By By Marty Stamper/The Meridian Star
Sept. 8, 2001
DECATUR – Newton County opened its new stadium in grand fashion Friday night as the Cougars took a 21-7 win over the Newton Tigers.
All the Cougars had to do was look to their Mapp to find their road to success.
Darryl Mapp, a 5-foot-8, 165-pound junior tailback scored three touchdowns and gained 180 yards on 27 carries to lead the Cougars to their fourth win in the 12-year-old series.
Nothing about the win came easy as it took a touchdown with 3:29 left in the contest to secure the final 14-point margin, Newton County's second largest margin of victory in the series. Only in a 15-0 win in 1990 have the Cougars beaten the Tigers worse.
Newton County was penalized seven times for 65 yards with six infractions coming in the second half. Newton was flagged nine times for 60 yards.
Newton came out smoking as the Tigers went 80 yards in nine plays to start the game. The touchdown came on a 35-yard scoring toss from Laderrian Blaylock to Bobby Lindsey, who had gotten behind the Cougar secondary. Zack Logan's extra point gave Newton a 7-0 lead with 7:56 to go in the opening quarter.
A catastrophe in the Newton kicking game set the Cougars up for their first score. Tiger punter Lucas Poole was unable to get off a kick following a high snap with the Cougars taking over at the Newton 29.
Six plays later, Mapp got the first of his three six-pointers as he tallied from a yard out. David McConnell kicked the first of his three extra points to knot the battle at 7-7 with 5:36 left in the first half.
A 26-yard punt by Poole put the Cougars back in business at their 43 late in the first half. Six plays later, the Cougars had the lead for good. Mapp bounced outside to his right and found the end zone from five yards out to cap the drive. Mapp also had a 25-yard run on the scoring drive. McConnell's PAT gave the hosts a 14-7 halftime lead.
The Cougars outgained Newton 107-95 in first-half yardage with all of Newton County's yards coming on the ground. Mapp had 86 yards on 15 carries by intermission.
The Cougars then maintained ball possession for most of the second half. At one point, Newton County had run 28 plays to just 13 for Newton.
The Cougars finally put the game away with 3:29 to play as Mapp scored on a 1-yard run. The score capped a 13-play, 66-yard drive that ate up most of the fourth quarter and gave Newton precious little time to stage a comeback.
Blaylock was nearly all of Newton's offense in the fourth quarter, carrying the ball seven times for 30 yards and completing 2-of-11 passes for 14 yards.
For the night, the Newton junior quarterback had 14 carries for 59 yards and completed 9-of-23 passes for 88 yards.
Lindsey had six receptions for 61 yards.
Poole finished with a 39.5-yard punting average after booming one kick 57 yards.
McConnell averaged 38.3 yards on three punts for the Cougars.
Newton County, 2-0, finished with 236 total yards with 221 coming on 53 rushes. Fullback Kendrick Windham had 36 yards on 12 rushes.
Newton, 1-1, had 147 total yards with 69 coming on 32 carries and 88 coming through the air.
Newton County hosts Morton with Newton playing host to powerful Ackerman in next week's games.
Marty Stamper is a sports writer for The Meridian Star. E-mail him at mstamper@themeridianstar.com or call him at 693-1551 ext. 3234.