Mistakes pile up for Bombers in district loss to Newcastle
Midwest City’s Aeden Sutton (17) stiff arms a Newcastle defender during a district game on Oct. 3. Photo by Jeff Harrison
By Jeff Harrison
Midwest City Beacon
NEWCASTLE – Little mistakes turned into big problems for Midwest City on Friday night against Newcastle.
The Racers scored 21 points off turnovers and rolled to a 51-0 victory at Gene Ried Field.
Midwest City coach Jacques Washington said the same mistakes continue to haunt his young team.
“When we make a mistake, we can’t get down on ourselves and let one mistake lead to another,” Washington said. “We’ve got to keep chopping forward, figure out why the mistake happened, and fix it the next time. Right now, we’re in a critical spot where we make a mistake and let it turn into the next play. We’ve got to stop focusing on outcomes and start focusing on the next step, the next play.”
With the win, Newcastle (4-2, 2-0) moves to first place in District 5A-1. The Bombers (1-5, 0-2) have lost three straight and are still searching for their first district victory.
Midwest City’s defense held the Racers to a field goal on their first possession of the game. Newcastle moved the ball to the Bomber 25 but had to settle for a 38-yard kick from Bryan Medrano.
The Bomber offense looked strong early. They moved the ball into scoring position while converting a pair of fourth downs. But the drive stalled when they turned the ball over on downs at the Racer 27.
On the next play, Newcastle quarterback Blake Creswell hit Santorrio Boykins for a 74-yard touchdown and a 10-0 lead with 3:04 left in the first quarter.
The Racers added to that lead early in the second when Creswell found Kaden Longman for a touchdown on third-and-20. That made it a 17-0 score with 10:37 in the second.
Newcastle cashed in on a pair of turnovers for a 31-0 halftime lead.
Midwest City caught a break when Newcastle was called for roughing the punter but later turned it over on a fumble near midfield. The Racers went on to score on a 13-yard run by Taylor Bradford.
The Bombers had another big play as Richard Harris took a short pass from Valor Vaughan and sprinted 50 yards downfield. But a defender stripped the ball and the Racers recovered on their own 19. Bradford broke a 59-yard run and later scored from five yards out for a 31-0 lead.
In the second half, Newcastle kept rolling with three more scores. Bradford and Boykins each had a rushing touchdown, and Ashton Shumard scored on an interception return.
Despite the lopsided score, Washington said he saw encouraging signs early in the game.
“We focused on just getting four or five yards a play offensively and not moving backward,” he said. “We did that for the most part that first drive. We had opportunities to make plays — just didn’t execute them. That’s football. You’ll have incompletions and dropped passes, but we’ve got to bounce back faster.”
Washington said the team must take accountability and stop “beating themselves.”
“A lot of times right now, the Bombers are beating the Bombers,” he said. “We’re doing a good job helping the other team be successful — missed tackles, miscommunications, not executing. That’s on us.”
The Bombers will try to regroup this week as they host undefeated Bishop McGuinness (5-0, 1-0) on Friday night.
“The beautiful thing about football is every week there’s opportunity,” Washington said. “It’s about taking hold of that opportunity and executing. We just have to take care of us.”
