NEWPORT, Ky. — Newport Central Catholic football coach Terry Brown gets routinely asked four or five times daily about the anticipation of starting the season in the Ciafardini Family Athletic Complex.
It will certainly be a festive environment during pregame festivities around the stadium.
“I can pretty much say it’s going to be one heck of an atmosphere come Friday night versus Lloyd on the 21st” of August," Brown said before practice last week.
A new era begins at NewCath Aug. 21 as the Thoroughbreds play host to Lloyd Memorial in the first football game in the stadium atop "The Hill."
The season opener also marks Brown's debut, a 2000 NewCath graduate who was named the head coach in January. The players and coaches are grateful for the opportunity to begin a new chapter in the storied program’s history.
“We preach to them that a lot of players came before them that wore that jersey and never had the luxury of having a home locker room and all that stuff,” Brown said. “So now having a home locker room, we’re not going to take that for granted. And we’re going to represent all the people that came before us with pride.”
The new field is also named after the late NewCath coach Bob Schneider, who led the program to three state championships in 1984, 2005 and 2006. Schneider was also an athletic director, assistant principal, teacher and director of the tuition assistance program during his career at the school.
NewCath's most recent football state title was in 2012. Brown said he wants NewCath to return to a standard of "state championship or bust."
The Thoroughbreds (8-5), a Class 1A state quarterfinalist in 2025, graduated a good deal of offensive skill positions from last season. And yet the expectations are significant.
“I think the discipline is off the charts compared to the last three years I’ve played,” said senior offensive/defensive lineman Noah Kohler. “It’s just a crazy difference. You can see it already. We haven’t even gotten into games or anything yet. You can just tell it’s here.”
The senior class said it has a responsibility to leave its legacy in this new era of NewCath football.
“It’s a blessing; it really is,” NewCath senior running back/linebacker Vander Hundemer said. “First seniors on this new field. It’s awesome.”
