Hackett's running powers Newark Catholic football past Johnstown
JOHNSTOWN — The Newark Catholic football team used a balanced attack Friday to beat Johnstown 42-14 and spoil Homecoming for the host Johnnies (1-6, 1-1) in Licking County League-Cardinal Division play.
Senior running back Mason Hackett had 217 yards on 19 carries and four touchdowns, and sophomore quarterback Miller Hutchinson connected with senior receiver Grant Moore twice for scores for NC (4-1, 2-0).
“Our offensive line did a tremendous job,” Hackett said, “The receivers on the perimeter did well, too. I couldn’t have done this without them."
The Green Wave racked up 471 yards of offense and averaged almost nine yards per play. Hutchinson was impressive, completing 11of 17 passes for 180 yards, finding five different NC receivers.
Moore was Hutchison's favorite target as the 6-foot-1, 175-pounder hauled in five grabs for 109 yards, which included the touchdowns of 30 and 26 yards. Hackett was also a threat out of the backfield with three catches for 29 yards, and sophomore Mikey Hess added 63 yards on 15 carries.
“We want to make sure we vary up what we are doing offensively,” NC coach Ryan Aiello said. “Inside runs, outside runs, play-action passes — we have to be able to change the angles in everything we do, and I thought our kids did an excellent job doing that tonight.”
NC jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the game’s first 13 minutes before Johnstown was able to muster a long touchdown drive that ended in a 1-yard run by senior Nathan Sheets. Hackett and Moore duplicated their first-half efforts thereafter to put the running clock into effect before Sheets scored again on Green Wave backups to end the scoring.
Sheets had 113 yards on 18 carries though almost half of those yards came against Green Wave backups. Senior quarterback Caleb Schneider had 21 carries for 117 yards and was 2-for-5 passing for 19 yards as Johnstown totaled just 248 yards.
Senior Bradyn Ehret had two sacks for NC, and sophomore Theo Talbott had a fumble recovery. Senior defensive end Garrett Grinstead led the Johnnies with eight tackles, and Schneider added seven solo tackles. Both kickers, NC’s Jose Lopez and his counterpart, Johnstown’s Bryce Spangler were perfect on extra-point attempts.
This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Mason Hackett's running powers Newark Catholic football past Johnstown
