Newman facing mirror image in undefeated Wilmington

With the prevalence of spread offenses and attacking the edge of the defense, Saturday’s Class 2A second-round playoff game between Newman and Wilmington at Roscoe Eades Stadium will certainly be old-school.

It’s a game that will be played in a metaphorical phone booth.

The Comets and Wildcats are mirror images of each other, with run-heavy offenses – almost run-exclusive offenses – and hard-nosed defenses designed to stop the run.

“We both try to do the same things, and it’s going to be smash-mouth football,” Newman coach Brandon Kreczmer said. “They throw less than we do; the two films we have, they threw once. They do what they do and they do it like it’s their job, and they’re not going to change from that – just like we won’t.”

For the record, Newman starting quarterback Cody Donna has thrown 62 passes this season, completing 27 of them for 391 yards and two touchdowns.

As usual, though, it’s a bevy of backs who make the Comets offense hum. Marcus Williams has run for 676 yards and eight touchdowns, and is averaging 12.3 yards per carry. Ethan Van Landuit has 439 yards (4.7 per carry) and seven scores, and Nolan Britt has 326 yards while averaging 7.1 yards per carry. Owen McBride (138 yards, TD) and Van Landuit (74 yards, TD) both have eight catches to lead the Newman receivers.

“We’re looking at pretty much our offense. They run almost exactly what we do; they stay tight, don’t like to spread people out very often, and they like to pound the ball,” Donna said. “That’s what we’re looking to do too, so we just have to fill the gaps and stop them at our own game.

“I feel like we have a lot more options on offense; they don’t really show other options,” he added. “We have many different things that we can call and throw at them, and I feel like we have an advantage in that case. But they run their stuff well and we run our stuff well, so it’s going to be a dogfight.”

Newman (7-3) has been in playoff mode since Week 7. Sitting at 3-3 through six games, Kreczmer told his players they would have to win out to secure an automatic berth, or leave their fate up to playoff points.

The Comets responded, putting together a 43-0 win over Hall and rallying for wins over Mendota and TRAC East champ Kewanee to finish 6-3. They continued that roll last weekend with a first-round road win over Mercer County, and now No. 9 seed Newman will host top-seeded Wilmington.

“Our backs were against the wall at 3-3, and obviously the kids rose to the occasion and did what they had to do to get us to this point,” Kreczmer said. “Hopefully we can take another step in the right direction and keep this thing going.”

Ironically, with the pressure the team put on itself the final three weeks of the regular season, last week’s game felt a little like a weight had been lifted once the Comets were actually preparing for a playoff game.

“I feel like definitely the first round there was a lot of weight that came off our shoulders,” Donna said. “We were really happy as a team, and we got a lot closer because of it, but we really straightened up our things and got ready for Mercer County, and I think we’re even more ready to come at Wilmington.”

“We’ve definitely been tight since Week 6 because we had to win all those games to guarantee ourselves a spot in the playoffs. So we’ve had the same mindset since Week 6, and we keep working hard and having fun,” Nolan Britt said. “The last few weeks, we’ve definitely been picking it up at practice, the energy has been there, and we’ve been having a better time and enjoying it.”

One of the biggest reasons for the surge over the last month has been things starting to click on both sides of the ball. The Comets have fought through some injuries and adversity, but they have come out on the other side much more close-knit and confident in who they are as a team.

It also helps that Newman has seen improvement in the X’s and O’s as the season has progressed.

“The linemen have been blocking hard, the backs have been hitting the holes hard, and we’ve learned our assignments,” Britt said. “We were missing some blocks at the beginning of the season and the backs were making mistakes, but we’re just putting it all together and building this as a family.”

Wilmington (10-0) is making its 25th straight playoff appearance after winning the Illinois Central Eight Conference title, outscoring its opponents 312-88 through last week’s 55-0 first-round win over Chicago Julian. The Wildcats have scored 31 points or more in five of their last six games, and have not allowed more than 20 points in a game all season – and they gave up more than 14 points just once.

It’s a tough challenge, but the Comets are looking forward to it.

“Wilmington is a tough team, they pound the ball just like us, and it’s going to be a great atmosphere,” Britt said. “It’s going to be a good game, as long as we keep working hard this week.”

Kreczmer predicts that the game will last less than two hours because all the running will keep the clock moving, and that’s just fine with Newman. He also doesn’t see any inherent advantage in seeing a similar team across the field, because Wilmington knows what to expect as well.

“I think it’s a toss-up as to who has an advantage,” Kreczmer said. “It’s just going to be who dominates the line of scrimmage and who makes the least amount of mistakes. You’re going to have to take advantage of every possession you have, because you’re not going to have many of them with both teams running the ball and waiting until about five seconds on the play clock to snap it. They’re well-coached, they’re physical, and that’s what we try to do too, so it’s going to be a knock-down, drag-out fight.”