Hartington surprises Newcastle

HARTINGTON — The Hartington Wildcats surprised Newcastle 14-6 in a wild one here Friday.
The story of the game was good special team play by us, and exceptional defense.
“This was a strange game in a lot of ways. Had you told me we could not run the ball well, and that Newcastle would throw the ball 50 times, I would not have believed you,” Coach Tim Manzer said.
Hartington kicked off to Newcastle to start the game, Caleb Lammers kicked the ball into the end zone. On the first play from scrimmage Newcastle scored on a 65-yard pass from Blatchford to Hinz.  The extra point kick missed its mark, however and Newcastle led 6-0.
Newcastle then kicked off and Zach Bakke raced up field for a nice return. The ‘Cats were unable to capitalize on the good field position, though, and Caleb Lammers had to punt, which put the ball at the Newcastle seven-yard line.
After three unsuccessful passes, Newcastle lined up to punt and  Zach Bakke blocked Blatchford’s kick on the four-yard line.
On the second running play Zach Marsh snuck in to find paydirt. The extra-point attempt failed, leaving the two teams tied at 6-6.
Early in the second quarter after a short Newcastle punt, Hartington scored on an 18-yard pass from Marsh to Nathan Fischer.  The two-point pass from Marsh to Austin Driver was good, and Hartington led 14-6.

The third and fourth quarters were a scoreless stalemate.
Newcastle threatened after a 55-yard pass on a fake punt got them down to the seven-yard line. The Hartington defense stiffened after that, though and the Cats took over on downs.

Twice Hartington threatened with the ball at or near the 20, but penalties killed the drives.
Coach Manzer said the defense played great all night long.
“I was extremely happy with the defense. We had to adjust on the fly, not expecting a spread offense and 50 passes. I thought we played very well,” he said. “If you remove Newcastle’s two long passes, they averaged two yards per pass. They were unable to run the ball on us at all netting three yards on 18 rushing attempts.”
Manzer said his team needs improvement on the offensive side of the ball, yet.
“We need to recognize defenses, and block them better to rush the ball, and we will,” he said.
The Wildcats will take to the road Friday when they travel to Tilden to take on the Elkhorn Valley Falcons.

Hartington        6    8    0    0—14
Newcastle        6    0    0    0—6

Hartington    Newcastle
Passing    6-12-54         19-50-240
Rushing    36-95        18-3

RUSHING
Hartington – Austin Driver, 20-60; Colten Benson, 5-30; Zach Marsh,  6-26

PASSING
Hartington – Zach Marsh,  6-12-54