Newman is going to state. If Newman had lost to Clayton Valley Saturday night it wouldn’t have been a section champion and couldn’t have been considered for the Div. III state bowl game. My question would have been, who have gone. At 12-1, Newman would have still been the best NorCal team with a win over Central Catholic, which in turn beat Sutter, the two schools who stood the best chance next to Newman.

As it is, Newman should get the nod from the state selection committee, which announces its picks around 3:30 p.m. from the Home Depot Center in Carson.

Newman will probably play either St. Bonaventure or Oaks Christian and will again likely be the underdog. I learned my lesson the last time. Oaks Christian may have had better athletes, but Newman played better as a team.

Clayton Valley had some good athletes on Saturday, but Newman’s defense was ready for whatever they saw. While Clayton Valley as able to move the ball, they couldn’t convert on third and even fourth down on three occasions.

Newman’s offense wasn’t as impressive as it had been, but I think the game plan against Clayton Valley was to pass rather than run and the Cardinals didn’t have the ball much in the first half to accomplish that.

Randy Wright had four turnovers, but he also threw one bomb for a TD and nearly another in the final seconds of the first half. Newman’s Chris Reuter appeared to haul in a long TD pass on the final play of the first half, but PD photog Crista Jeremiason showed the sequence of shots and one had the nose of the ball touching the ground while in Reuter’s hands.

The second half, Newman started runing the ball more behind Badger and Joe Ferguson and the defense nearly came up with the shutout.

Other coaches have said it this year, but give the Newman coaches a week to prepare for a team and they’ll be more than ready.

I agree with those who say this team is better than the 2006 team. The differences are two good running backs in Badger and Ferguson and a defense that is very fast and big enough.

St. Vincent also finds out today whether they get chosen for the small schools bowl game or whether Modoc or Hamilton City go instead. Should be interesting.