Newark football overcomes adversity, shows true colors
NEWARK — Countdown clocks across the state of Ohio all summer are set to the Week 1 opponent.
Only half of the teams can start 1-0, however, and the Newark football team found itself at an early crossroads. Following a disappointing loss to rival Zanesville, the Wildcats showed their mettle, winning 35-34 at Mount Vernon last Friday, picking up the program's first victory since the 2019 season finale.
“It felt really good. I have never been a part of a Newark Wildcat football win,” senior Max Durbin said. “We worked very hard all week for it. It was well deserved. We have a lot of different seniors this year and have a lot more leaders. We just did not want to give up like years past. We decided to change between Week 1 and Week 2, and we have improved a lot.”
Durbin’s 4-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter tied the game. Classmate Hayden Reischman, a soccer player, made his fifth consecutive extra point to give Newark its winning margin.
Newark did not allow a first down on Mount Vernon’s final two drives. Senior Kameron Gates made a third-down sack to force a punt, and classmate Jared Sherrard later made a fourth-down stop before junior quarterback Steele Meister ran for two first downs to seal the win.
The defense, which was led in tackles by Durbin, senior Calvin Untied and sophomore Kalen Winbush, certainly will take earned confidence into Friday’s visit to White Field from Marion Harding. Jonny Askew, who like Durbin is long-time player for the Ohio Bison baseball organization, caught three TD passes for Mount Vernon, but the Wildcats’ relentless approach paid off with the game on the line.
“We severely wore down Jonny. He went out of the game a few times for a break and a drink,” Durbin said. “We stopped them, and they could not do a single thing. … We did make a bunch of huge plays mainly in the second half, but I still think we can improve from Week 2 to Week 3.”
Meister was expected to show dual-threat capabilities this season, and they certainly were on display against Mount Vernon. He threw a TD pass to Austin Rose and also ran for one, totaling 100 yards on 19 carries on the ground.
Sophomore Drayson Peterson, who caught four passes from Meister, added to the strong special teams play, returning a kickoff 85 yards for a score.
Marion Harding, which suffered a 28-21 loss in double-overtime to Mount Vernon in Week 1, fell 47-7 to Ashland last week, a game in which the Presidents trailed just 9-7 at halftime, but they ran out of gas with seven freshmen seeing action. Running back Trinity Keith is one of only two significant returning players for the Presidents, who were decimated by graduation and also were stunned by the resignation of their head coach in early August.
The Wildcats have not beaten the Presidents since 2018, and for the first time since that win, they returned to practice after a win the previous Friday. They will be looking forward to playing in front of a home crowd, which will include members of the 1997 Ohio Capital Conference champions, who were coached by Franks during his first stint at the school.
“Intensity early in the week is key without question,” Franks said. “Many of us that coach have been around the Wildcats for a long time and have experienced many, many highs and many, many lows. We know how special our community is and how supportive. We will get our feet back on the ground and get ready for a big Week 3.”
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This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Newark football overcomes adversity, shows true colors
