By Dan Weber
NKyTribune sports reporter
Kentucky High School Athletic Association Commissioner Julian Tackett was on “The Hill” to deliver the football for the first-ever Newport Central Catholic home game in, well, forever.
“Three hundred and forty-three games,” Tackett said with a shake of the head at how long the ‘Breds have been on the road dating back to before World War II.
And while new coach Terry Brown, a NewCath alum who thought this day would never come and made it clear he doesn’t “believe in moral victories,” this 21-3 Lloyd Memorial win was more than a moral victory for the home team and the NewCath community that made it happen.
Just the capacity crowd of 1,500 that oohed and aahed at the big plays and big hits was more than a success. “This is fantastic, beautiful,” Tackett said, thrilled that “for one night, I’m the low man on the totem pole” with the Rev. John Iffert, Bishop of the Diocese of Covington, here to deliver the Benediction.
And Tony Ciafardini, one of the key donors from the family for whom the complex is named, tossing the coin. “I don’t have to be in charge,” Tackett said.
That honor would go to Kyle Niederman’s Lloyd Memorial Juggernauts, glorying at the chance to pick up where they left off after last season’s 13-1 team with 17 returning starters.
“That’s a very good ballclub,” NewCath’s Brown told his team. And the Class 3A Juggs may well be the best team Class A NewCath will play all season. “Could be,” Brown said.
Niederman returned the compliment. “That was a good win, that’s a good NewCath team. Just not good enough to stay with the size, speed and big playmakers on a Lloyd team that’s found its new quarterback in junior Colten Barger, a quick-footed lefty who was a wide receiver a year ago.
“I’ve got a lot of speed,” Barger said of what he brings from his old position as Lloyd went to maybe the most basic play in any offensive coordinator’s playbook – the quarterback sweep, which Barger ran to perfection for 76 yards behind great blocking for the game’s final score with 1:49 left in the game.
These two teams were both Class 2A at one time and share a great deal including multiple state championships and color schemes (bright yellow gold and royal blue for NewCath, old gold and navy for Lloyd. But Lloyd has moved up to 3A while NewCath has dropped down to Class A.
That size difference was obvious. A big-hitting Lloyd simply had more weapons. And had a pair of Lloyd touchdowns not been called back this would look not nearly as close as the 7-3 game it was until the final 8:51.
“That’s for us to take care of,” Niederman said. “We’re going to be a different team this year,” and maybe not score as many points. “Every year is a puzzle, how do we open up the offense for Colten.”
Two weeks after a tough start in their Cooper scrimmage, those pieces of the puzzle are starting to fit together. Because it’s not just Barger back there, it’s the two power backs – senior Avery Conrad and junior Lincoln Tomlinson, a 205-pounder who hit the hole for 24 quick yards up the middle and the Juggs’ second TD.
“The atmosphere,” Tomlinson said is what he liked in this road opener. And a chance to show what they could do. Like the quarterback sweeps for Barger. “No one could stop them the second half,” Barger said.
Nor could they pick up speedy 175-pound sophomore middle linebacker Isiah Carter, who had a pair of second-half sacks that shut NewCath down.
Even without the kind of blocking Lloyd managed as the game went on, NewCath senior running back Van Hundemer might have been as impressive an athlete as anyone on the field with a 67-yard catch and run that was a one-yard reception and a 66-yard run. Look for the Breds to pair him up with his sophomore brother, Phoenix, as they did as this game moved on, Brown said.
“I told them I was proud of them,” Brown said of his ‘Breds. “They didn’t give up, they fought their tails off.
LLOYD MEMORIAL (1-0) 0 7 0 14—21
NEWCATH (0-1) 0 3 0 0—3
Lloyd Memorial: Barger 5 run (Gomes PAT kick good)
NewCath: Meyer 33 FG
Lloyd Memorial: Tomlinson 24 run (Gomes PAT kick good)
Lloyd Memorial: Barger 76 run (Gomes PAT kick good)