With the odds stacked against the varsity football team from last year’s 2-8 season where they only won against Halifax and James Buchanan, Head Coach Todd Rothermel and fellow coaches Miskinis, Smith, S. Barlup, Little, Feltman, J. Heimbaugh, Kratzer, Butterbaugh, Hockenberry and J. Barlup inspired the team to flourish and find their passion, not only individually but in a team setting.
This past summer, the team attended three 7v7 summer league pool tournaments, two at Midd-West High School and the other at Lycoming College.
With a season opener against the Camp Hill Lions on Aug. 25, the Buffaloes fell 0-21 when Camp Hill got a touchdown and a field goal in the first, third, and fourth quarters. This moved the Newport team to ranking #503 in the state in the MaxPreps rankings.
The following Friday, Sept. 1, Newport hosted the West Perry Mustangs and did relatively better than last year’s 0-55 shutout. The Buffaloes had one 50-yard touchdown this game scored by running back Dalton Kratzer. Zachary Bates followed with a field goal awarding the team the full seven points.
Jordin Briggs from the Newport Student Section was ecstatic to see Kratzer sprinting down the gridiron. “Dalton Kratzer is a speed demon…I hoped they felt as much excitement on the sideline as I did in the student section when we scored our first touchdown of the season,” said Briggs.
