PhotoFest: Newcastle Punches Ticket for 2A Football Playoffs
The Newcastle football team will be in the playoffs for just the 2nd time in the last 7 years after a resounding 49-14 win over Burns last week. The Dogies are 5-1 in the 2A East Conference and Burns is 4-4 overall; they will be in the playoffs as well, for just the 3rd time in the last 11 years.
Newcastle got out to an early lead on a Teddy Troftgruben touchdown run that went for 19 yards to make it 7-0. That was followed by a Conner Stolhammer TD run from 10 yards out in the 2nd quarter to give the Dogies a 14-0 lead. Newcastle tacked on another score in the 2nd quarter when Troftgruben tossed a 16-yard TD pass to Dane Crabtree to bump the lead to 21-
Burns got on the board in the 3rd quarter with a 72-yard kick-off return for a touchdown from Mason Tewrry but Newcastle responded with two more scores in the quarter as Collin McConkey got to the end zone from 13 yards and then followed that up with a 1 yard TD plunge.
The Dogies weren't finished as Landon Hatheway made his way to the end zone and McConkey reeled off a 53-yard run to the house. Burns concluded the scoring with a Mason Terry 1-yard TD.
Newcastle will be at Wheatland on Friday and here is the Dogies playoff scenario: No. 2 seed with a win over Wheatland in Week 8; No. 3 seed with a loss and a Moorcroft win; 2-3-4 points tiebreaker with a loss and a Burns win.
Burns will be on the road at Moorcroft and here's the deal for the Broncs: No. 3 seed with a Newcastle win, no matter if they win or lose in Week 8; No. 4 seed with a loss and a Wheatland win; 2-3-4 points tiebreaker with a win and a Newcastle loss.
Points Tiebreaker = Newcastle is +12 entering Week 8, Burns is -4, and Wheatland is -8. If Wheatland wins by 9 points or less, Newcastle is No. 2 on the points tiebreaker, Burns is No. 3, and Wheatland is No. 4 based on Burns' head-to-head win. If Wheatland wins by 10 points or more, Wheatland gets the No. 2 seed, Newcastle the No. 3 seed, and Burns the No. 4 seed.
Be sure and check out some pics of the Newcastle-Burns game, compliments of Nicole McFarland. They can be found in our gallery below. Enjoy!
Newcastle-Burns Football
Gallery Credit: Nicole McFarland