×

Newark Catholic too much for Fort Frye, 41-7

MIKE MORRISON The Marietta Times Fort Frye’s Casey Lewis, left, tries to avoid a tackle against Newark Catholic during Friday’s Division VI, Region 23 playoff football game in Zanesville.

ZANESVILLE — The Fort Frye Cadets spent the 2016 season leaving their opponents without an answer as they won 12 straight games all by at least 17 points to earn a berth in Friday night’s Division VI, Region 23 championship game against Newark Catholic at the John D. Sulsberger Memorial Stadium in Zanesville.

Unfortunately for the Cadets, they would be the ones left searching for an answer as the Green Wave completely dominated them from the very beginning en route to a 41-7 win to punch their ticket to the final four in the state and bring an incredible season for the Fort to a close.

Newark Catholic (9-4) jumped out to an early 7-0 lead in the first quarter before scoring 20 points in the second period and 14 more in the third as they scored 41 unanswered points to stun the Cadets.

The Green Wave capitalized on a Fort Frye turnover on their very first possession of the game when quarterback Hunter Chapman connected with Tanner Lake on a 36-yard touchdown with 11:25 to play to take the early 7-0 lead.

The Cadets moved the ball down the field on their next possession only to see their drive fizzle out at the NC 24-yard line.

Fort Frye came up with a turnover of their own on the next Wave possession when senior Casey Lewis caused and then recovered a Newark Catholic fumble at their own 41-yard line.

Unlike Newark Catholic however, the Cadets were unable to capitalize and they were forced to punt the ball right back to the Green Wave.

Newark Catholic found the end zone once again early in the second period when Kyle Gibson scored on a five-yard touchdown run before taking advantage of another Cadet turnover to score once again.

Green Wave defender Jacob Lumbatis intercepted a Tate Engle pass at the Fort Frye 33-yard line and on the very next play Chapman found Nolan Jurden in the end zone for a touchdown and a 20-0 lead.

After the Fort went three-and-out once again on their next possession, Newark Catholic promptly drove 58 yards on 10 plays with Chapman connecting with Gibson on a 14-yard screen pass for a touchdown on a screen pass to increase their lead to 27-0.

Fort Frye saw it’s best attempt at a score simply run out of time as the Cadets moved the ball from their own 31-yard line to the Green Wave 10 in the final two minutes before watching the half come to a close with the ball at the NC 10-yard line.

Newark Catholic quickly dashed any hopes the Cadets had of a dramatic, second half rally when Gibson accounted for all 81-yards of a Wave drive that started at their own 19-yard line and ended with Gibson scoring from four-yards out to set the running clock in motion.

The Green Wave added yet another third quarter on Chapman’s fourth touchdown pass of the game to Mason Peddigord to make it a 41-0 ball game.

The Cadets finally got on the board in the final quarter on a 2-yard touchdown run by Engle that was set up by a 34-yard pass play from Engle to Leithon Stewart.

Cadet head coach Eric Huck felt his team gave a valiant effort against a very good Newark Catholic squad.

“Newark Catholic is a very good football team, very physical,” said Huck. “They were big all the way across the board. We fought hard but we made some big mistakes. Those couple of turnovers in the first half were huge, it just wasn’t our night.”

Chapman completed 14-of-22 pass attempts in the game for 227 yards and the four touchdowns while Gibson rushed for a game-high 167 yards on 20 carries.

Lewis carried the ball 13 times for 72 yards for the Cadets, while Engle completed 8-of-17 pass attempts for 101 yards.

The Cadets season comes to a conclusion with a 12-1 record including the very two first OHSSA playoff wins in school history.

Newark Catholic (9-4) will advance to the state final four.

“We played a tough schedule and had a rash of injuries. Our theme was tough times don’t last, but tough people do,” said Newark Catholic head coach Bill Franks. “We grew during those tough times and then we healed up. We’ve grown and we are a pretty daggone good football team right now.”


at Zanesville High

Ohio Division VI, Region 23 Final

No. 5 Newark Catholic 41,

No. 2 Fort Frye 7

N. Catholic (9-4) 7 20 14 0 — 41

Fort Frye (12-1) 0 0 0 7 — 7

NC: Tanner Lake 38 pass from Hunter Chapman, Leisen kick, 11:25 1st

NC: Kyle Gibson 4 run, kick failed, 9:16 2nd

NC: Nolan Jurden 33 pass from Chapman, Leisen kick, 8:14 2nd

NC: Gibson 13 pass from Chapman, Leisen kick, 2:00 2nd

NC: Gibson 5 run, Leisen kick, 10:00 3rd

NC: Mason Peddicord 22 pass from Chapman, Leisen kick, 3:30 3rd

FF: Tate Engle 2 run, Jacob Prichard kick, 4:04 4th

Team stats

Newark Catholic: First downs: 13; Rushes-yards: 28-167; Passing yards: 227; Total yards: 394; Passing: 14-22-1; Fumbles-lost: 1-1; Penalties-yards: 2-29; Punts-average: 2-29.5

Fort Frye: First downs: 10; Rushes-yards: 30-102; Passing yards: 102; Total yards: 204; Passing: 8-17-1; Fumbles-lost: 3-1; Penalties-yards: 2-10; Punts-average: 4-37.0

Individual stats

Newark Catholic: Rushing: Kyle Gibson 20-167; Passing: Hunter Chapman 14-22-1, 227 yards; Receiving: Tanner Lake 5-72; Mason Peddicord 4-56

Fort Frye: Rushing: Casey Lewis 13-72; Garrett Lochary 4-21; Brady Carpenter 3-19; Brenden Huck 1-6; Leithon Stewart 2-3; Tate Engle 7-(-19); Passing: Engle 8-17-1, 102 yards; Receiving: Stewart 2-56; Jacob Prichard 3-20; Carpenter 2-13; Lewis 1-13

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

Starting at $4.15/week.

Subscribe Today