The Newton Tigers played as hard as they could against the Kemper County, but they visiting Kemper County Wildcats had too many weapons, as they scored 19-unanswered in the second half to defeat Newton 26-8 Friday night at E.L. Morgan Field.
Newton head football coach Zack Grady said he was proud of the way his team fought, but they couldn’t overcome the loss of starting quarterback Tyreke Snow, who was not present for the game. Grady could not comment on why Snow was out for the game.
“We’ve come a long way. We played the No. 2 team in 2A and we fall a little short,” Gradys said. “We were half loaded. So we get everybody back (next week). We should be able to be contenders. We finally building this program to a team that competes, if we could get everybody on the same page.
“I can't say nothing about (why Snow couldn’t play), but it's very unfortunate. It wouldn't happen at south Panola.”
Newton got on the board with just a little over two minutes to play in the first quarter. Jamarveous Reed broke free for a 30-yard touchdown. Then backup quarterback Jaleel Bolton passed to Isaiah Johnson for the two-point conversion to give Newton the 8-0 lead.
However, the Wildcats finally got on the board thanks to a Dicenzo Miller II 3-yard touchdown run. The extra point made it 8-7 at halftime.
Another good Kemper County drive in the third quarter came to an abrupt end, as senior D’Anthony Darby recovered a fumble in the end zone for a touchback.
The Tigers couldn’t convert on the opportunity and the Wildcats added another touchdown on 4-yard touchdown by Aaron Steele.
The Tigers kept fighting and drove into Kemper territory thanks to Bolton pass to Corey Taylor for 28 yards. The drive ended with a sack on fourth down.
On the next play, Miller took it to the house 60 yards for the touchdown. The 2-point conversion failed to make it 19-8.
The Tigers had another opportunity in Kemper territory, but it ended with a punt on fourth-and-long. The Wildcats iced the game with another Steel touchdown, this time from 32 yards out.
Taylor led the team in rushing with 52 yards on seven carries along with a 28-yard pass catch. Bolton had 51 yards on 23 carries. Reed finished with 5 carries for 44 yards and a touchdown.
