[Stardust]

While NewCath’s performance on Friday wasn’t as dominating as past early postseason games, the victory was vintage Thoroughbred football

http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll...311130111/

Using their size up front to control the line of scrimmage and a strong running game, the ’Breds defeated Christian Academy of Louisville 27-7 in the second round of the state 2A playoffs. The victory was the first meeting between the two schools and puts NCC into a regional final showdown with the winner of Louisville DeSales and district rival Holy Cross.

The win was the sixth consecutive for NewCath, and the third straight game they have played without long-time head coach Bob Schneider on the sidelines. In his absence, his son and the team’s offensive coordinator, Dave Schneider has filled the role of head coach.

“Our running game did a real nice job, especially in the first half,” said Dave Schneider. “We came out a little slow, but were able to wake up real quick and get back into our gameplan.”

The Thoroughbreds’ slow start was caused by one big play from the CAL offense. Three plays after NewCath’s game-opening drive ended with an interception, the Centurion’s option offense struck gold. That’s when slot-back Wes Osborne took a pitch around the right end and rumbled 66 yards for a touchdown, putting CAL on top 7-0.


The play shook up the NCC sideline.


“We came out flat, that definitely woke us up,” junior running back Chris Kelly said. “After that we knew it wasn’t going to be a walk in the park and it got us going.”


The ‘Breds responded on their very next drive as Kelly and sophomore quarterback Brady Hightchew combined to run the ball eight consecutive plays, moving the ball 74 yards. The last came on a 31-yard scamper from Kelly.


On the Centurions next drive, option quarterback Jacob Richter would go down for the game with a knee injury, opening the doors for NewCath to control both sides of the ball.


“When (Richter) went down, I think that helped things go in our favor a little bit,” Schneider said. “They run an option offense and he’s definitely an option quarterback, so I’d imagine that hurt their game plan.”