Newman dominates up front in shutout of Hall

STERLING – In a clash between teams that rely on winning the battle in the trenches, Newman dominated the line of scrimmage in a 43-0 win over Hall on Friday night at Roscoe Eades Stadium.

The Comets set the tone from the start, getting two fourth-down stops and three three-and-outs in the first five Hall possessions, while scoring on six of their first seven drives. The only drive that didn’t net points was the second one that ended on a fumble at the Hall 11-yard line.

“Coach K [Brandon Kreczmer] always talks about not getting hit in the mouth and forcing us to react, but hitting them in the mouth first,” senior Will Rude said. “Today I think we finally did that in the first half. We hit them in the mouth first and stuck with it.”

Newman racked up 347 yards on the ground and held Hall to 42 yards rushing. The Red Devils ran for minus-11 yards in the second half as they turned to their passing game.

“Our defense loves that early lead,” running back Mason Glaudel said. “We haven’t had one of those all year, and by setting the tone and grabbing that early lead, our defense just came out flying.”

Glaudel opened the scoring with a 6-yard touchdown run. Then the drive after the fumble, Marcus Williams scored from 9 yards out for a 14-0 lead.

After the second fourth-down stop, Newman (4-3) covered 66 yards in six plays, with runs of 12, 21, 13 and 12 to set up Ethan Van Landuit’s 1-yard plunge. He wasn’t touched until he was already in the end zone.

On the Comets’ first play after another Hall three-and-out, Cody Donna connected with Owen McBride for 45 yards to the Hall 10-yard line. Glaudel then scampered in from 9 yards out for a 27-0 lead with 2:34 left in the quarter.

“It was nice running through the line and just seeing nobody there to block. They got all those guys blocked up, and it worked out really well tonight,” Glaudel said. “You get to the outside and you just hear the crowd get loud. You’re outside in open field, just seeing green, and that’s it.”

Hall (1-6) looked like it had grabbed some momentum on the next series, as Mac Resetich broke away for a 69-yard touchdown sprint, but a block in the back down the field erased the points and put the ball at the 50. A tackle for loss on fourth down – Newman’s seventh TFL of the half – stopped that drive.

“That’s kind of been the story of our season,” Hall coach Nick Guerrini said. “We’ve had a lot of highs but it seems like the lows are outnumbering them right now. As a group, we’ve just got to figure out a way win.”

The Comets displayed their quick-strike ability on the next drive, as Brennen Cook broke off an 18-yard run. Donna then hit Hunter Luyando with a two-handed chest pass for 9 yards. The next play was a more conventional pass, as Donna found McBride wide open over the middle for a 31-yard TD pass and a 33-0 Newman lead at halftime.

“For the past weeks, we’ve just been working on one thing at a time, and this week it really came together,” Rude said. “The line on both sides was great. On defense, we were getting through, staying on the heel end, doing the basics just like we were taught. The offensive line was blocking, opening holes, making sure they gave it their all so those running backs could get through and score touchdowns. Those touchdown were just as much the linemen as they were the running backs.”

Newman opened the second half with a 10-play, 57-yard scoring drive, capped by Rude’s 4-yard TD run. It will be his last game of the regular season, as he will have surgery for a hand injury. The Comets had an emotional postgame huddle with teammates and coaches lining up to hug Rude.

Williams had 78 yards rushing to lead the Comets, while Van Landuit finished with 75 yards. Glaudel ran for 66 yards, Luyando had 41 yards on the ground, and Britt ran for 40 yards as 14 Comets carried the ball. Donna finished with 85 yards on 3-for-5 passing, all in the first half, and McBride had two catches for 76 yards.

Resetich ran for 33 yards on eight carries, with 19 coming on the touchdown run that was called back. Dominic Guerrini added 17 yards on seven rushes. Gabe Lucas was 6-for-10 passing for 83 yards and an interception.

The Red Devils gained 109 yards before the break, and just 34 yards in the second half, all through the air, as the running clock limited possessions.

“We just never got started,” coach Guerrini said. “I think we had such a high last week against Kewanee and thought we were going to come in here and do a lot of things, and we just couldn’t get started on either side of the ball.”