Turnovers fuel path as Newton rolls Buna 55-10
By JIMMY GALVAN Managing Editor

Newsboy photo/Jimmy Galvan NEWTON'S JUSTIN MCLEMORE follows the block of Jeffery Byerly en route to an 11-yard touchdown run in the first quarter of Thursday's game.

The Newton Eagles are a tough enough squad on an even playing field. Give them three turnovers in the first quarter and teams will have real problems.

Newton converted three Buna turnovers into touchdowns to fuel a 55-10 bi-district victory over Buna in Class 2A play.

"We got all the breaks in that game," said Newton Head Football Coach Curtis Barbay. "We played well and executed good but it makes it easy when you have turnovers. We're playing real good right now.

"Buna had a great season," Barbay said. "They just didn't have a good game against us. When you turn the ball over that many times, you can't expect to win."

As has been Newton's style of play recently, the Eagles took control of the game quickly and cruised to the easy victory.

Two plays after the opening kickoff, Buna quarterback Ryan Sheppard mishandled a snap from center and turned the ball over to Newton's Dillon Flannigan at the Buna 18 with 11:12 left in the first quarter.

Two plays later, Newton's James Burch tossed a 20 yard touchdown pass to Flannigan to give Newton a quick 7-0 lead with 10:33 left in the first quarter.

But Buna continued to be snake bit in the first quarter of play. After a nice return by Blanton Craft gave the Cougars the ball at their own 29, the Cougars again shot themselves in the foot.

Buna Brian Holmes coughed up the ball and had it recovered by Newton's Johnny Brown at the Buna 32 with 10:19 left in the first quarter.

Three plays later, Newton made Buna pay for their second turnover of the first half.

Newton's Justin McLemore rambled around the right side and scored from 11 yards out to push the Eagles' lead out to 13-0 with 9:24 left in the first quarter.

Buna gave their strong showing of a crowd a glimpse of what they might be able to do against Newton on their next drive.

The Cougars moved the ball down the field against Newton and gained their initial first down of the night when Craft busted off a 16-yard run down to the Buna 42.

But two straight runs by Anthony Smith lost two yards and a Sheppard incomplete pass ended the drive for the Cougars.

Newton finally had to start a drive from their end of the field but it didn't matter for the Eagles. Using the running talents of McLemore and quarterback Nico Adams, the Eagles moved to the Newton 44 on two plays.

On the next play, Newton showcased a junior that should be the Eagles next great tailback as Burch galloped through the Buna defense on a 56-yard jaunt and a 21-0 Eagle lead.

Buna went three and out on their next drive and were forced to punt the ball back over the potent Newton offense.

With more than three minutes still remaining in the first quarter, the Eagles were not through scoring just yet.

Newton used the running of McLemore, Burch and Adams to move the ball down to the Buna 33 and then went to the airwaves to seal the first-quarter lead.

Adams lofted a high pass towards the end zone and watched as junior Stephen Alfred gathered in the reception for the easy score and a commanding 34-0 lead with 53 seconds left in the first quarter.

Buna finally was able to convert a Newton turnover into Cougar points early in the second quarter.

After Buna's Brian Holmes recovered an Alfred fumble at the Newton 48, the Cougars quickly put their running game into motion and moved down the field.

Three straight power runs by Holmes moved the ball down to the Newton 31. After Sheppard gained five, Buna's Justin Carrell moved it down to the Newton 21.

Behind Holmes and Smith, the Cougars moved the ball to the Newton 12 before a pass by Sheppard was batted down by Newton's Flannigan.

Buna's Garrett McDaniel drilled a 28-yard field goal to put the Cougars on the scoreboard with 4:45 left in the second quarter. The field goal cut Newton's lead to 34-3.

But Newton answered Buna's score with one of their own. And like the previous Newton drives, then one too ended up in the end zone.

Starting from the Newton 35, the Eagles engineered a six-play scoring drive that was capped off when Adams connected with Flannigan on a 12-yard scoring pass with 2:48 left in the second quarter. The score pushed Newton back out to a 41-3 lead over Buna.