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By Mark Schnabel
Newton Kansan
The Newton High School football team is probably going to have its toughest test in years at 7 p.m. Friday when the Railers take on unbeaten Bishop Carroll in the regional round of the Class 5A playoffs in Wichita.
Carroll is 9-0, winning the Greater Wichita Athletic League and its district. Newton is 7-2, taking second place in the Ark Valley-Chisholm Trail League Division II and second in its district.
Newton is coming off a 52-27 loss to Carroll’s arch rival Kapaun-Mt. Carmel. Carroll downed Liberal 61-35 to end its regular season.
“This is another good, tough Bishop Carroll team that can move the ball,” Newton coach Brent Glann said. “Their quarterback is headed for Oklahoma, and he’s the real deal. They’ve been putting up points on everyone this season.”
Carroll has outscored opponents 388-137, averaging 43.1 points a game and allowing just 15.2 points a game. During district play, Carroll outscored its opponents 168-35 with all the points against coming from Liberal.
The lowest scoring output for the Golden Eagles is 28 points in the season opener against Wichita Heights. Only two teams have come within 20 points of the Eagles — Wichita Northwest (39-29) and Kapaun-Mt. Carmel (36-34).
Carroll is led by quarterback Blake Bell, who verbally committed to the Sooners. He is averaging about 236 yards passing this season, completing about 64 percent of his passes.
Leading rushers include Brandon Weber, Blake Rollins and Bell. Leading receivers include Weber, Tyler Nance, Danny Crippen, John Mies, Tanner Gilmore, Shane Brittain and Rollins.
Leading tacklers include Aaron Jackson, Max Martinez and Beau Bell.
“They run a spread offense similar to what we run,” Glann said. “They throw the ball a lot more than we do, and they throw the ball well. We’re going to have to limit their possessions. We didn’t play defense very well last week, and we’re going to have to play well on defense against this team. We’re going to have to find a way to move the ball against this team, something we haven’t been able to do the last time we played them.”
This is the third time in four years Newton has played against Carroll in the playoffs. Carroll beat Newton 47-6 in 2007 and 37-0 in 2006. Newton has lost its last five playoff games. The last win for the Railers in the playoffs was 41-0 against Winfield in the first round of the 2002 playoffs.
“We’re not going into this game thinking we’re just happy to be in the playoffs,” Glann said. “We want to play well. We want to win this game. We’ve defied expectations all year. We’d like to continue to do that.”
CLASS 5A PLAYOFF NOTES — In other first-round games, Gardner-Edgerton (9-0) hosts Kansas City Schlagle (6-3), Topeka Seaman (5-4) hosts Kansas City Sumner Academy (6-3), Mill Valley (6-3) hosts St. Thomas Aquinas (8-1), Kansas City Turner (8-1) hosts Shawnee Heights (3-6) at Kansas City Piper, Hutchinson (9-0) hosts Liberal (3-6), Kapaun-Mt. Carmel (6-3) hosts Salina South (5-4), and Emporia (7-2) hosts McPherson (8-1). Newton is 1-2 against playoff teams, beating Liberal 32-8 and falling to Kapaun-Mt. Carmel and McPherson (30-7). Emporia and McPherson join Newton in district play next year. The Railers join Class 6A playoff teams Maize and Derby in Ark Valley-Chisholm Trail League Division I play next year, along with Class 5A playoff teams Hutchinson and Salina South. Newton won’t play Derby next year. Newton plays Class 4A playoff team Andover in week two of next season, meaning Newton will play 2009 playoff teams in each of the first four weeks of next season.
By Mark Schnabel
Newton Kansan
The Newton High School football team is probably going to have its toughest test in years at 7 p.m. Friday when the Railers take on unbeaten Bishop Carroll in the regional round of the Class 5A playoffs in Wichita.
Carroll is 9-0, winning the Greater Wichita Athletic League and its district. Newton is 7-2, taking second place in the Ark Valley-Chisholm Trail League Division II and second in its district.
Newton is coming off a 52-27 loss to Carroll’s arch rival Kapaun-Mt. Carmel. Carroll downed Liberal 61-35 to end its regular season.
“This is another good, tough Bishop Carroll team that can move the ball,” Newton coach Brent Glann said. “Their quarterback is headed for Oklahoma, and he’s the real deal. They’ve been putting up points on everyone this season.”
Carroll has outscored opponents 388-137, averaging 43.1 points a game and allowing just 15.2 points a game. During district play, Carroll outscored its opponents 168-35 with all the points against coming from Liberal.
The lowest scoring output for the Golden Eagles is 28 points in the season opener against Wichita Heights. Only two teams have come within 20 points of the Eagles — Wichita Northwest (39-29) and Kapaun-Mt. Carmel (36-34).
Carroll is led by quarterback Blake Bell, who verbally committed to the Sooners. He is averaging about 236 yards passing this season, completing about 64 percent of his passes.
Leading rushers include Brandon Weber, Blake Rollins and Bell. Leading receivers include Weber, Tyler Nance, Danny Crippen, John Mies, Tanner Gilmore, Shane Brittain and Rollins.
Leading tacklers include Aaron Jackson, Max Martinez and Beau Bell.
“They run a spread offense similar to what we run,” Glann said. “They throw the ball a lot more than we do, and they throw the ball well. We’re going to have to limit their possessions. We didn’t play defense very well last week, and we’re going to have to play well on defense against this team. We’re going to have to find a way to move the ball against this team, something we haven’t been able to do the last time we played them.”
This is the third time in four years Newton has played against Carroll in the playoffs. Carroll beat Newton 47-6 in 2007 and 37-0 in 2006. Newton has lost its last five playoff games. The last win for the Railers in the playoffs was 41-0 against Winfield in the first round of the 2002 playoffs.
“We’re not going into this game thinking we’re just happy to be in the playoffs,” Glann said. “We want to play well. We want to win this game. We’ve defied expectations all year. We’d like to continue to do that.”
CLASS 5A PLAYOFF NOTES — In other first-round games, Gardner-Edgerton (9-0) hosts Kansas City Schlagle (6-3), Topeka Seaman (5-4) hosts Kansas City Sumner Academy (6-3), Mill Valley (6-3) hosts St. Thomas Aquinas (8-1), Kansas City Turner (8-1) hosts Shawnee Heights (3-6) at Kansas City Piper, Hutchinson (9-0) hosts Liberal (3-6), Kapaun-Mt. Carmel (6-3) hosts Salina South (5-4), and Emporia (7-2) hosts McPherson (8-1). Newton is 1-2 against playoff teams, beating Liberal 32-8 and falling to Kapaun-Mt. Carmel and McPherson (30-7). Emporia and McPherson join Newton in district play next year. The Railers join Class 6A playoff teams Maize and Derby in Ark Valley-Chisholm Trail League Division I play next year, along with Class 5A playoff teams Hutchinson and Salina South. Newton won’t play Derby next year. Newton plays Class 4A playoff team Andover in week two of next season, meaning Newton will play 2009 playoff teams in each of the first four weeks of next season.
