By Dan Hardenbrook
The Newberry Indians succeeded in another incredible comeback, dominating the Ontonagon Gladiators in the second half of last Friday’s game to take the 32-14 victory.
It was another night of adversity for the Indians, who traveled across the U.P. for a second consecutive week to earn a hard-fought win. After the four-hour journey, the Indians were met with whipping winds, heavy rains, a slick and muddy field, and an opponent who came in fired up to win. Those things slowed Newberry down but could not stop them from improving to 2-0 on the season.
Down 14-8 at the break, the Indians outscored Ontonagon 28-6 in the second half to come from behind once again. Senior QB and captain Garrett Lewicki dominated both sides off the ball, running for 220 yards and three touchdowns, throwing a TD pass to fellow senior Kadin Kellogg, and totaling 6 tackles on defense.
Lewicki and the Indians offense were supported by a dominant defensive effort. The Indians forced 4 turnovers, all after halftime, recovering two fumbles and intercepting a pair of Ontonagon passes. The Indians scored 20 points on drives following those turnovers and added a late safety to turn the tide.
The game was tied up at 14-14 when defensive lineman Oren Dewitt scooped up a fumble and rumbled 77 yards for the touchdown. It was all Indians from that point, as Gabe Hamilton ripped the ball away from the Gladiators on the next drive to shut Ontonagon down again.
After forcing a three-and-out on their next defensive series, Newberry broke open a big play for their first lead of the night on a 55-yard scoring run by Lewicki. Newberry ended Ontonagon’s next two drives with interceptions from Logan Thiele and Matthew Luebkert.
After Lewicki added to the Indians lead with his third rushing touchdown of the game, the Gladiators missed the snap on a punt attempt, sending the ball into their own end zone for the safety.
At 2-0 on the season, Newberry is tied for the most playoff points in their division in the early postseason rankings and have a great shot to make an appearance in this week’s first UPSSA rankings of the new season. The battle tested Indians are preparing for this week’s home opener, when they host the Pickford Panthers on Friday for the Patriot Game.
Pickford, who reached the Division 1 State Championship game last season, will also enter Friday’s game with a 2-0 record.
The JV kick off is set for 4:30 p.m. and the Varsity game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start.
