Railers end season with loss to Carroll

The Newton High School football team’s offense gave unbeaten Bishop Carroll all they could handle in the first half, but couldn’t match the Golden Eagles output in the third quarter, falling 63-28 Friday in the first round of the Class 5A playoffs at Bishop Carroll Family Stadium in Wichita.

Carroll outscored Newton 21-0 in the third quarter.

“In the first half, that may have been the best we played all year all around,” Newton coach Brent Glann said. “That was the most fun we’ve had. Some things went badly for us at the start of the second half, and it snowballed on us. All the credit goes to Bishop Carroll. They are awfully good. Our guys played hard. This is one of those times where I don’t think the final score reflects the way we played.”

Bishop Carroll’s Blake Bell led the Eagles’ offensive onslaught passing for four touchdowns and running for two more. Blake Rollins rushed for three touchdowns. Brandon Weber and Tyler Nance each caught two touchdown passes. Bell threw for 293 yards and rushed for 219. Rollins rushed for 124 yards. Weber had 120 yards receiving.

Newton’s Evan Thomas threw for three touchdowns and rushed for one. Miguel Johns caught two touchdown passes. Johns rushed for 92 yards and had 142 yards receiving.

Carroll scored on its first two possessions, but the Railers answered back both times. The Railer defense got a turnover and a couple of stops in the second quarter, but Bell found Tyler Nance for a 39-yard touchdown strike.

Newton came right back with a 10-play, 68-yard drive, ending on a 16-yard pass from Thomas to Nathan Briar with 39 seconds left in the half.

Carroll got a 58-yard kickoff return to the Railer 36. Carroll had five shots at the end zone. Kevin Ronen knocked down a pass in the end zone to keep the game tied at the half.

Newton had two drives in the second quarter that started in Carroll territory, but failed to capitalize.

“We couldn’t punch it in. It wasn’t for a lack of trying,” Glann said. “If we could have gone into the half ahead, it would have made a big difference. Our kids did the best they could. They got wore down a bit in the second half. Carroll brings them in in waves, and they are top-level players.”

Carroll opened the second half with an 11-play, 84-yard drive in 3:47, scoring on a seven-yard Bell run. Newton fumbled the kickoff back to Carroll at Newton 35. Bell threw a 35-yard strike to Brandon Weber on the next play. Carroll added another touchown in the third quarter.

Carroll scored twice in the first 47 seconds of the fourth quarter. Carroll added another score with 4:37 left. Newton finally scored in the second half on a 27-yard pass from Thomas to Johns with 1:27 left.

Carroll, 10-0, advances to face Emporia Friday in Wichita. Newton ends the season 7-3.

“I’m incredible proud of this team and what they’ve accomplished this season,” Glann said. “The senior class did an incredible job for us. A lot of them hadn’t played much all season. They stepped up and played great all season. They led like you expect seniors to do. They played hard like you expect seniors to do. We’re going to miss them, and hope we have some guys who can step up and take their place.”

Newton comes back with freshmen classes that went undefeated the past two years.

“We have to get a lot stronger,” Glann said. “These last two games, we missed some tackles because were weren’t as strong as the other team. We have to have some guys step up next year like this year’s senior players did. We have two very good classes — our freshmen and sophomore classes. They need to realize that the level of competition is going to step up dramatically. It’s for the best for us. We’ll see what they do between now and next year.”

Newton 14 7 0 7 —28

B.Carroll 14 7 21 21 —63

Scoring

1q. BC Rollins 8-yd. run (Straka kick) 10:35

1q. N Thomas 5-yd. run (Ronen kick) 6:58

1q. BC Bell 31-yd. run (Straka kick) 6:00

1q. N Johns 32-yd. pass from Thomas (Ronen kick) 1:21

2q. BC Nance 39-yd. pass from Bell (Straka kick) 3:27

2q. N Briar 16-yd. pass from Thomas (Ronen kick) :34

3q. BC Bell 6-yd. run (Straka kick) 8:08

3q. BC Weber 35-yd. pass from Bell (Straka kick) 7:55

3q. BC Weber 16-yd. pass from Bell (Straka kick) 3:54

4q. BC Nance 8-yd. pass from Bell (Straka kick) 11:50

4q. BC Rollins 54-yd. run (Starka kick) 11:13

4q. BC Rollins 9-yd. run (Bailey kick) 4:37

4q. N Johns 27-yd. pass from Thomas (Ronen kick) 1:27

Team stats

New. BC

First downs 18 29

Rushing-yards 41-152 31-352

Passing yards 220 345

Comp-att-int 19-31-1 24-33-0

Punts-avg. 6-38.3 2-19.5

Fumbles-lost 1-1 1-1

Penalties-yards 2-10 6-78

Time of poss. 28:00 20:00

Individual stats

RUSHING — Newton: Johns 13-92, Thomas 19-30, Opland 4-18, Floreke 2-7, Kelly 3-5. Bishop Carroll: Bell 12-219, Rollins 15-124, Nance 1-7, Jackson 1-2, Maly 2-0.

PASSING — Newton: Thomas 19-31-1, 220 yards. Bishop Carroll: Bell 23-32-0, 293 yards; Nance 1-1-0, 52 yards.

RECEIVING — Newton: Johns 10-142, Briar 4-39, Kelly 3-13, Opland 1-13, Ronen 1-13. Bishop Carroll: Nance 7-99, Weber 5-120, Mies 3-22, Crippen 2-24, Brittain 2-22, Gilmore 2-22, Long 1-19, Girrens 1-10, Rollins 1-7.

Missed field goals — none.