The Zack Grady era got off to a rocky start Friday night at Morgan Field, as the Newton Tigers fell to Madison St. Joseph 35-22 in the season opener for both teams.
Three interceptions and hiccups in the punting game led to three of the Bruins’ touchdowns, two of which came in the final two minutes of the first half, as Newton went from leading 14-13 to trailing 25-14 at halftime.
Grady attributed some of those mistakes due to the youth of their team, but he also saw a lot of positives come out of the first game.
“We’re just so young, but if you last week’s game and this week’s game, you’d see how much we’ve grown,” Grady said. “I think we’re headed in the right direction. I saw a solid football team in phases tonight, but I think if we will just to continue to work, we’re going to be alright.”
The loss dropped Newton to 0-1 on the season while Madison St. Joe improved to 1-0. The Tigers will host Eupora next Friday night while St. Joseph takes on Tri-County.
After forcing a three-and-out, a solid Newton drive came to halt when London Walker intercepted a Lawrence Morris pass. Seven plays later, the Bruins capitalized on the good field position with a 14-yard touchdown pass, the first of three between quarterback Daniel Clarke and Kiland Harrison. Aiden Lipovetsky added the extra point to give St. Joseph the 7-0 lead with 4:18 left in the first quarter.
Morris shook off the turnover and then helped lead the Tigers on an 11-play drive covering 81 yards, connecting on four of his next five passes. The last of which was a 14-yard strike to Trevion Hillie. Morris ran in the two-point conversion to give Newton an 8-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.
After forcing a three-and-out, Newton drove 52 yards in 10 plays to add to its lead. The key play was Hillie’s 18-yard run on a fourth-down fake punt. Then, the Tigers turned to Desmond Moore, who successfully ran the jump pass to a wide open Tyshun Evans for an 11-yard touchdown. The two-point try failed, but Newton still led 14-7.
The Bruins answered with a fourth-down conversion of their own. This time Clarke connected with Harrison for a 12-yard touchdown. The PAT was blocked leaving Newton with a 14-13 lead with 3:39 to play in the half.
When Madison St. Joseph came to Newton two years ago, a key error in the special teams right before the half doomed the Tigers in close home playoff loss to the Bruins. The same thing happened again Friday night, as a bad snap on a punt attempt gave St. Joseph the ball on the Newton 2. Walker then ran it in to give the Bruins a 19-14 lead after Newton’s Tyler Pruitt batted down the two-point pass with 1:55 left in the quarter.
After another three-and-out by Newton, the Bruins went 55 yards in final 23 seconds of the half on two Clarke-Harrison connections, a 33-yard pass and then a 22-yard strike as time ran out. That gave the Bruins an 11-point lead at the break.
After Newton failed to convert on fourth-and-2 deep in their own territory, Lipovetsky padded the Bruin lead with a 26-yard field with 4:31 left in the third quarter.
Disaster struck just over two minutes later. On fourth-and-8, Josh Briscoe took an errant screen pass 60 yards for the final Bruin touchdown.
In the final four drives that Newton had, three ended on failed fourth-down plays, one of which was a Bruin interception. But the one successful drive took just 39 seconds, as Morris connected with Hillie for a 28-yard completion to the Bruin 2. Jykial White capped off the drive with the 2-yard touchdown and the two-point conversion run, cutting the lead to 35-22.
The last gasp came when Jaquain Roberts recovered a Bruin fumble at the St. Joe 48. However, the Tigers went backward and were turned away on fourth-and-16 run well short of the first down marker.
Trevion Hillie led the Tigers with five receptions for 90 yards and a touchdown with another 45 yards on five rushes. White finished with eight carries for 34 yards and a touchdown.
Lawrence Morris completed 11 of 25 passes for 134 yards and a touchdown with three interceptions.
For the Bruins, Clarke was 11 of 17 for 172 yards and three scores. Harrison caught seven of those for 105 yards and three touchdowns while Jason Green caught the other four receptions for 67 yards.
