The Newton County football team took a huge step forward last week.
The Cougars used a stingy defense and took an 18-14 win over Lanier in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs.
With the win, the Cougars improve to 7-5 on the season and will host Moss Point on Friday night in the second round of the. Class 4A playoffs.
It was a program-defining win for the Cougars under second-year coach Bobby Bass.
“For our program and for our kids, it was a huge win,” Bass said. “This didn’t happen overnight. There was a lot of hard work that went into it. We had our ups and downs this season and had to get some people back healthy. It’s a tremendous win for our program and our kids believing we can go out there and compete with anybody. I think we are bringing back that mentality.”
The game was a defensive battle, especially in the first half. Lanier’s only score in the first quarter came on defense when they scooped up a Newton County score and raced 31 yards for a touchdown. The try for two failed and Lanier led 6-0.
But that lead didn’t last for long as Carlois Walker finally found a game and raced 51 yards for a touchdown. Lee Hill ran in the two-point conversion and Newton County led 8-6.
Lanier then went on a nine-play drive but needed up turning the ball over on downs at the Newton County 15. Three plays later, Walker got free again and raced for a 69-yard touchdown. Hill’s PAT was good and Newton County led 15-6.
“They were doing some things on defense that gave us some trouble,” Bass said. “They were sending guys from everywhere and had all sorts of guys in the box. We had to make adjustments to that and I thought Carlois did a good job of being patient. When there was a crease there, he found it. I thought after he fumbled, he sort of picked up his game. It kind of fired him up and that’s the first time I have seen him show emotion this year.”
County’s only points game midway through the third quarter when the Cougars put together an 11-play drive that ended with a 19-yard field goal with 4:39 left in the game for an 18-6 Newton County lead.
Lanier added a score with 7:19 left in the game to cut the lead to 18-14 but got no closer as County held on to take the win.
“I thought we did a pretty good job of rallying to the football,” Bass said. “I thought we executed pretty well on stopping what they were trying to do. I don’t know if they got frustrated but they tried to start throwing the ball and that’s something they are comfortable doing. I was proud of the way we played on defense. In the past, once we got down, the game was over. It’s the same group of kids but a different mentality. They just rolled with it and found a way to get it back.”
The Cougars had 231 yards of offense as Walker led the way with 187 yards on 24 carries.
On defense, Colin Crowder led the way with 10 solo tackles and nine assists. Kaleb Blackwell had 14 tackles while Christian McGee had 11 and Cam McDonald had 10. Koye Hardaway had nine tackles while Miguel Evans had eight. Tylan McNichols had seven tackles while Carlonte Walker added six tackles and had two pass breakups.
This week’s game
The Cougars will return home this week to take on another hot football team in Moss Point.
The Tigers are 4-6 on the season and beat Stone County 24-23 in the playoffs last week. The Tigers have wins over Pass Christian (31-28), Bay High (49-41), and St. Stanislaus (46-38). They have losses to Pascagoula (33-26), St. Martin (27-21), Ocean Springs (52-26), East Central (67-35), Lakeshore, La. (53-28) and Vancleave (29-22).
“They are very athletic,” Bass said. “I know their coach and have faced their offense for several years. They don’t run it very well but they have athletes and can throw the ball and get it out in space. They do a lot of shifting and motioning and will be a tough game for us on defense. We have to do what we do on offense and limit their possessions. We they do make a play, we have to limit yards after the catch.”
Quarterback Rueben Duece Lee II has thrown for 2,201 yards and 22 TDs. Chanton MIllender leads the offense with 54 catches for 908 yards and 13 TDs while Larry Simmons has 881 yards on 38 catches.
