Bobcats rally behind seniors for game of the year
The Newcastle Bobcats are headed to the playoffs after playing the game of the year on Senior night. It was a game that the town of Newcastle will remember for a very long time, with the Bobcats seniors playing their final game on the Newcastle high school football field going at in grand style with a win by a score of 79-70. Yes you heard that correctly, in a football game.
Things started out with Lane Brice scoring a 40- yard touchdown to begin with a 6-0 lead. St Joe responded with a score of its own, giving them a two- point advantage. With the bobcats unable to score on the next drive, St joe got the ball back…only to cough it back up with JT Spurlin stripping the ball free and recovered by Lane Brice. This game was a team effort, but especially from the seniors who were all over the field on both sides of the ball all night long.
As great as things turned out to be, it was a struggle early for the Bobcats, having to play some catch up most of the game with St Joe making it 16-6 in their favor. JD Brice responded like he usually does, running for a touchdown to cut it to a two- -point lead. The scored from then on was constantly changing after every possession until the Bobcats went back in the lead to make it a 28-24 game because of a touchdown pass from Lane Brice to his brother Lane Brice. On the following defensive possession, the Bobcats stopped St Joe on 4th down with less than 5 minutes to go in the half. From then on things got crazier, with the Bobcats recovering an onside kick and then JT Spurlin making one of the best runs of the entire season. It was 1st and 30 because of an offensive holding call, but on the very first play Spurlin went right down the field, shedding tacklers left and right, simply not going to the ground until he was in the endzone, just an unbelievable play by the senior. Ryan Blair has been a consistent kicker all season long, and the team needed every two-point kick they could get.
A little bit later, the Bobcats were back in the red zone, only this time it was a high snap, JD gets the ball hoping to avoid a fumble and once he has control of it scrambles around until he finds an open Edwin Bennett for SIX! The score at halftime was 44-39 Bobcats but things turned in St Joes favor in the third quarter. But luckily the fourth belonged to Newcastle, as the Bobcats got every single stop that they needed to ice the game. The bobcats won by nine, which puts the Bobcats in the playoffs no matter what because of the point differential between Newcastle and Perrin Whit, with Perrin only beating the Bobcats by four points. This gives Newcastle the edge over Perrin in case of a threeway tie with St Joe. Perrin and St Joe play this upcoming Friday with Newcastle having a bye week before the playoffs.