The Newton High School football team overcame a sluggish first quarter to bury the Liberal Redskins 32-8 Friday in the season opener at Fischer Field.
“Our defensive play was so good tonight,” Newton coach Brent Glann said. “We put in a brand new offense. With the new rules, we were able to work on it in the summer. We took it up to a camp in Salina, and were able to fine tune it. We executed it well tonight.”
Quarterback Evan Thomas hit seven of 13 passes for 106 yards and a score. Miguel Johns rushed for 94 yards and had four catches for 57 yards. Cody Opland rushed for 93 yards.
Liberal quarterback Slader McVey hit 13 of 31 passes with two interceptions for 120 yards and a touchdown. Charles Turner rushed for 69 yards. Jade Cathey had 52 yards receiving.
After a slow start on offense for each team, Newton used some fakery and some razzle-dazzle in the second quarter to get on the board. At fourth and one in Newton territory, Johns ran the ball 27-yards on a fake punt. On the following play, Thomas hit Johns for a 29-yard pass. Austin Burch finished the drive with a 13-yard scoring run.
Later in the quarter, a 44-yard Johns run and a 20-yard catch from Thomas put the Railers in the end zone. Newton got the ball back, using a 32-yard pass from Thomas to Nathan Briar to set up a scrambling one-yard touchdown run for Thomas with 9.8 seconds remaining. The PAT kick was blocked as Newton, out of time outs, scrambled to get the right people on the field.
Newton struck paydirt six plays in the second half on a 48-yard inside run by Cody Opland. The PAT pass was incomplete.
“Our offense struggled early tonight, but a lot of that was lack of experience,” Glann said. “This was Evan Thomas’ first game ever at quarterback. It took him a while, but when he got in the rhythm, he really played well. Miguel Johns had a great run on the fake punt. Nathan Briar made a great catch. Johns made a great catch.”
On Liberal’s first play from scrimmage, Mike Kelly intercepted the ball, returning it to the Redskin 11. Newton failed to move the ball, settling for a 26-yard Kevin Ronen field goal. Another turnover set up a 21-yard Ronen field goal field goal.
Liberal had a scoring shot early in the fourth quarter after a Newton turnover at the 11, but Briar picked off a pass in the endzone on the following play.
