Newman Central Catholic defeats Mendota 43-0

MENDOTA – If Newman Central Catholic needed a confidence boost heading into the postseason, Friday night’s stress-free 43-0 victory over Mendota did the trick.

“This time of the year, with ‘Blue Machine’ football, it’s about where are we at as a team,” said Newman head coach Mike LeMay, whose team spent the week shaking off the sting of a one-sided Week 8 defeat at Kewanee. “One of the things we talked about was making sure we got off to a good start. We’ve been starting games slow, so it was important to get going early this week.”

This week, the Comets got off to a blazing start, with quarterback Evan Bushman finding Matt Blackert for a 5-yard touchdown pass on the fourth play of the game.

“This game definitely boosted our morale,” said Brady Grennan, who had 86 all-purpose yards in the game. “We know we can score points and make stops on defense.”

Five different Comets found the end zone in the first half; Grennan and Brady Williamson joined Bushman with rushing scores, and Blackert and Cody McBride found pay dirt through the air.

In the second half, Williamson added a second score to finish with a team-high 87 rushing yards, and Blackert made a dazzling catch on a 23-yard strike from Bushman for his second score. Williamson added a sack on defense, while Isaiah Williams recorded an interception.

The Comets (7-2) now await this weekend’s pairings for the Class 1A playoffs, where they figure to be one of the toughest two-loss teams in the field.

“Our focus is going to be just to kick [butt],” Grennan said. “We want to play hard, and get the [win], hopefully at home.”

With running clock activated early in the second half, Newman was able to focus its efforts on different potential playoff scenarios, including a rushed field-goal attempt as the third quarter came to a close. With the final seconds ticking away, kicker Ana Jungerman sprinted onto the field with the clock ticking down and plugged a 23-yard field goal straight and true right at the horn.

“We want to put her in those situations because we may need her to do that next week,” LeMay said. “People were saying to just let the clock run out, but I said, ‘No, we have time. Send her out there.’ She’s so clutch.”

Mendota was held to 26 yards of total offense in the first half. It was as clean of a performance as Newman could have hoped, but a couple of hiccups likely will get talked about when the team watches film this week. The Comets committed five first-half penalties, including one that negated a nifty 62-yard punt return for a touchdown by Carter Rude. Also, a bad snap on a point-after-touchdown resulted in a broken play that could be costly in a playoff contest.