The Newberry football team has a defense that can win football games.
On Friday night at Booster Stadium in Ocala, the Panthers played well enough on that side of the ball, but there were too many mistakes for Newberry to overcome in a 23-0 loss at Class 4A Vanguard.
“We really didn’t help ourselves at all tonight,” said Newberry football coach Ed Johnson. “The touchdown we took off the board, the missed field goal, the blocked field goal, missed tackles that they turned into big plays, and we’ve got guys bottled up, and then the blown coverage there late on that last touchdown that they got so we just definitely didn’t help ourselves at all tonight. Mentally we weren’t here at all. We’ll figure it out and get back to work on Monday.”
On the first possession of the game, Newberry senior quarterback Collin Dunmore completed a 62-yard pass to senior running back Trenton Campbell to put the Panthers in the red zone.
A few plays later junior running back Kaleb Woods scored on a 2-yard run. However, the Panthers (1-2) were called for holding.
Senior kicker Zane Spires missed a 26-yard field goal with 7:51 to play in the opening quarter.
The Knights began their first possession at their 20-yard line and drove down the field. The Panthers held and the Knights’ Jaxson Lee kicked a 25-yard field goal with 4:36 to play in the opening quarter for a 3-0 lead.
A couple of possessions later, Johnson rolled the dice and called for a fake punt inside their own 20-yard line but sophomore running back Jamarcus Wimberly was stopped for no gain on a 4th-and-1.
“It was there,” Johnson said. “Our lead blocker ran the wrong way. We saw something we felt like we could attack, it was there. If we block it correctly, we get that easy. Anything fourth and three and under, we’ll try that, but we’ve just got to execute it.”
On their next possession, Newberry drove from their 27-yard line to the Knights’ 31-yard line, but Spires’ 48-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Vanguard junior Lem’marius Woolbright and he returned it 59 yards for the score and a 10-0 lead at the half.
Vanguard also scored on their first possession of the second half following a busted play and a 76-yard touchdown run just 52 seconds into the third quarter by senior running back Jermaine White when it appeared to be a short gain on the play.
You won’t find too many teams that could overcome the mistakes the Panthers made, especially against a team like the Knights (2-1), who were in the Class 3S state semifinals last year and are ranked in the top 10 of their classification.
“They’re tough,” Johnson said. “I knew Coach Farmer does a really good job with them. We knew they were going to come out and try to run the ball. We wanted to get them in obvious passing situations, and we feel like we can win those battles but they’re a good team. They’re going to make the playoffs and probably compete for a little bit.”
It was tough to get the passing game going without injured wide receiver Hayden Moore, who had three receptions for 73 yards and a 44-yard touchdown reception in last Friday’s overtime loss at Hawthorne.
“Yeah,” Johnson said with a laugh. “I looked at him at one point in the third quarter and I said, ‘I hope you’re back next week.’ It’s a lot. He’s that important to us on both sides, even on defense he can help us a lot, so we hope to get him back soon.”
Aside from the missed tackles on Vanguard’s first offensive touchdown, the only other touchdown came with 6:02 to play in the game on a 73-yard scoring pass on a blown coverage.
“Our defense played well enough for us to win tonight,” Johnson said. “I put us in a bad situation on the fake punt there early in the game and they stood up without any points, and the fumble with Kobe (Johnson) on the punt. We were backed up a lot tonight and the defense really, really made good plays. I think outside of five big plays tonight, our defense was really stout.”
Newberry returns home next Friday at 7:30 p.m. against Keystone Heights for its Class 2A-District 5 opener.
“New season, man,” Johnson said. “This is the most important stretch of our season. We’ve been trying to tell our kids that. These three games were against very good opponents but they’re a warmup. These next five weeks are really, really important to our season so we’ve got to take care of business this week and then look forward to the postseason.”
Friday, Sept. 6
Buchholz 35, Eastside 7
Gainesville 14, Leon (Tallahassee) 7
Florida High (Tallahassee) 41, Hawthorne 27
Vanguard (Ocala) 23, Newberry 0
P.K. Yonge 38, Young Kids In Motion (Jacksonville) 12
Union County (Lake Butler) 45, Santa Fe (Alachua) 0
Master’s Academy (Oviedo) 57, Oak Hall 20
Bell 14, Branford 13
Bradford (Starke) 28, South Sumter (Bushnell) 7
Chiefland 44, Belleview 0
Columbia (Lake City) 20, Hillsborough 0
Fort White 21, North Marion (Citra)18
Williston 21, Land O’Lakes 13
Aucilla Christian (Monticello) 29, Trenton 8
Taylor County (Perry) 37, Dixie County (Cross City) 0
Madison County 43, Suwannee (Live Oak) 26
Foundation Academy (Winter Garden) 42, Bronson 0
Jordan Christian Prep (Auburndale) at Saint Francis Catholic Academy, not reported
A great interview and summary of the Newberry and Vanguard game. After a highly emotionally draining game at Hawthorne, it’s hard to get back into the frame of mind needed to execute at a high level.