Newport wins league opener

NEWPORT – The Newport Grizzlies football team delivered a third home win Friday night, Sept. 20, with a 19-14 Northeast 2A league win over Lind-Ritzville/ Sprague.

“We’re proud of our guys for pulling off another tough win,” Newport coach Mark Duxbury says of the Grizzlies’ third close win. He says the team needs to get better to keep winning.

“We lost two fumbles on two drives into the opponent’s territory,” he says. “We also had an offensive drive stall on the Ritzville 15. We are leaving points on the field, which we can’t do if we want to continue to win.”

Newport got the first score on a short Brody Driver rush. Driver had his third 100-yard plus rushing game, with 170 yards on 29 rushes.

Lind-Ritzville/Sprague answered in the second quarter with a short touchdown run of its own, tying the game at 6-6.

Newport took the lead back on a 70-yard pass play touchdown, from quarterback Hank Kirkwood to Dylan Aubrey. Kirkwood kicked the extra point. It was 13-7 at the half.

The teams played through a scoreless third quarter before Kirkwood scored in the fourth quarter on a six-yard run.

Lind-Ritzville/Sprague came back with a long fourth quarter TD pass play of its own, a 55-yarder. With the successful extra point, they were within a touchdown, but Newport held them off, taking a 19-14 win.

Newport had 258 yards on the ground. In addition to Driver’s 170 yards on 29 carries, Kirkwood rushed for 55 yards and the touchdown on 17 runs, Brad Martin had 22 yards on four carries. Kutter Driver had 11 yards on two runs.

Kirkwood completed three of seven passes for 80 yards and a TD.

Duxbury says defensively Newport played a good game, other than a couple mental mistakes.

“The most important thing is our team kept fighting and didn’t let the miscues discourage them,” he says.

Newport is tied for first with two other Northeast 2A teams, Asotin and Freeman, at 1-0 in league play. Asotin beat Colfax 35-13, Freeman beat Northwest Christian 19-7. Another league team, Reardan, lost to Chewelah 31-18.

Next Saturday, Sept. 28, Newport has its first road game. The Grizzlies go to West Valley High School in Spokane to play Northwest Christian. The game starts at 5 p.m.