The Batesville Junior Pioneers were less than hospitable hosts in Coach Josh Austin’s debut with his Newport Greypups as they upended their rivals, 41-6.
“I’m disappointed obviously,” Austin said following the loss, “but, there were good things and it gives us a starting point to get better.”
Austin noted before the contest that he felt good going in the game “IF we don’t turn the ball over or commit penalties.”
He seemed the prophet two plays into the game as Batesville’s opening kickoff - an onside kick - bounced off the hands of a Newport receiver and was recovered by the kicking team at the Newport 45-yard line.
The first play from scrimmage was an offside penalty against Newport which set up the Junior Pioneers scoring drive - a touchdown pass from quarterback Nate Morton to Zac Stewart. The two-point conversion was good for an 8-0 Batesville lead.
The Junior Pioneers added to their lead in the second quarter when Joey Rodriguez scored the first of his three touchdown runs. The two-point conversion was no good as Batesville led 14-0 with 6:03 remaining in the second quarter.
With the Junior Pioneers attempting to put an insurance score on the board before halftime, Newport’s Justin Robertson stepped in the path of a Morton pass and returned in 40 yards for a Greypup score.
The two-point conversion was no good but Newport had cut the lead to 14-6 at intermission.
Rodriguez added two third quarter touchdowns sandwiched around a second Newport turnover to take a 28-6 lead into the fourth frame.
Batesville’s Jordan Russell added two scoring runs in the fourth quarter for the final margin.
“I thought our effort was good until the third quarter where our defense - which had been on the field all night - got tired,” Austin said.
The first-year coach pointed out it was not all gloom and doom.
“We were 14-6 into the third quarter, they go down and score and we’re moving the ball before the fumble,” he said, “so I felt like we were still in the game.”
“I also thought Ki’Jana Funderburke ran the ball hard and did a good job of getting into the hole and going up the field.”
He continued, “I also thought Charley Bell did a good job blocking which was something that we really hadn’t seen as consistently as last night.”
“Of course, Justin Robertson had the big play of the night for us, but that wasn’t really a surprise,” Austin noted.
“He has been making those kinds of plays in practice so we thought he would perform well for us.”
The Pups now have nine days to get ready for Jonesboro Macarthur Thursday, Sept. 9 which Austin said will be put to good use.
“A lot of our issues were technique - lining up in the wrong place - which we will spend a lot of time on the next week,” he explained.
“We will work a little more on individual positions and not as much on team drills to hopefully take care of some of those technique issues.”
Newport will be on the road at Macarthur in week two. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
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The Batesville Junior Pioneers were less than hospitable hosts in Coach Josh Austin’s debut with his Newport Greypups as they upended their rivals, 41-6.
“I’m disappointed obviously,” Austin said following the loss, “but, there were good things and it gives us a starting point to get better.”
Austin noted before the contest that he felt good going in the game “IF we don’t turn the ball over or commit penalties.”
He seemed the prophet two plays into the game as Batesville’s opening kickoff - an onside kick - bounced off the hands of a Newport receiver and was recovered by the kicking team at the Newport 45-yard line.
The first play from scrimmage was an offside penalty against Newport which set up the Junior Pioneers scoring drive - a touchdown pass from quarterback Nate Morton to Zac Stewart. The two-point conversion was good for an 8-0 Batesville lead.
The Junior Pioneers added to their lead in the second quarter when Joey Rodriguez scored the first of his three touchdown runs. The two-point conversion was no good as Batesville led 14-0 with 6:03 remaining in the second quarter.
With the Junior Pioneers attempting to put an insurance score on the board before halftime, Newport’s Justin Robertson stepped in the path of a Morton pass and returned in 40 yards for a Greypup score.
The two-point conversion was no good but Newport had cut the lead to 14-6 at intermission.
Rodriguez added two third quarter touchdowns sandwiched around a second Newport turnover to take a 28-6 lead into the fourth frame.
Batesville’s Jordan Russell added two scoring runs in the fourth quarter for the final margin.
“I thought our effort was good until the third quarter where our defense - which had been on the field all night - got tired,” Austin said.
The first-year coach pointed out it was not all gloom and doom.
“We were 14-6 into the third quarter, they go down and score and we’re moving the ball before the fumble,” he said, “so I felt like we were still in the game.”
“I also thought Ki’Jana Funderburke ran the ball hard and did a good job of getting into the hole and going up the field.”
He continued, “I also thought Charley Bell did a good job blocking which was something that we really hadn’t seen as consistently as last night.”
“Of course, Justin Robertson had the big play of the night for us, but that wasn’t really a surprise,” Austin noted.
“He has been making those kinds of plays in practice so we thought he would perform well for us.”
The Pups now have nine days to get ready for Jonesboro Macarthur Thursday, Sept. 9 which Austin said will be put to good use.
“A lot of our issues were technique - lining up in the wrong place - which we will spend a lot of time on the next week,” he explained.
“We will work a little more on individual positions and not as much on team drills to hopefully take care of some of those technique issues.”
Newport will be on the road at Macarthur in week two. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
