NEHS football suffers first loss

BY: Kyle Moylan Sports Editor
    Following a 27-7 loss to Florence this past Friday night, the schedule actually will get harder for the New Egypt High football team.
    New Egypt will host the 6-0 Palmyra Panthers Friday night at 7 p.m.
    New Egypt was hoping to take an undefeated record into that game as well, but injuries prevented the Warriors from ever making that a possibility.
    “They out-toughed us, out-hit us and moved the ball at will,” noted New Egypt Coach Tom Farrell of a talented Florence team. “They are clearly the better team tonight.”
    Even so, New Egypt was able to throw a scare into Florence. Despite being dominated statistically in the first half, New Egypt only trailed 13-7 at the half. Langston Lacroix caught a pass from Brian Hamilton, broke several tackles and went 68 yards for the Warriors’ score.
    The game was decided in the early minutes of the third quarter. Florence’s Marcus Rawls ran for a 55-yard run. Rawls would finish the game with 229 yards on 21 carries.
    New Egypt has made a habit of great finishes this year, though. It seemed like another was possible when Florence fumbled the ball at its own 13. Unfortunately, New Egypt was held to 8 yards on three runs. Then when it tried to pass on a fourth-and-2, Hamilton was sacked.
    Florence took over at the 10 and went 90 yards on 17 plays to put the game out of reach.
    “New Egypt does a great job over there and are very well coached, but we’re pretty proud about our program,” noted Joe Frappolli, who has led Florence to state titles in four of the past five years. “Our guys realized it was a big, big game.”
    New Egypt also realized it was a big game, but was just missing too many players to challenge a power like Florence. It doesn’t get any easier this Friday, but Farrell doesn’t want it to. In order to be the best, a team has to beat the best.