RGR | Avery Johnson tosses six TDs as Maize cruises past Newton
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MAIZE, Kan. — Kansas State-bound senior quarterback Avery Johnson threw for 277 yards and six touchdowns for 5A’s second-ranked Maize as the Eagles picked apart a Newton team, 49-0, that never seemed to get going at K.T. Woodman Stadium in Maize on Friday night.
Despite the Railers forcing an early Eagles turnover, Maize opened the scoring on its second drive of the game with a 75-yard hookup from Johnson to Bryson Hayes. Following the third Newton three-and-out, Maize found the end zone again as Johnson hit Aiden Doty in the end zone to go up 14-0.
The Eagles would go on to score on each of their remaining first-half drives with passes from Johnson to Justin Stephens, Bryce Cohoon, and Hayes again, amassing a 35-0 halftime lead while the Railers struggled in pass protection offensively and in coverage defensively throughout the contest.
“No, [we couldn’t get anything going], not at all,” Railers head coach Greg Slade said. “But I don't want to take away from Maize. They’re a very good team.”
Maize would tack on two more touchdowns in the second half — another pass from Johnson and one on the ground courtesy of a 13-yard scamper by Daeshaun Carter — to seal a 49-0 win to improve to 3-0 and drop Newton to 0-3.
The Eagles racked up 408 yards offensively to 33 for the Railers. The lone highlight for Newton in the final 24 minutes was an interception by James Hulse off a deflection.
“I talked to the boys after the game and told them we’ll learn a lot about our character this upcoming week,” Slade said. “It comes down to how we respond to this. That’s going to be the most important thing is being able to come back after a loss like that and improve and do the things we need to in practice to get better.”
He added, “We talked a little bit about our practice this [next] week and I told them I've lost a lot worse games before — so I'm gonna come to work on Monday and get after it and still work to get better next week.”
Full offensive stats:
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Looking ahead
Newton will be back on the road next Friday night when it takes on Maize South. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Maize South Stadium. The Mavericks will be coming off a 35-21 loss to 4A’s eighth-ranked Hutchinson. The Railers lost last year’s matchup, 68-24.
Brett is a Communication Arts major at Bethel College, Editor-in-Chief of the Bethel Collegian, and Newton (KS) High School football beat writer. You can reach him via email or on Twitter.