Journal-News.com

By Jay Morrison

Staff Writer

NEWPORT, Ky. — The Badin High School football team continues to enjoy the perks of success.

The Rams were named by Channel 12 as the Team of the Week, an honor that came with VIP treatment Wednesday night, Nov. 5, during the taping of Bengals Nation at Newport on the Levee.

The players received free soft drinks and unlimited game play for two hours, and a few of them were able to ask Cincinnati Bengals coach Marvin Lewis some questions before posing for a group picture with Bengals strong safety Chinedum Ndukwe.

"It's just one of the spoils of victory," Badin coach Dave Wirth said. "It's great to see them enjoy themselves and let everything else go for a little bit."

The Rams beat previously unbeaten Clinton-Massie 33-27 in overtime last week in the first round of the playoffs. Friday night, Badin will get a rematch with Alter, which beat the Rams 56-7 in the regular season.

But Wednesday night, the players had other games on their minds.

"This is awesome," senior linebacker Tony Cassano said. "Free games for two hours, are you kidding me? I've already played every single game in here."

In addition to the players, the coaches, cheerleaders, parents and siblings all seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Senior defensive lineman Brett McKinney was picked as one of two contestants to play Name That Bengal, a trivia game where every correct answer resulted in the revealing of another piece of a photo of a Bengal player.

McKinney competed against Emily Cromer, of West Chester. And while Cromer got more trivia questions right, McKinney was the first to name the mystery Bengal as Cedric Benson.

"I won a pen and a pen case and a free appetizer," McKinney said. "It's pretty cool."

The Bengals Nation show will air on Channel 12 at 11:30 p.m. Saturday.

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2193 or jmorrison@coxohio.com.