Newman takes control on road in first-round playoff game win over Mercer County

ALEDO – The Newman football squad took Mercer County’s best shots at the beginning and toward the end of Saturday’s IHSA Class 2A state football playoff opener.

But it was what the ninth-seeded Comets did in between that made the difference, as they took a 25-point lead into the fourth quarter and fended off the Golden Eagles’ comeback bid for a 33-24 victory at George Pratt Memorial Field.

Living up to their nickname, the “Blue Machine” used its formidable ground game to wear down the Mercer County defense, with senior running backs Marcus Williams and Ethan Van Landuit spearheading the charge as the Comets (7-3) gained 195 of their 208 total yards on Pratt’s muddy turf.

Van Landuit pounded way for 56 yards on 18 carries from his fullback slot, rushing for two touchdowns and adding a third score on a 3-yard reception from senior quarterback Cody Donna, a score that gave Newman its first lead at 12-8 early in the second period.

“That’s what our offense is all about,” he said. “Ground and pound, be physical and wear them down. Eventually they start to give up, and we keep on going.”

Williams churned out a game-high 125 yards on nine carries and also rushed for two touchdowns, the first of which was a 10-yard run with 5:23 left in the first quarter that got the Comets on the scoreboard.

It also happened in timely fashion. Mercer County started at the Newman 10-yard line after Owen Relander’s 77-yard return of the opening kickoff, and the eighth-seeded Golden Eagles (6-4) eventually scored on fourth down when junior quarterback Matthew Lucas hit Ryan Rillie with a 5-yard scoring pass, with David Meece’s two-point conversion run putting the hosts up 8-0.

“Any time the other team strikes first, to respond like that is definitely huge,” Williams said. “Obviously, our line blocked well and I was able to get free. That gave us a good boost to start the game.”

Echoing Van Landuit’s statement, Williams felt the longer the game went on, the better chance Newman had of wearing down the MerCo defenders and gradually asserting its will.

“We knew Mercer County had a lot of players go both ways,” Williams said. “We wanted to hit them hard and tire them out.”

Williams’ first touchdown and the Donna-to-Van Landuit scoring connection jump-started the Comet offense, which ended up scoring 33 straight points.

That included the first of Van Landuit’s two rushing TDs, a 4-yard run with 6:43 left in the first half that was set up by a blocked punt and ultimately staked Newman to a 19-8 halftime lead.

“Mercer County had a big special teams play that set them up,” Newman coach Brandon Kreczmer said. “After that, we kind of settled in and went up big.”

After halftime, Williams ripped off a 58-yard touchdown run on the first play of the third quarter, then Van Landuit scored from 5 yards out with 4:01 left in the period as the Comets opened up a 33-8 lead going into the fourth.

Before that, however, the Golden Eagles had a chance to cut into Newman’s 11-point lead late in the second quarter as junior quarterback Matthew Lucas drove them to the Comets’ 18-yard line with 4:30 left before halftime.

However, a 12-yard loss after an errant snap set the MerCo offense back, and on fourth-and-16 from the Newman 30-yard line, Lucas’s pass was deflected and fell incomplete.

“We came out strong, but field position became a big factor,” said Lucas, who completed 12 of 20 passes for 109 yards, supported by fellow juniors Owen Relander (six receptions, 70 yards) and Meece (61 yards on 17 carries).

“We gave them the ball in four-down territory frequently, and we’d get pinned back. That didn’t really help. And, it’s hard to stop a team that keeps running at you and running at you.”

Down but not out, the Golden Eagles got the jolt they needed when junior linebacker Brecken Heinrichs returned a fumble 63 yards to paydirt just 14 seconds into the fourth quarter, with Lucas running in the two-point conversion to close the gap to 33-16.

With 4:29 remaining, Lucas snuck over from a yard out on fourth down and Meece added his second two-point conversion to cut the deficit to nine. MerCo then edged into Newman territory on its next possession after burning all its timeouts during a defensive stop, but Van Landuit’s interception with 2:17 remaining effectively secured the a second-round home game for the Comets.

“Credit to them, they came back and fought hard,” Van Landuit said, “but we trained all year for this, and we were never going to give up.”

While noting that his club had several areas to work on in practice this upcoming week, Kreczmer was just glad to leave Aledo late Saturday afternoon with a victory.

“Survive and advance,” he said. “It may be winning ugly, but that doesn’t matter, as long as you win.”