Championship run comes up short for Nashville against Newman Central Catholic
Nashville coach Stephen Kozuszek didn’t have to think long about reasons his Hornets came up short of its first state football championship Friday at Huskie Stadium on the campus of Northern Illinois University.
It was the turnovers.
The Newman Central Catholic Comets (Sterling) forced five Hornets turnovers, three of which led to 21 points, as they went on for a 35-14 win in the Class 2A title game.
Newman senior linebacker Andrew Wilson set the tone of things to come when he intercepted pass from Nashville quarterback Cole Malaway at the Comets’ 46-yard line on the Hornets’ second possession.
With senior running back Connor McBride doing much of the work, Newman mounted a 12-play drive capped when Kyle O’Brien scored on a 1-yard plunge with 3:24 left in the first quarter.
With quarterback Jacob Ackman tossing a pair of touchdown passes and McBride scoring twice, the Comets went on to claim their third Class 2A state championship since 2010.
“(Nashville) had just intercepted a pass a few plays before and had pretty good field position. It was important that we (the defense) make a big play and get our offense back on the field,’’ Wilson said. “We were able to make a few big plays today on both sides of the football.
Nashville, making its second state title game appearance ever and first since 1998, when it placed second in Class 3A under Bruce Reeder, made too many mistakes against the opportunistic Comets.
“We just couldn’t sustain any momentum. We would move the football and then we would make a mistake or turn the football over,’’ Kozuszek said. “That was frustrating because we haven’t done that all year.
“Nevertheless, I’m very proud of this football team and this group of football players. What we’ve been able to accomplish is something they can take great pride and something years from now they can look back with wonderful memories.’’
Trailing 28-7 following a 24-yard scoring run by McBride late in the third quarter, Malawy, who was 23-of-43 for 235 yards, connected with Jullian Metcalf on a 13-yard scoring play to cut the Comets lead to 14 points
The Hornets (12-2) got the ball back early in the fourth quarter, but Newman defensive back Brett Newman stepped in of a Hornets receiver for an interception and ran untouched for a 30-yard touchdown for the final score of the day.
As time ran down, Newman first-year head coach Brandon Kreczmer got an unexpected ice bath from his players.
“I can’t tell you how proud I am of these players, especially the way they’ve wanted to carry on the tradition of Newman football and what we’ve been able to achieve at the state level in these last 10 years,’’ Kreczmer said. “Today we made plays when we needed to make plays. Our defense did a great job of turning the football over and we cashed in.’’
Ackman was 3-of-5 for 130 yards. But two of his completions went for touchdowns. A 60-yard scoring strike to McBride early in the second quarter made the score 14-0. The Comets duo hooked up from 39-yards out in the third period following a Hornets fumble.
Ackman, who had 10 touchdown passes in the Comets first 13 games, had two in the first half as Newman built an early lead.
After junior Kyle O’Brien had given Newman a 7-0 lead with a 1-yard plunge midway in the opening quarter, Newman struck again early in the second period.
