Newman Catholic Cardinals Drop Heartbreaker on the Road

By Adam Rutz

The Newman Catholic Cardinals football team needed a win to clinch their third consecutive WIAA playoff berth Saturday, October 9^th, but came up short in a defensive battle with Athens.

Trailing 9-0 in the fourth quarter, Newman Catholic drove down the field, and after Nick Bush had two key catches to get them inside the 10-yard line, Andrew Wilke found the end zone on a 7-yard touchdown run, and Paul Messerly's extra point kick cut the deficit to two points. However, when the Cardinals didn't recover the onside kick, Athens picked up their sixth victory of the season. Newman had 284 yards on offense on the day, but it was three turnovers that really hurt their chance at victory.

"I think the defense did a great job" said Newman head coach Paul Michlig. "But we have to quit turning the ball over and execute better for next week." The Cardinals had three turnovers Saturday, which hurt them in the outcome, but they have a lot of things that are going well for them as well. Their defense has been playing outstanding football lately, holding their last three opponents to less than 15 points each game, and they still have the top offense in the Cloverwood conference.

In Thursday's match-up they took on the Augusta Beavers, who are still winless at 0-7, but the game is very big one for both teams. Newman Catholic, who need only one more win to clinch a playoff spot, beat Augusta in "Beaver Country" last season, but the Beavers were not only looking for revenge Thursday night; they were also looking to pick up their first victory of the season.

The Cardinals (4-3) displayed their high-powered offense and physical defense at Stiehm Stadium Thursday night against Augusta (0-7). Newman is still on a mission to get a first WIAA playoff victory in school history, but will need one win in the next two weeks to get into the playoffs. With only two games remaining, both at home, the odds of the team clinching a spot are looking good. However, they still aren't going to take any team lightly, as they want to win out with the rest of their schedule. Kick-off Thursday was at 7 p.m. in the Cloverwood match-up at Stiehm Stadium.