'A fairytale ending': Newman Catholic shuts out Belmont to win second consecutive state football championship
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WISCONSIN RAPIDS − Whoever coined the phrase “defense wins championships” must have had the Newman Catholic Fighting Cardinals in mind.
Newman forced five turnovers and limited Belmont to 13 total yards as the Cardinals rolled to a 54-0 win over the Braves to win the WIAA 8-player state football championship at a snowy South Wood County Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Cardinals earned their second consecutive state title and have the longest winning streak in Wisconsin at any level with 29 in a row. It’s a far contrast to what the program was like a little over 20 years ago.
“This senior group is part of the legacy that they left behind having two state titles in a row and putting us on the map,” Newman coach Paul Michlig said. “And we’ll end this football season with the longest winning streak in 8- or 11-man football. That’s some crazy stuff to think that Newman football, 21 years ago when I was here, we had the longest losing streak in the state of Wisconsin. Things have changed since then.”
Conner Krach said he and his teammates are happy to make the alums proud.
“I know a lot of those older guys,” Krach said. “They keep coming back because Newman does a great job of building relationships regardless of wins or losses. Those guys will keep coming back. They keep telling me to cherish these wins because back in the day they weren’t able to get those. I’m proud our team was able to come out on top in a long winning-streak fashion.”
Although warmups were performed under partly sunny conditions, the weather took a turn for the worse as kickoff neared and snow flurries blanketed the field with a light covering.
That made the ball slick and on Belmont’s first play from scrimmage quarterback Kolby Lancaster had the ball slip from his grasp and the Cardinals recovered at the Belmont 31-yard line.
Krach then took the ensuing snap, went up the middle and scooted 31 yards to the end zone and a 7-0 lead.
“I think the key started up front, playing physical,” Krach said. “Our whole line did a great job on our first offensive play, springing me open. Credit to them. Then our D-line set the tone with that fumble. Then our special teams. We were just able to play physical, create turnovers, run fast, and play hard. It turned out to work pretty well.”
Disaster struck again for Belmont on the kickoff as the ball was lined off one of the Braves’ up men and Newman again recovered. Three plays later, Krach again found a big hole and raced 41 yards for the score and the Cardinals were off and running at 14-0.
Thomas Bates added a 5-yard TD run to close out the first quarter and hauled in 25- and 45-yard scoring strikes from Krach in the second as the Cardinals built a 47-0 lead at halftime.
“I think the snow started coming down and it started getting sloppy and wet, but we handled the adversity well,” Bates said. “Our coach always says three takeaways and we’ll be good. We went out there, hit hard and capitalized on every opportunity we had. That’s ultimately what got us here.”
Bates finished with 108 yards rushing with two rushing and two receiving touchdowns, while Krach rushed for three scores and threw for two.
Newman also dominated time of possession, holding the ball for 32 minutes, 20 seconds, while Belmont had it just 15:40.
It is the third time in four years the Cardinals have been in the title game, and joined a rare number of teams that have gone back-to-back.
“I don’t know what it feels like, because obviously we haven’t done it before,” Michlig said. “I tell you though, it feels good. It feels good. It doesn’t happen often. Just 36 times, I guess, in the WIAA football history that a team has gone for multiple times, so that’s not many times.
“For us to do it and the pressure that was on this group from last year to this year and what they did and how they did it. Man, I just miss them. We want to go to practice on Monday. This is a good group and we just don’t want it to end. That’s the tough part, that there is no tomorrow. But, we move on and they did a heck of a job today. They came to play.”
Michlig said his team’s dedication proved to be the reason why it is hard to stop.
RELATEDHere is the high school football schedule and scores for the WIAA state semifinals
“They were focused from Day 1,” he said. “They were focused from the offseason. This wasn’t by accident that these guys did what they did. They did it in the offseason, they did it during the season. They did it with prep work. They were loose this week. Last week they played a little tight and that probably was my fault. They came out and played loose today. It helps when you get three or four turnovers right away to start off the game on kickoffs. That changed the dimension of things.
“Consistency with practice and what they do and what they execute during the course of the week. These guys really do love playing the game. They love being around each other. They love playing X-box before practice in the locker room. They just love film. They love doing all those things and that’s what part of the dominance is. To go through a whole season and to have a running clock every game is kind of surreal, to be frank with you. It’s about their execution, and I don’t believe we had a turnover today. We’ve had four turnovers all year. It’s not by luck that these guys play good football. They play good football because they work at it.”
Bates agreed with his coach and credited his team’s resilience.
“It feels awesome,” Bates said. “It’s a fairytale ending to a story. It started off our freshman class. We had our ups and downs. We’ve had injuries we overcame. Ultimately, to get to this as back-to-back state champion, it means the world to this team and everyone involved in it.”
Belmont 0 0 0 0 - 0
Newman 21 26 0 7 - 54
SCORING PLAYS
First Quarter
N - Conner Krach 31 run (Matthew Hamilton kick), 11:41
N - Krach 41 run (Hamilton kick), 9:52
N - Thomas Bates 5 run (Hamilton kick), 0:52
Second Quarter
N - Bates 25 pass from Krach (Hamilton kick), 11:53
N - Krach 1 run (Hamilton kick), 9:58
N - Bates 45 pass from Krach (kick failed), 5:18
N - Bates 2 run (kick failed), 0:14
Fourth Quarter
N - Tyler Ackermann 13 run (Hamilton kick), 5:01
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing: Belmont - Noah Fritz 10-25. Newman - Krach 14-110, Bates 16-108.
Passing: Belmont - Kolby Lancaster 2-6-0-11. Newman - Krach 4-6-0-86.
Receiving: Belmont - Bradley Reichers 1-9. Newman - Bates 3-81.
This article originally appeared on Wausau Daily Herald: Newman Catholic Cardinals win 8-player high school football title
