Not even a lopsided defeat to the Skyline Spartans in the second week of the high school football season could put a damper on the spirits of Newport first-year head coach Drew Oliver. Skyline (2-0 overall) built a 42-0 lead and cruised to a 49-0 victory against the Newport (1-1 overall) on Sept. 12 in Sammamish.

The Knights couldn’t recover from four lost fumbles and two interceptions in the first half. Newport’s high octane rushing attack was stymied by Skyline’s swarming defense. Despite the first half woes, Newport came out fighting in the second half and surrendered just one touchdown in the final 24 minutes of play.

“There is a whole lot of season left for us The challenge at halftime was figuring out about ourselves as competitors. These guys answered the bell,” Oliver said.

Oliver was glad to see his team not fold despite getting blown out by a substantial margin.

“A game like this can have one of two effects on a team. Obviously it can rip a team apart and destroy them going forward or it can really bring a team together,” Oliver said. “I think it will bring us together. I was proud of our guys for coming out and competing.”

Skyline’s offense was clicking on all cylinders. Spartans’ junior running back Rashaad Boddie had four rushing touchdowns and quarterback Blake Gregory connected with wide receivers Derek Loville on a 14-yard touchdown reception and Danny Sinatro on a 17-yard touchdown catch. Gregory scored on a 1-yard touchdown as well to round out the scoring parade. Skyline head coach Mat Taylor was ecstatic following his team’s dominating showing against Newport.

“It was incredible. Our kids totally bought in to the discipline that we preached all week. Newport is a great football team and I couldn’t be more proud of the way the kids played football,” Taylor said. “It was pretty impressive. It was awesome.”

Newport will host the formidable Bothell Cougars in a KingCo 4A matchup at 7 p.m. on Sept. 19.

“This is the KingCo 4A. It doesn’t get any easier,” Oliver said. “We go from the No. 1 or No. 2 ranked team (Skyline) in the state to the No. 1 or No. 2 ranked team (Bothell) in the state or vice versa. It is going to be a tough game.”

Shaun Scott 425-453-5045; sscott@bellevuereporter.com