Battle of the Eagles - Newton, Woodville square off Friday in district tilt
Barbay pleased with improvement
By JIMMY GALVAN Managing Editor

Newsboy photo/Georgia Purdy NEWTON'S NICO ADAMS has improved his quarterback play with every passing week.

Newton Head Football Coach Curtis Barbay has said all season long that he wanted his Newton Eagles to be playing their best football at the end of the year.

Friday against Hemphill, the Eagles showed their veteran coach that they are doing just that.

Newton scored early and often to explode past Hemphill 47-6 and move to 3-0 in District 23-2A play.

"We played a lot better in this game," Barbay said. "It was a lot easier of a win than I thought it was going to be but sometimes they just work out that way.

"We are getting better each week," Barbay said. "It's hard to gauge it against a team like Hemphill but we are executing better."

James Birch got the scoring going for Newton in the first half when he scored from 15 yards out for a quick lead. Steven Alfred followed that up with a 15-yard scoring run. Alfred also added a 52-yard scoring run in the second half

Quarterback Nico Adams added another score before the first half ended on a oneyard run to give Newton a 20-0 lead at the halftime break.

The Eagles continued their scoring onslaught in the second half when Justin McLemore scored from eight yards out. Trey Ethridge added another score from 20 yards out and also recovered a ball in the end zone and a botched punt attempt by Hemphill to finish out the Eagles' scoring.

McLemore paced the Eagles' rushing attack by gaining 200 yards while Alfred rushed for 70 yards and Birch chipped in 62 yards rushing. Adams was three-of-nine passing for 51 yards.

This week, the Eagles will travel to Woodville to take on the Eagles.

"They look a little bit better offensively than they did last year," Barbay said. "They haven't played a lot of teams but they do a good job on offense."

Barbay knows his Eagles will travel to Woodville with a large bulls eye on their back. But for the veteran coach, that's just a normal part of each game.

"I am kind of used to it myself," Barbay said. "But I am more interested in how we are playing because we have to try to get better each game no matter who we are playing. And right now, we are improving every week."