When the call came in from the sideline, Newman quarterback Evan Bushman could hardly believe it. But he knew what he had to do to make it pay off.

The Comets (AP No. 4 in Class 1A) executed the deep pass to the back right corner of the end zone perfectly, and it put the finishing touches on a 28-14 win over Princeton (AP No. 6 in Class 3A) on Friday night in the teams’ season opener at Roscoe Eades Stadium in Sterling.

Leading 22-14 with five minutes to play, Bushman lofted a first down pass to Tyson Williams, who went up and high-pointed it for the score. It was the second jump ball touchdown in that corner of that same end zone that the Comets converted in the game.

“It’s just exciting that our coaches have the confidence in you to call that play,” Bushman said. “Not a lot of teams in that situation are going to throw the deep ball, but the coaches trust us and they know that we can make those plays happen. It’s a lot of fun – and a big confidence-booster for us.”

Newman’s senior quarterback was an efficient 15-for-19 passing for 230 yards and those touchdowns to Williams and John Rowzee. His 27-yard pass to Rowzee on fourth down led to the Comets’ second touchdown, after a Princeton penalty before a Newman punt on fourth-and-14 gave the Comets the option to go for it and extend the drive midway through the second quarter.

Rowzee had five catches for 83 yards, Williams had three catches for 45 yards, and five different receivers caught passes for Newman (1-0), which complemented the pass game with 106 yards and two short touchdowns by George Jungerman on the ground.

“We’re so versatile. We have so many people who are athletes, from sophomore to senior, I trust everybody,” Bushman said. “Our word of the week was ‘confidence,’ and you could really see us play with a lot of confidence out there tonight.”

Princeton (0-1) countered with an effective ground game. Casey Etheridge ran 24 times for 165 yards and two touchdowns, and quarterback Gavin Lanham added 18 carries for 113 yards. A majority of those yards for both runners came after contact, as they consistently fought through Newman tackles.

“I thought we did well getting low and getting to our assignments. But I feel like we still have a lot to work on,” Etheridge said. “I thought the offense didn’t look bad, but the defense needs a lot of work, especially on the edge. Obviously, we didn’t come out with the win, but it’s Week 1, so we have a lot of room to improve.”

Newman came up with the key stops it needed in the second half. After the Tigers tied the score 14-14 on the opening drive of the second half – its third consecutive drive of at least 10 plays – the Comets went three-and-out. Princeton drove to Newman’s side of midfield, but Comet lineman Matthew Murray recovered a fumbled handoff.

Jungerman’s second TD run capped that ensuing drive early in the fourth quarter, and then he turned a muffed snap on the PAT kick into a two-point conversion pass to Rowzee for an eight-point lead.

Princeton punted on fourth down at midfield on its next drive, and Newman covered 72 yards in seven plays, with a third down completion to Williams setting up that final TD pass on the very next play to seal it.

One final fourth down run stop at its own 13-yard line with just under two minutes remaining essentially ended things.

“The whole game, they were overloading one side, so we’d bump over and shift and try to adjust. We played our hearts out tonight,” Jungerman said. “We knew the game wasn’t over and we had to give everything that last play to get the ball and take a knee. This is great for us. It really boosts our confidence to know that we’re a great team and we can play with anybody.”

While happy with the win, Newman coach Mike LeMay said there were some sloppy things that his team needs to clean up.

Princeton coach Ryan Pearson felt the same way about his squad.

“Hats off to Newman, they played a fantastic game today,” Pearson said. “Obviously, it didn’t end the way we wanted it to, but you can’t have the fundamental breakdowns that we had consistently throughout four quarters today and expect to beat a good football team like that. I felt like we were able to move the ball, but I truly feel like we’ve got a lot of work to do.”