Wausau Pilot & Review
WAUSAU – Wausau Newman Catholic scored four first-quarter touchdowns and went on to down Wabeno/Laona 49-14 in a matchup of 8-player football state ranked teams on Saturday at Newman Catholic High School.
Thomas Bates and Conner Krach each ran for scores in the opening quarter as the Cardinals, the No. 1-ranked team in last week’s state poll, quickly took control and routed No. 4-ranked Wabeno/Laona.
Krach threw a 53-yard TD pass to James Bates and added another scoring run in the second quarter as Newman built a commanding 41-14 lead by halftime.
Eli Gustafson scored on a 4-yard run in the third quarter to finish the scoring as Newman Catholic improves to 3-0 this season.
Thomas Bates racked up 264 rushing yards, and Krach had 167 yards rushing and 56 yards passing for the Cardinals.
Ben Hardesty had 11 tackles and Matthew Hamilton had an interception to lead the Newman defense.
Newman Catholic will play at Port Edwards on Friday at 4 p.m. for its opening game in the Central Conference.
Cardinals 49, Rebels 14
Wabeno/Laona 6 8 0 0 – 14
Newman Catholic 27 14 8 0 – 49
First Quarter
NC – Thomas Bates 74 run (Matthew Hamilton kick).
NC – Conner Krach 78 run (Hamilton kick).
WL – Carter Janesch 10 run (pass failed).
NC – Krach 13 run (Hamilton kick).
NC – Bates 5 run (kick missed).
Second Quarter
NC – James Bates 53 pass from Krach (kick missed).
WL – Janesch 65 run (Brady Shepard pass from Janesch).
NC – Krach 5 run (T. Bates run).
Third Quarter
NC – Eli Gustafson 4 run (Krach run).
Individual Statistics
Rushing: WL, Carter Janesch 14-47, Braden Brauer 7-9. NC, Thomas Bates 24-264, Conner Krach 19-167, Tyler Ackermann 1-4, Eli Gustafson 2-3.
Passing: WL, Janesch 4-17-100-1. NC, Krach 2-4-56-0.
Receiving: WL, Brady Shepard 2-80, Adam Seeber 2-20. NC, James Bates 1-53, T. Bates 1-3.
Records: Wabeno/Laona 2-1; Newman Catholic 3-0.
