Newton’s 2024 campaign was on the brink. The curtain was coming down on the season.

The Braves were lifeless in a coffin and High Point seemed to be shoveling one last bit of dirt all over them.

But somehow, Newton put a stop to it all, rallied to win, and may have saved their season.

The Braves stormed back and stole a wild, 36-32 victory.

Newton may have saved something even bigger: Its streak of seven straight division championships remains alive. The Braves are now 2-1 in the SFC American White and tied for first with the Wildcats, who came in riding high, having won four straight games overall.

But they couldn’t get that fifth one, no matter how close they seemed.

Newton simply wouldn’t allow it.

Turns out, a lot more was at stake for Newton than a single game. History and tradition were on the line. How would you like to be the Newton team that failed to keep The Streak going?

This group of Braves want no part of that. 

“I told everyone before the game that we will keep that tradition going,” two-way standout Nick Kurilko said. “We were playing this game for people before us.”

Kurilko was a one-man wrecking crew for a team that needed everything he did.

And he did plenty.

Kurilko was all over the field and all over the stat sheet. 

Defense? He had 21 tackles (four for loss) and an interception and ensuing 42-yard return that helped lead to the Braves go-ahead touchdown with five minutes left in the game (scored by … Nick Kurilko, of course). 

Offense? He had three TDs. He rushed 14 times for 158 yards. He had a two-point conversion.

Off the field? Kurilko drove the Newton team bus, pulled over to rescue the team from a frightening bear attack, solved world hunger, and delivered a baby while continuing the drive to High Point – all while blindfolded.

Ok, he didn’t do any of that.

But he did everything else on the field.

“He was,” coach Matt Parzero said, “amazing.”

When you break down the game, so was Newton’s unlikely win.

In the first half, the Braves ran just eight offensive plays and was pushed all over the field by High Point yet trailed at halftime by just 18-14. They’d gone three-and-out twice. They couldn’t move the ball consistently on High Point.

But they hung in when QB Matt Ellsworth hit a 70-yard touchdown bomb to Hunter Wolfe. Later, freshman phenom Evan Cotter returned an INT 45 yards for a touchdown.

Take those two plays away, and High Point was thoroughly winning up front.

More: In the second half, Newton was down 25-12 early in the third and 32-22 with 10 minutes left in the game. 

That’s when High Point had the ball in Braves territory and some of Newton’s magical night began to take shape.

Newton DE Ryan Carino tipped a pass at the line of scrimmage and came down with the ball for the INT. 

High Point’s receiver was wide open on the play, so if Carino doesn’t make that pick, Newton might well have gone down to defeat.

Suddenly, Newton had a pulse, but things still appeared very bleak a short time later on fourth and 5 from the Braves 47.

But Parzero decided to go for it and Ellsworth hit a wide-open Kurilko across the middle for a 28-yard completion and a first down.

On the next play, he scored a 25-yard touchdown run up the middle, bringing his team to within 32-29.

Later, High Point drove the ball inside the Newton 20. More trouble for the Braves? Yup – but they answered yet again when Kurilko (him again!) intercepted a pass and returned it 42 yards to the High Point 44.

A short time later, Cotter rushed for 42 yards and then Kurilko scored the go-ahead TD from 2 yards out.

Newton’s defense stopped High Point the rest of the way.

“We were waiting for the screen all day,” Kurilko said. “Our coaches had everything they did down to a tee. It was great preparation for us.”

Division title streak saved. Season saved, too.

“This win definitely gave us a huge boost,” Kurilko said. “It’s a momentum changer. Now I think we can go on a big roll.”

Newton was outplayed by Lenape Valley (19-7 loss two weeks ago) and allowed not one, but two kickoff returns for touchdowns to Sparta and was pushed around in a 39-7 defeat last week.

And here were the Braves, struggling to get anything going against a red-hot High Point team.

But Newton showed off tremendous heart and kept bouncing off the canvas.

“All game long,” Parzero said, “we answered.”

The High Point win gives the team new hope, new life, and some spunk.

A lot of that points back to Kurilko, who was voted a team captain despite being a junior. Underclassmen being picked for a leadership role doesn’t happen too often.

“Says a lot about the way everyone thinks of him,” Parzero said.

Kurilko was a soccer-football player growing up in town. Parzero ran into Kurilko when the kid was an eighth-grader.

“He was tall and lanky,” Parzero said. “I asked him, ‘You play football?’ He said, ‘Sometimes.’”

Kurilko came out for football as a freshman at Newton and has stuck with it. He helped carry the team on both sides of the ball. On offense, he was effective running behind one of the feistiest, scrappiest group of linemen you’ll find filled with guys like Carino at center, guards Joey Melillo and Tyler Mordan, and tackles Tim McNamara and Nehemiah Vazquez.

Vazquez (6-2, 240), a transfer from Passaic Tech, is the only lineman who looks the part. He and McNamara joined the line this week. Melillo (5-7, 170) is filling in for starter Sean Benitz.

“Our line is great,” Kurilko said. “They’re shorter and athletic. We think being athletic and hard work beats big, slow guys. We’d rather have someone scrappy and play to the whistle than someone who is bigger.

We have some wrestlers in there who are scrappy. That’s how we roll at Newton. Work hard and grind and you can do your job just as well as anybody else. Talk about grit. They have it.”

“We gave Melillo a crash course in three days,” Parzero added with a laugh. “Our kids very resilient. They’re amazing. They’re getting the message.

“We are still trying to find our way. Who can play when the lights come on? Sometimes kids are ready, sometimes they are not. We are excited for the rest of the season. The section is wide open. There are no dominant teams like Caldwell or Westwood.”

Amazing what responding to a challenge over and over can do for a team. Newton knows.

The Braves were dead – several times.

Now they are very much alive, and their eighth straight division title remains a distinct possibility.