CENTERBURG — The Centerburg Trojans ran into a perennial powerhouse Friday night when they met Newark Catholic on their home field. Newark Catholic (2-0) ran over the Trojans, gaining 271 yards on the ground, including three touchdowns. Centerburg (1-1) fought hard, but mistakes came back to haunt them, and they dropped the game, 26-0.
CENTERBURG
Centerburg started the game on a positive note when the Trojans recovered a fumble on the Green Wave’s first possession. Centerburg quickly went three and out, and Newark Catholic’s running game took over.
The Green Wave’s Aaron Shook gained 173 yards on 21 carries, and scored three of Newark Catholic’s touchdowns. The first came on Newark Catholic’s second possession, when the Green Wave drove the ball down the field on two plays, the second of which was a 4-yard run by Shook.
Centerburg had its shot in the first half, but mistakes and penalties cost them dearly on early drives. The Trojans moved the ball inside the red zone twice, but fumbled the ball both times; the Green Wave recovered both.
“I think the good thing is we didn’t quit, but I was pretty disappointed with the way we played, especially with the mistakes we made,” said Centerburg head coach Ken Kish. “We made one mistake after another.”
The game could easily have been a 14-14 contest at halftime, but instead was 20-0 Newark Catholic. The Green Wave never looked back, and Centerburg never threatened to score for the remainder of the game.
“At halftime we told the kids play your game, don’t make the dumb mistakes, move the ball and get first downs,” said Kish. “We wanted to try and control the ball, and maintain time of possession. We need to go back out on the practice field and work on tackling, and work on just being a better team. We had a lot of silly penalties. I told the kids at halftime, ‘they’re not beating you, you are beating yourselves.’”
If the Trojans can take anything away from this game, they can say they battled hard against a defending state champion, and never quit. But the schedule doesn’t get any easier as the Trojans face another powerhouse in Columbus Academy next week.
“The kids came out and they tried hard,” Kish said. “I can’t fault their effort, and I never would. We have to put this game aside, and get ready for next week. With having Newark Catholic in Week 2 and Columbus Academy next week, we are playing 10 state championships. When you talk about toughest schedules in the area, I think that ranks right up there.”
The Trojans will travel to Columbus Academy next Friday night, looking to avenge a loss in 2007, when the Vikings defeated the Trojans on a controversial last-second field goal.The game starts at 7:30 p.m.
