Newton Falls wins big over Kenmore

By Chuck Housteau

Vindicator Correspondent

NEWTON FALLS — There was a lot of buzz this summer about the potential of the Newton Falls young but talented football team.

The Tigers’ sophomore class went undefeated as freshmen and the team returned several talented lettermen from last year’s 4-6 season.

The buzz turned to cheers and applause by the second quarter of the Tigers season opener with Akron Kenmore when Newton Falls exploded for four touchdowns on the way to an impressive 38-8 win over the Cardinals.

Sophomore quarterback Matt Brazin, who started his third varsity game, threw for 168 yards and four touchdown passes and the Tigers defense totally shut down the Kenmore spread offense.

“We were excited because of the the type of team that we had to go against in Kenmore,” said Newton Falls coach Greg Lazzari. “We haven’t seen the type of team that Akron Kenmore presented.

“We were a little bit choppy in the first quarter and then we found some things and got some things going. Matt Brazin did a good job for us at quarterback.

“He executed well and he did what we needed to get done.”

Brazin got the offense rolling early in the second quarter when he directed a five-play, 49-yard drive and tossed a perfect 20-yard pass to sophomore Brian Moser.

Brazin then tossed a 28-yard scoring strike to junior Anthony Kline and a 50-yard touchdown to Kline’s twin brother Eric.

Anthony Kline finished off the first half scoring by racing 59 yards to paydirt. The first half ended with Newton Falls holding a 28-0 lead.

“In the first quarter we had our jitters,” said Anthony Kline. “In the second quarter we did what we were coached to do and we did our work and did what we had to.”

Eric Kline opened the third quarter by taking a pass from Brazin that covered 40 yards for another touchdown and a 35-0 lead.

“Our quarterback threw the ball pretty good and our line blocked good and so that opened up a lot for us,” said Eric Kline. “[Tailback] John Davis ran the ball very well and that opened up everything else.”

Placekicker Myron Lard made good on 5 extra points while backup kicker, sophomore Joe Spletzer connected on a 38-yard field goal with 8 minutes left in the game.

Kenmore tacked on a late score when Aaron Wright scored on a 45-yard pass from Garland McCormick in the game’s final minutes.

Newton Falls totally shut down the Cardinals in the first half. The Tigers defense led by junior Justin Curry, held Kenmore to only 43 yards of offense in the first half.

“The linebackers and the d-front did well,” said Lazzari. “Our kids have been flying to the ball. There isn’t much we haven’t seen.

“We do a lot in practice to make sure our kids are in shape and running and we rotate a lot of kids in and out.”

Offensively, Brazin completed 7 of 10 passes with one interception and Anthony Kline rushed for 88 yards on four carries. Davis added 48 yards on the ground.

Moser made three catches for 53 yards and Eric Kline had two catches for 90 yards.