DANVILLE – Just about everything that could go wrong did go wrong for the Danville football team in its Division VI, Region 27 quarterfinal on Friday night at Tough Street Stadium. Newark Catholic had two touchdowns on the board less than a minute into the contest and rolled to a 42-7 win.
Cole Canter found Tyson Mummey on a fly route on the left sideline for a 78-yard touchdown on the Green Wave’s second play from scrimmage.
“Based on some of the things they were doing from a schematic standpoint that we thought we could take advantage of,” Newark Catholic coach Ryan Aiello said. “The run game is always going to be something that we harp and emphasize in our preparation because it opens up passing plays.”
Then, Newark Catholic’s Drew Hess recovered a snap over Danville quarterback Max Payne’s head on the Blue Devils’ first play from scrimmage. Kyle Langenbrunner was in the end zone on the next play from 20 yards out and the fifth-seeded Green Wave (5-3) held a 14-0 lead 56 seconds into the contest.
“I thought we were ready; it seemed like we were ready in the locker room,” Danville coach Cameron Smith said. “I think they came out and saw how big, strong and fast those kids are. We were playing on our heels a little bit. Obviously, when you do that, you start making mistakes.”
Canter bridged the first and second quarters with touchdown passes of 13 yards to Brandon Buchanan and 22 yards to Tanner Elwell to push the Newark Catholic lead to 28-0 with just under 10 minutes left in the half.
Elijah Wallace blocked a punt and Hess scooped it up and returned it 4 yards for a touchdown to push the Green Wave lead to 35-0.
Kaiden Colopy had a 12-yard run on Danville’s next possession to give the Devils their first first down of the game.
But the drive stalled after a block-in-the-back penalty stalled the drive. David Roshon blocked a punt to put Newark Catholic within striking distance again. Canter found Buchanan on a flag route for a 31-yard touchdown to push the lead to 42-0 with 4:19 remaining in the half.
“They are very well-coached and they are big, strong and fast,” Smith said. “When you have that and discipline, there’s not a lot of teams that can stop them.”
Payne connected with Colopy on a 44-yard pass play to give the Devil offense a jolt. The play set up a Payne touchdown pass to Nick O’Dell with 13 seconds left in the half that got fourth-seeded Danville on the board.
Mother Nature took over from there. Just as the teams were beginning second-half warmups, the skies opened. With it came thunder and lightning forcing a delay of about 2 hours, 15 minutes. Play resumed with a running clock and neither team scored in the second half.
Canter finished 6-for-6 for 155 yards and four touchdowns, Buchanan caught three passes for 55 yards and two scores, Wallace added a pair of sacks to go with his blocked punt and Mummey had an interception to lead the Green Wave.
Deion Parker finished with 11 carries for 53 yards and Payne went 6 of 15 passing for 66 yards, one touchdown and one interception for the Devils (5-3).
“We hope it can turn into (a learning experience),” Smith said. “But right now, it hurts. But hopefully we can use this as a learning experience because when you get deep into the playoffs, these are the types of teams you’re going to face. We’ll tell the kids that, let that sit, let that sting – then we’ll learn from it later.”
Newark Catholic advances to play at top-seeded Glouster Trimble in a regional semifinal on Friday night at 7 p.m. Danville will play Friday night as well, but details haven’t been finalized.
