Johnnies rush past Newark Catholic
JOHNSTOWN — Bloodied, but unbeaten.
Johnstown's Jeff Nogaj got popped in the nose on quarterback Cody Workman's 54-yard touchdown run, but one half of the Johnnies' 320-pound bookend tackles hardly noticed the red stuff flowing. As usual, it was the Johnnies doling out most of the pain with their punishing ground game in a 24-7 Licking County League Cardinal Division win against visiting Newark Catholic on Thursday.
Despite sitting out the end of the second quarter with a knee injury, Workman returned and finished with 149 yards on 17 carries with two touchdowns for Johnstown (7-0, 2-0), which rushed for 350 yards, compared with just 90 by the Green Wave (5-2, 1-1).
"I'm just keeping ice on it. I'm fine," Workman said.
"We need him to be healthy and OK," Nogaj said of Workman, who wore a knee brace the second half and seemed none the worse for wear. "If it meant him being out of the game, so be it."
Workman turned in a couple of highlight reel touchdowns for Thursday Night Lights. In the second quarter, on a 24-yard scoring burst, he leaped over one defender and faked out the last. On his game-breaking 54-yard keeper early in the fourth quarter, he reversed field, cut back and turned on the jets.
"Their quarterback is special," said NC coach Bill Franks. "You combine that with two good running backs, and that's just tough. We had some momentum, down 17-7, and the kid makes an unbelievable run."
Steady Andrew Sayer added 92 yards on 18 carries, while Justin Franklin's return to the Johnnies' attack after a shoulder injury makes them even more potent. He had 60 yards on 16 attempts, and short-yardage specialist Hayden Bullard had 37 yards in seven tries.
"Justin is a special kid," coach Mike Carter said. "Through all that rehab, he kept a positive attitude. He has very good vision, and good size and speed."
Nogaj said Franklin is as hard-nosed as they come.
"He can either run over you, or run by you," he said.
"He gives us another weapon, and one man is not going to bring him down," Workman said. "Bullard is a shifty runner, and he runs through tackles."
NC had its moments. In the first quarter, Tanner Lake made a diving 31-yard catch of a tipped pass from Kris Goodman and the Green Wave drove all the way to the Johnstown 9 before stalling. Heath McCarthy then missed a 23-yard field goal.
"We had a chance to be up 7-0, and we came away with no points," Franks said. "You have to have them in those situations, especially in a game like that."
Johnstown then drove 80 yards in 14 plays capped by Bullard's 3-yard TD run, then covered 82 yards in 11 plays to score on Workman's 24-yard run. Clay Psurny, who was 3-of-3 on PAT kicks, added a 28-yard field goal with 4.6 seconds left in the half after backup quarterback Trent Coe drove the Johnnies into position with Workman on the bench.
"The first series, you see how the defense is going to play you," Nogaj said. "After that, it's 'go.' "
Goodman broke loose on a 77-yard scramble, setting up his 4-yard TD run at 7:07 of the third quarter, and NC got two three-and-outs for Johnstown in the quarter. But Workman delivered the crushing blow.
"That's a very good opponent, and we had to work to get things going," Carter said.
"It was not a very good night for our offensive line. We did not run the ball well," Franks said. "But this game will not define our football team."
dweidig@newarkadvocate.com
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