Last week in a blowout win against Madison St. Joseph, Newton coach Ryan Smith complained to his team about their lack of execution on two-point plays.
This week against Eupora, it was the difference in the game as the Tigers converted all three of their attempts and took a hard-fought 24-19 win over the home-standing Eagles.
The Tigers again put together a balanced offensive attack with 176 yards rushing and 203 yards passing for 379 total yards.
For Smith, it was a solid performance on the road in a hostile environment.
“I was pleased with our performance,” Newton coach Ryan Smith said. “Any time you can go two and a half hours against a quality opponent in a really good environment and get a win, it’s a really good accomplishment. They had a really good crowd that stayed with it to the end. It was a good win for our guys.”
Newton got the ball to start the game and put together a time-consuming 15-play drive that moved the ball inside the Eupora 10. But Newton’s Sirvares Snow fumbled and Eupora came up with the recovery to stall the drive.
“I told them that if we don’t fumble on that first drive and if Tre doesn’t cramp up in the fourth and we finish that drive, it’s probably a different game,” Smith said. “But that’s football and you have to finish drives. If we take those two scores, it’s probably a different game.”
The Eagles answered with a long drive of their own, starting at their own 12 and driving down to the Newton 15 before turning the ball over on downs.
The Tigers got their first score of the game on the next possession when Tre Hillie scrambled to his right and found Javarious Moore behind the Eupora defense for an 84-yard touchdown pass with 11:01 left in the second quarter. Hillie turned right around and hit Zackariah Johnson for the two-point conversion to give the Tigers an 8-0 lead.
Eupora was forced into a quick three and out and Newton went on another long drive, this time going 67 yards in 13 plays as Hillie capped off the drive with a 1-yard quarterback sneak with 4:45 left in the game. Hillie also ran in the two-point conversion and Newton led 16-0.
Eupora threatened again at the end of the half as they put together a nine-play drive and got to the Newton 22 before Jaquan Roberts came up with a big sack to stall the drive and lead the Tigers into the half with a 16-0 lead.
The Eagles got the ball to start the second half and continued to run right at the Tigers, this time putting together a 12-play drive and getting inside the Newton 10. This time, the Eagles snapped the ball over the quarterback’s head and Newton’s Caranday Hardaway scooped up the ball and rambled 74 yards for a touchdown with 6:37 left in the third. Hillie hit Johnson for the two-point conversion as the Tigers took a 24-0 lead.
“One of the things I talked about this week is that there are some things that good teams do,” Smith said. “One is taking advantage of the hidden yardage like fielding punt. The second is scoring on defense and special teams and we did. The third is converting two-point conversion. We didn’t do that last week but converted all three and that was the difference in the game.”
Smith also praised the Newton defense for their play.
“I thought the defense played really well early in the game and the scoop and score was a huge play,” Smith said. “I was really proud of Hardaway. It was his birthday and I thought that was cool for him. He’s a kid that played wide receiver and running back last year and he’s moved over to defense and embraced that role.
Eupora started to fight back from that point. The Eagles got the ball in good field position as Newton miskicked the ensuing kick. Tanner Knight made the Tigers pay as he hit Jalan Potts on a 29-yard touchdown pass with 5:53 left in the third quarter. The try for two failed and Newton led 24-6.
After trading punts, Newton put together an 11-play drive and turned the ball over on downs at the Eupora 12. The Eagles then drove 88 yards in 13 plays as Knight hit Kaylend Coffey on a 7-yard touchdown pass with 4:07 left in the game. The two-point attempt failed and Newton led 24-12.
After the Tigers recovered an onside kick, the offense went three and out and gave Eupora a short field on a short punt. The Eagles covered that 45 yards in three plays as Knight scored on a 3-yard run with 1:44 left in the game.
Hillie had a big game for the Tigers, finishing with 109 yards rushing on 20 carries and passed for 203 yards on 13-of-19 passing. Moore had 102 yards receiving on three attempts.
Zachary Johnson had 45 yards receiving on three catches while Zackariah Johnson had five catches for 49 yards.
