Cardinal Newman roars from behind to hand Ukiah first loss

The Ukiah Wildcats came out swinging Friday night against host Cardinal Newman, scoring on the first possession of the game to take a quick lead in a North Bay League football game.

But that touchdown, just two minutes into the game, gave the Wildcats the only lead - indeed the only points - they would have all night.

Cardinal Newman kept its league record spotless, winning 50-7, and handing Ukiah its first loss of the season.

On just the third play from scrimmage deep in its territory, Ukiah quarterback Brett Hofstetter kept the ball up the center, spun off a tackler at the 20-yard line and raced to Newman’s 43 for a gain of 42 yards.

Two plays later, Hofstetter connected with Eddie Holbrook for a 40-yard touchdown, and the point after made it 7-0 Wildcats.

That was about it for Ukiah highlights.

From that point, Newman held the Wildcats scoreless and mostly unthreatening for the rest of the game.

The game got sloppy in the second quarter and ultimately officials called 18 penalties on the two teams, including several personal fouls.

Ukiah’s backup quarterback was ejected in the third quarter after a second unsportsmanlike call. It was the sixth penalty in the first 4-plus minutes of the third quarter. Two minutes later, Ukiah coach Jonathon Dewey was hit with a similar penalty call for arguing with officials.

Cardinal Newman coaches were also unhappy with the officiating, saying it had taken over the game at one point.

Dewey acknowledged his team got frustrated.

“We need to play cleaner football,” he said. “That has been bothering us for the last couple games.”

Cardinals coach Paul Cronin said his team just never found its rhythm.

“They played real hard early,” he said of Ukiah. “Then we (both) got multiple penalties and that made it difficult to get anything going.

“We usually have four or five the whole game.”

Newman punted on its first possession and turned it over on downs on its next. Ukiah was intercepted and punted on its next two drives before Newman scored late in the first to tie it at 7-7.

Cardinal Tanner Mendoza scored on a 4-yard run, the drive set up by 10- and 14-yard rushes by quarterback Jordorn Brookshire.

Cardinal Newman scored 19 points in the second quarter to take a 26-7 halftime lead.

Brookshire scored on 1- and 3-yard rushes and Mendoza added a 6-yard scoring run.

Newman’s tough defense pressured Ukiah’s Hofstetter, forcing him to get rid of the ball quickly or duck for cover. Newman’s line had six sacks in the first half alone.

Ukiah had just 76 total yards offense in the first half and 88 total in the game.

Cardinal Newman threw up another 21 unanswered points in the third quarter, which was marred with nine penalties and the ejections.

Newman started the quarter with two consecutive false-start calls and a few minutes later there were back-to-back personal fouls, one on each team.

Then Ukiah’s quarterback, Morgan Edwards, was ejected for unsportsmanlike conduct. He will miss the next game as well because of the ejection.

Despite the ugly play, Newman was able to score three times in the quarter:

Brookshire on a 1-yard run,

Mendoza on a 3-yard rush, and

Mike Daly’s 6-yard reception from Brookshire.

Jack Murray kicked a 33-yard field goal to round out Newman’s scoring with the clock running in the fourth quarter.

“It was a very sloppy game,” Mendoza said. “It was hard to play like that.”

He said Ukiah scoring quickly surprised Newman a little.

“It was a slap in the face,” he said. “It woke us up. I think we were asleep for the first couple of plays.”

Dewey said his team will learn from the difficult loss.

“We’ll get better because of this,” he said. “That’s what you do. These games teach you that.”

Cardinal Newman is now 4-1 overall and 2-0 in the NBL while Ukiah falls to 4-1, 1-1. The Cardianls plays at Maria Carrillo next Friday, Ukiah at home against Casa Grande.