Dogies overpowered by top-ranked Big Horn

NEWCASTLE — The Newcastle Dogies knew they were facing the toughest test of the season Friday when No. 1 Big Horn rolled into Schoonmaker Field, and the Rams showed why they hold the state’s top ranking with a 60–22 win.

“Hats off to Big Horn. They are tough in about every position and are No. 1 for a reason,” head coach Matt Conzelman said. “They’re just a tough team. They were huge up front.”

Big Horn capitalized on four Newcastle turnovers, returned a punt for a touchdown, and scored again on a blocked punt.

“They execute and don’t make many errors, and the errors you make they make you pay for,” he said. 

The Dogies actually outgained the Rams in total yardage but couldn’t overcome the miscues.

“The four turnovers stick out in your mind, and they didn’t have any turnovers,” Conzelman said. “When I saw the stats, it wasn’t as bad as it felt like in the moment for us.”

Big Horn jumped out to a 21–0 lead in the first quarter and extended it to 42–7 by halftime. Newcastle’s first score came in the second quarter when senior receiver Cort Perino hauled in a 73-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Teddy Troftgruben.

“A couple of games we’ve had a slow start, and you just can’t have a slow start against a solid club like Big Horn,” Conzelman said. “You can’t get so tight that you can’t move, but we definitely need to get focused on the task at hand.”

Newcastle showed life after the break. In the third quarter, Perino struck again with another long touchdown grab, and junior Dane Crabtree added a special-teams score with a kickoff return to the end zone. The Dogies put up 16 points in that frame to close the gap before Big Horn finished off the win.

“We came out at half and the nerves were gone, and we just started playing,” Conzelman said. “If we could have played four quarters like we played the third, we would be in business.”

Even in defeat, there were positives. Newcastle surpassed 100 yards rushing, with senior Collin McConkey gaining 73 yards on 19 carries. Perino finished with 99 receiving yards and two touchdowns, Crabtree added 36 rushing yards plus his return score, and sophomore Colton Hatheway chipped in with 36 all-purpose yards.

“We found out that even if the opponent is bigger, we can still do some stuff,” he said.

The Dogies now turn their attention to a Sept. 26 road trip to Tongue River.

“They’re coming off a loss to Moorcroft so they’re going to be hungry, and it is at their place,” Conzelman said. “The biggest positive from this game is that we came out of it injury-free, and that is a plus right there. Now we need to shore up the weaknesses we saw in this one and keep moving forward. We match up a whole heck of a lot better against Tongue River.”

Stat Box

Final Score
Big Horn 60, Newcastle 22

Scoring by Quarter
Big Horn – 21 21 12 6 — 60
Newcastle – 0 7 15 0 — 22

Newcastle Scoring Summary

2Q: Perino 73-yd pass from Troftgruben (Erb kick)

3Q: Perino 26-yd pass from Troftgruben (Erb kick)

3Q: Crabtree kickoff return (2 pt. conversion)

Team Stats

First Downs: Big Horn 10, Newcastle 8

Rushing Yards: Big Horn 170, Newcastle 135

Passing Yards: Big Horn 184, Newcastle 133

Total Offense: Big Horn 450, Newcastle 488

Turnovers: Big Horn 0, Newcastle 4

Penalties–Yards: Big Horn 4–30, Newcastle 2–10

Newcastle Leaders

Passing: Troftgruben 6-14, 133 yds, 2 TD, 3 INT

Rushing: McConkey 19-73; Crabtree 8-36; Hatheway 3-19; Troftgruben 9-7

Receiving: Perino 2-99, 2 TD; Hatheway 2-17; Conzelman 1-9; Crabtree 1-8

Special Teams: Crabtree kickoff return TD; Erb 2 PATs; KO returns – team 220 yds

Defense: Drew Conzelman 8 tackles (12 pts); Collin McConkey 7 tackles (10 pts); Mason Rawhauser 4 tackles (8 pts); Teddy Troftgruben 3 tackles, PBU, INT, FR (7 pts); Kort Perino 4 tackles (7 pts); Carter Farella 2 tackles, 2 TFL, sack (7 pts); Isaiah Anderson blocked kick (7 pts); Nate White 3 tackles (6 pts); Colton Hathaway 5 tackles, PBU (6 pts); Dane Crabtree 3 tackles, TFL (5 pts); Jace Rich 2 tackles, PBU (4 pts); Cole Erb 2 tackles (3 pts); Dylan Hespe 1 tackle (2 pts)