Newark

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Fund-raising raises spirits for Wildcats

By KURTIS ADAMS
ThisWeek Staff Writer

The Newark High School football team already might

have posted its first victory of 2007, ceremonial or not.
Pay-to-participate comes to the district for the first
time this year, but a winter, spring and summer spent
preparing for the inevitable likely will be rewarded with
an immediate payback.
“We’ve spent every day since December raising money.
We were looking at about $14,000 in transportation costs
and about $18,000 in fees, but we pulled it off,” said
coach Scott Beery, whose Wildcats haven’t won a game
on the field since last September, dropping the final six
afterward to finish 4-6 overall and last at 0-5 in the OCC-
Ohio Division won by Lancaster (5-0). “The fees are
$200 per kid with no cap, and about 80 percent of our
kids play multiple sports.
“So it has affected us. In 2005 (when the team won a
second consecutive league title and qualified for the play-
offs for the first time in 30 years), we had 130 kids play-
ing in grades 9-12. That number dropped to about 115,
120 last year and now we’re at 90, maybe 95.
“But mission accomplished, thankfully. Now our kids
can go out and just worry about playing football.”
Four of the six setbacks, including 34-33 at Lancaster
in the eighth week, came against playoff-bound teams.
Still, a defense that allowed an average of 35.8 points in
those games has to improve. Beery said a linebacking
group in the 4-4 alignment featuring seniors Jeremy Hill
(6-foot-1, 185 pounds), Spencer Satterfield (6-2, 225)
and Treg Smart (6-0, 175) and junior Josh Abshire (5-
10, 195) is a good place to start. Satterfield, who came
on to fill in for injured graduate Matt Bankes, and Hill
By Lorrie Cecil/ThisWeek
are the most experienced.
Newark’s Jeremy Hill tries to elude Westerville North’s Troy Van Meter during their scrimmage Aug. 11. Hill will start at

. . . .
See NEWARK, page 13 linebacker in the Wildcats’ 4-4 defense.
Central Ohio High School Football Preview ’07 • August 22, 2007

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