HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: Red Devils hit groove, crunch Bears by scoring 51 - Hobbs Daily Report

By CHRIS HOBBS

HobbsDailyReport.com

NEWTON – A high-octane offense and swarming defensive front line sparked Newton-Conover High’s take-no-prisoners 51-0 victory over visiting Bunker Hill to start the football season on Friday night.

With their defense holding the Bears to 63 yards and their offense generating 30 points in one quarter – the second – the Red Devils cruised by scoring 50 or more points for the seventh time under head coach Matt Beam (see details below).

He’s 4-0 in season-openers since taking the Newton-Conover job and the wins are by combined scores of 207-0.

On Friday night, Newton-Conover had a turnover on its first offensive play – the Bears’ Josh Propst intercepted a pass – but then generated the season’s first score very quickly.

NEWTON-CONOVER 51
BUNKER HILL 0

Tylor Stinson — the Red Devils’ leading rusher in a 6-5 season a year ago — broke a 38-yard run for a TD with six minutes, 20 seconds left the opening quarter.

Getting outside to his right, Stinson saw a small opening down the right sideline and danced his way, just inches from the out-of-bounds line, all the way to the end zone.

After the Bears punted for the third time in three possessions, the Red Devils scored again. This time, Shamar Baker found an opening in traffic straight ahead of him and cut left at the right moment to get outside and speed away from all defenders to finish a 40-yard run.

Up 14-0, Newton-Conover forced another punt. Baker fielded it and went 80 yards for a TD but it was nullified by an illegal block.

By the time the Red Devils added their next score, with 10:27 left in the first half to go up 22-0, Stinson already had 106 rushing yards. The 22-point lead came from Stinson going 30 yards for a TD and catching a two-point conversion pass from Baker.

Newton-Conover’s defense, which generally just punished the Bears, got into the scoring attack next. Allen Wilfong grabbed a fumble at the Bunker Hill 9 and went untouched for a TD. When Kyjuan McClain added a two-point conversion run, it was 30-0.

About four minutes later, it was 37-0. Baker hit Jaheim Mullen with a 2-yard TD pass and Madison Hayes’ PAT helped send the Bears to a 44-0 deficit by halftime.

Newton-Conover now has a bye week and time to prepare to play at Hickory on Aug. 31. The Red Devils then have road games at East Burke and Hibriten before South Fork 2A play begins on Sept. 22.

Bunker Hill, which won one game a year ago, plays its home opener Friday (7:30 p.m.) against St. Stephens and has non-league games against Maiden, Bandys and West Wilkes before its Northwestern Foothills 2A debut on Sept. 22 at home against league favorite Hibriten.