Wausau Pilot & Review
WAUSAU – The Wausau Newman Catholic football team is starting to show that it may be in a league of its own.
The Cardinals scored six first-half touchdowns and went on to rout Almond-Bancroft 60-0 in a Central Conference 8-man football game Saturday afternoon at Newman Catholic High School.
Newman Catholic, ranked No. 1 in the Wissports.net State Coaches Poll, is now 5-0 overall and 2-0 in conference play. The Cardinals have outscored their opponents 268-42.
Conner Krach threw for 204 yards and three touchdowns, two to Jackson Pfender and another to Thomas Bates – all coming in the first half.
Bates added 75 rushing yards on just five carries, three of which went for touchdowns.
Newman Catholic’s defense added two touchdowns in the fourth quarter as Matt Hamilton returned a fumble 40 yards for a score and Griffin Puent had a 33-yard interception return for a touchdown to cap the scoring. The Cardinals held Almond-Bancroft (2-3, 1-1 Central Conference) to just 10 total yards and secured five turnovers.
Newman Catholic will play at Marion/Tigerton on Friday at 7 p.m.
Cardinals 60, Eagles 0
Almond-Bancroft 0 0 0 0 – 0
Newman Catholic 27 14 7 12 – 60
First Quarter
NC – Jackson Pfender 18 pass from Conner Krach (Matt Hamilton kick).
NC – Pfender 18 pass from Krach (Hamilton kick).
NC – Thomas Bates 4 run (Hamilton kick).
NC – T. Bates 4 pass from Krach (kick blocked).
Second Quarter
NC – T. Bates 10 run (Hamilton kick).
NC – T. Bates 4 run (Hamilton kick).
Third Quarter
NC – Steven Klement 9 run (Hamilton kick).
Fourth Quarter
NC – Hamilton 40 fumble return (kick missed).
NC – Griffin Puent 33 interception return (kick missed).
Team Statistics
First downs: AB 3; NC 14.
Rushing (att-yards): AB 13-minus 23; NC 25-140.
Passing (comp-att-yards-int): AB 7-24-33-3; NC 15-23-204-0.
Total yards: AB 10; NC 344.
Penalties (no.-yards): AB 2-15; NC 9-69.
Fumbles lost: AB 2; NC 0.
Individual Statistics
Rushing: AB, Emmitt Stiles 4-1, Shane Klismith 1-minus 3, T.J. Lamb 3-minus 10, Davis Dernbach 5-minus 11. NC, Thomas Bates 5-75, Matthew Meyer 5-37, Steven Klement 7-26, Tyler Ackermann 1-8, Everett Puent 1-3, Damien Puent 4-minus 4, Conner Krach 2-minus 5.
Passing: AB, Lamb 7-22-33-2, Dernbach 0-2-0-1. NC, Krach 15-22-204-0, T. Bates 0-1-0-0.
Receiving: AB, Klismith 6-29, Ayden Phillips 1-4. NC, Jackson Pfender 5-74, T. Bates 4-37, Ben Hardesty 3-65, Matt Hamilton 2-21, Ackermann 1-7.
Records: Almond-Bancroft 2-3, 1-1 Central Conference; Newman Catholic 5-0, 2-0 Central Conference.
