches.
On defense Logan Usry, Bryce Jones and McNichols each had five tackles apiece. Cade Clark and Collier Mangum each had four tackles apiece while Cooper Johnson and Byron Pruitt had three tackles and an interception.
