By Adam Hurwitz
Sports Reporter
The Newton South Lions fell to the Lincoln-Sudbury Warriors 35-6 on the annual Thanksgiving game this past Thursday. The Lions were beat on both sides of the ball with execution being a major problem.
Newton South had to play better offense, defense, control the clock, and win the turnover battle if they wanted to pull off an unlikely victory, but unfortunately each of these things went in the Warriors’ favor.
“We lost because we didn’t execute what we needed to execute in order to win,” senior captain Dylan Meehan said.
Lincoln-Sudbury simply outplayed the Lions, dominating offense and defense. The Warriors were more physical and controlled the game throughout.
Senior captain Sasha Hoban outlined each of the advantages that led to the Warriors’ expected victory.
“We lost because they were more physical than us,” he said. “We weren’t able to dominate the line of scrimmage and establish a run game early. Our offense couldn’t get going and our defense did not play well. We also lost the turnover battle 5-0, so it’s almost impossible to win a game when you turn it over as much as we did.”
One positive point of the game for the Lions loss was a touchdown caught by junior LJ Pope, but this score was overshadowed by the outcome of the entire game.
“Scoring the touchdown felt good,” Pope said, “but my personal stats mean nothing if we’re not winning.”
Despite a very tough loss, the seniors enjoyed one more chance to play together as a very strong class. The 2017 class had one of the best records of any Newton South class to date and it meant a lot for the players to play one more big game together.
“We came in and turned the program around and had winning seasons the past two years, but this year was not what we wanted. It wasn’t an ideal season, but we still had fun out there today as seniors one last time,” Hoban said.
As Hoban mentioned, the season was tough as a whole, as the Lions dealt with a series of injuries and struggled to fill many key roles. The team lost their UCLA bound quarterback in Austin Burton as well as captain and defensive leader Niko Ventouris. South greatly struggled to fill both roles.
“As a whole this season we struggled with injuries and figuring out our identity,” Meehan said. “We had been a pass based team for the past couple years and the transition out of that was difficult. We had playmakers, but when you have an all-state tight end who’s thrown into the QB position, the transition won’t be easy.”
Despite a very tough season for South and the upcoming graduation of many of the best players, optimism remains in the football program. There’s lots of talent in the sophomore and junior classes. The Lions could be a very successful team moving forward.
“There is a lot of young talent on the team and I know we are leaving it in good hands,” Meehan said. The seniors believe that the younger players on the team will be able to step up and play well for years to come.
Hoban agreed, adding that some younger players need to emerge as leaders as well.
“I think they have some talent in the lower classes,” he said. “If a few kids can step up and be leaders and if kids want to put in the time on the offseason they should be pretty good.”
Pope may be one of those leaders that the team needs going forward.
“I’ve talked to some juniors and sophomores,” Pope said. “We all agree we could be a better team than we showed this year; we just have to put the time and effort in the offseason, which starts now.”
Despite the devastating loss on Turkey Day to cap off a 2-9 season, there is still hope in the program for younger players to step up and make an impact in order for South to be a successful program in the immediate future.
