BY NOLAN RUTH
X – @RealNolanRuth
PERRIN— District play got underway on Thursday night for “Parker County’s” own Perrin-Whitt Pirates and the Newcastle Bobcats in District 6-1A Division I. Many looked at this game as being one with many playoff implications with only two teams from each district making the postseason, as opposed to 11-man where four teams qualify.
The game felt like a playoff game in the first half with both teams trading blows and getting their bounces, but ultimately Newcastle ran away with it in the second half for a final score of 77-36. Perrin was unable to score a single point in the second half despite receiving the kickoff to start the half, and twice being inside the 20 yard line.
“We just started turning the ball over,” Perrin head coach Kevin Loyd said after the game. “We fumbled a pitch and threw a couple of interceptions, and so we’ve just got to take care of the football. Against good football teams, if you lose the turnover battle it’s not going to be a good thing.”
The first half saw a combined 79 points scored with the difference between the two teams being only seven points at the break.
The Bobcats scored on the opening drive with an 11-yard sweep play to Mikey Soito. The Pirates quickly responded with a quick pass from Cole Keeney to Cameron Tune to tie the game at eight.
Newcastle then scored the next 13 points on touchdowns from London Martinez and Tristan Clemons, with a Leighton Gowens interception in between the two scores. However, Perrin refused to go down easy. While the Bobcat defense had Tune wrapped up in the backfield, he was able to flip it to Keeney who raced 40 yards to bring the score to 21-16 after one quarter of play.
Clemons immediately responded for Newcastle by taking the opening play of the second quarter 36 yards to pay dirt. Then, two minutes later, Keeney threw deep to Noah Morris from 33 yards out. The Pirates continued their momentum by recovering an onside kick, and Tune scored his third total touchdown of the game just a few plays later to draw Perrin within a point. Unfortunately the two-point conversion kick was blocked which prevented what would have been the Pirates’ first lead of the game. They ended up never having a lead.
The Bobcats dominated the final few minutes of the half. First, Keyton Newland connected with Jacob Omundi for a touchdown to make it a seven-point game. Then the Newcastle defense stepped up and forced a rare (for six-man) punt. Finally with just under a minute to go Clemons scored his third touchdown from six yards out.
Perrin took full advantage of the final 51 seconds of the half, knowing that they would be receiving the second half kickoff. The offense got all the way to the 19 yard line before Tune made some more magic and scored on his own while evading the entire defense. The big play by Tune made the score 43-36 at halftime.
The Pirates were hoping to build on their momentum from the final play of the first half, but they fumbled the ball on the second play of the half. That opened the floodgates, and the Bobcats took full advantage without ever looking back.
Martinez scored twice in the third quarter and Soito scored his second of the game in the third quarter as well to make it 63-36.
In the fourth quarter, Perrin twice appeared to be on the verge of getting back on the board but twice fell short. Martinez threw for two more to Soito and Jayden Hemby respectively to seal the 77-36 win in the district opener for both squads.
“They’re upset,” Loyd said after letting some players talk in the post game huddle. “They’re hurting after losing two games in a row. It’s tough. And then to start the district off with a loss, they’re down. But their kids and we’ve just got to stay together and keep fighting the fight together.”
Perrin-Whitt (5-2, 0-1) will look to bounce back from back-to-back losses as they go on the road next Friday to face Bryson (4-2). Meanwhile, Newcastle (4-3, 1-0) will have a tough test next week with district favorite Knox City (3-2) at home.
