Playing a new position on a new team this season, Asher Ernst came up big in Newman’s 49-14 win over Erie-Prophetstown on Saturday.

Ernst, a 6-foot-3 transfer and standout basketball player for Morrison, previously played defensive end and outside linebacker. Now a safety for the Associated Press Class 1A third-ranked Comets, Ernst had two interceptions and a 14-yard reception in the Three Rivers Rock win.

He grabbed his first interception on the Panthers’ opening drive of the game, returning it to the five to set up a George Jungerman rushing score for Newman (3-0, 1-0).

“It’s definitely a new role, but I’m fitting into it great, having a great time out there,” Ernst said. “The coaches are doing a great job of putting me in the right places.”

Newman led 27-14 in its Homecoming came before pulling away in the second half at a steamy Prescott Memorial Field in Sterling.

Ernst battled through some sickness on the sideline amid the heat, doing his best to keep cool. He had his second interception in the third quarter.

“That’s probably the most I’ve ever thrown up in my life. It was awful,” he said. “But you know, you’ve just got to fight through it.”

His early defensive play got Newman off to a good start after a slow one in last week’s 35-18 win over Mendota. Jungerman’s second rushing TD helped make it 14-0 and Evan Bushman’s TD pass to Parker Strommen made it 21-0 after Ayden Gutierrez’s PAT kick.

“Just starting off hot like that is a great feeling,” Ernst said. “Get the offense rolling and score early.”

Newman coach Mike LeMay said Ernst has fit well on the team and has been a natural in the secondary.

“As a basketball player you can kind of see how he goes up for the ball,” he said. “He was really good on a couple of those pass plays and two really important picks, so that was awesome.”

Ernst averaged 12.8 points on the court last season for Morrison.

Newman’s secondary looks to be tested even more with road games at Orion and Rockridge, which both feature prolific passers in Kale Filler and Cullen Schwigen. Orion’s Filler threw six touchdown passes, five to Owen Vorhees, in last week’s win.

Another Morrison transfer, Rylan Alvarado, had two rushing touchdowns in the win. Alvarado ran on two relay wins to help the Mustangs win a state track & field title.

He had 50 yards rushing to lead the backfield ahead of Matthew Blackert (33 yards) and Danny Welte (26).

“We knew coming in that they were undefeated,” Alvarado said. “Coming off last week, we started slow, so we knew we had to hit them pretty hard early.”

Newman also forced a turnover on downs in the first quarter.

E-P’s lone scores were TD pass of 43 and 31 yards from Keegan Winckler to Gaven Adams.

Newman held Winckler to under 40 yards rushing on 19 carries while Tristan Hovey had just five carries for 34 yards.

“We kind of shot ourselves in the foot early on,” E-P coach Tyler Whitebread said. “Bad snaps, that interception, the defense gave up a long touchdown. Special teams ... It was a tough first quarter. When you have that it’s really tough to come back against a team like Newman.”

Whitebread, a 2002 Newman grad, praised Bushman’s ability to pass the ball even better this season. Bushman threw for 154 yards. Sophomore backup Jameson Hanlon came in late.

“He’s really good. He’s the real deal,” Whitebread said of Bushman. “He has poise in the pocket. We didn’t want him to get comfortable, but they blocked our d-line pretty well and he picked us apart.”

Tyson Williams had a 28-yard catch and Renner Rosengren had a 21-yard reception for Newman. Rosengren is back in action after getting injured last winter on the basketball court.

Welte had a rushing score for Newman’s last TD of the afternoon.