Cardinals' rally comes up short at Oskaloosa
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| Newton senior running back Ira Mitchell breaks away for a long gain in the third quarter at Oskaloosa. Mitchell finished with 208 yards and a touchdown on a school-record 39 attempts. (Mike Hockett/Daily News) |
Newton could have thrown in the towel early.
In a disastrous start to their game at Oskaloosa on Friday night, the Cardinals trailed 20-0 just seven minutes in.
Ed Ergenbright’s team would have none of it, however, mounting a furious rally that came up just short despite a record-breaking performance from running back Ira Mitchell as Newton fell for the second time in as many weeks with a 37-30 loss to the Indians.
The Cardinals’ final drive ended with a turnover at Oskaloosa’s 30-yard line with 32 seconds left, leaving them with a heartbreaking loss and 0-2 record to start the season.
“Our kids didn’t quit,” Ergenbright said after the game. “We came back and gave ourselves a chance to win.”
The game couldn’t have begun much worse for Newton, as the Indians marched 80 yards on their opening possession, culminating with an Adam Rowley 5-yard touchdown run.
The Cardinals went 3-and-out on their first possession, followed by a botched punt attempt as a low snap forced punter Matt Easley to pick up the ball from the turf and was ruled down when his knee hit the ground at the same time. It set up Oskaloosa with a first down at Newton’s 22.
Three plays later Indians quarterback Tyler Hafner found Alex Christenson for a 20-yard strike and a 14-0 lead.
“Our special teams the last two weeks has just killed us,” Ergenbright said. “It put us in a hole tonight.”
The Cardinals went 3-and-out again on their next possession, and their punt attempt was equally disastrous, as another low snap ended with Easley ruled down at his 12. The Indians’ Rowley ran a sweep left for a 13-yard score to give Oskaloosa a 20-0 lead after the missed extra point with five minutes, 13 seconds left in the first quarter.
Newton responded well on its next drive, going 65 yards in eight plays to end with a Mitchell 1-yard plunge for a score to put the Cardinals on the board.
Both offenses continued to move the ball in the second quarter, with Christensen hauling in a 39-yard scoring strike for the Indians, after which Newton went 77 yards in six plays on the ensuing drive, ending with a Reid McDermott 9-yard run for a score. Oskaloosa kicked a field goal to make the score 30-14 in favor of the Indians at the half.
Then things got crazy.
Newton opened the second half from its own 1-yard line after a fumbled kickoff, went 3-and-out, and then recovered a muffed put at its 25. The Cardinals took advantage of the opportunity, mixing in runs with Mitchell and Joseph Brock to complete a 99-yard drive in 15 plays, culminating with a McDermott 2-yard touchdown run on third-and-goal. Newton cashed in on a 2-point conversion to pull within 30-22.
The Cardinals’ defense came up big, forcing an Oskaloosa 3-and-out that sent the Newton crowd into a frenzy as they sensed a comeback.
Starting from its own 38, Newton got a big first down run from quarterback Brian Rose, who then found a wide open Alec Richtsmeier for a 35-yard gain one play later. The drive finished with another McDermott 1-yard TD on third-and-goal. Mitchell ran in the 2-point conversion, making the Cardinal faithful go wild with the score tied at 30 at the end of the third quarter. Newton possessed the ball for all but 1:30 of the quarter.
Both teams went 3-and-out, and on the Cardinals’ punt attempt, disaster struck again, as a bad snap forced Easley down at the Newton 17, setting up the Indians with a prime opportunity for the go-ahead score. It was a moment of controversy, as Easley’s knee appeared to be off the ground at the moment he gained possession of the ball.
Nevertheless, Oskaloosa’s Rowley ran in a score from six yards out that proved to be the game-winner with 6:22 left in the game.
“Low and behold, we did it again,” Ergenbright said. “Our long snapping has just killed us. Obviously we’ve got to get that fixed.”
The teams trades possessions, setting up Newton with one final drive beginning at its own 28 with 2:33 left. Mitchell had three big first down carries, the last moving the ball to the Indians’ 30 with 40 seconds remaining. In a heartbreaking moment, Mitchell fumbled on the next play and Oskaloosa recovered, essentially ending the game.
Mitchell’s 39 carries were a Newton school record, breaking the mark of 35 set by Travis Shrum in 1998 vs. Iowa City West. Mitchell totalled 208 yards and the Cardinals had 270 on the ground as the offensive line seemed to get stronger as the game moved on.
“He’s just a tough kid and a he’s a good back,” Ergenbright said of Mitchell. “We got a new offense in this year, and he’s gonna be a guy we’re gonna have to depend on to make plays and he will.”
McDermott added 35 on eight carries to go with three scores. Newton ran the ball 61 times overall.
For the Indians, Rowley carried 21 times for 196 yards with three scores.
The Cardinals look to get their first win of the season this Friday, when they host Dallas-Center Grimes, which is also 0-2 coming off a 7-3 loss at Caroll.
“This team will get better every week,” Ergenbright said. “We just got to get better. And once we do, we’ll start winning games.”
at Oskaloosa
Score
Points by quarter
Newton 7 7 16 0 —30
Oskaloosa 20 10 0 7 — 37
SCORING SUMMARY
First Quarter
O — Rowley 5 run (Cook kick), 8:40 0-7
O — Christensen 20 pass from Hafner (Cook kick), 7:07 0-14
O — Rowley 13 run (kick failed), 5:13 0-20
N — Mitchell 1 run (Easley kick), 1:43 7-20
Second Quarter
O — Christensen 39 pass from Hafner (Cook kick), 11:17 7-27
N — McDermott 9 run (Easley kick), 4:13 14-27
O — Cook 21 field goal, 0:45 14-30
Third Quarter
N — McDermott 2 run (Mitchell run), 5:20 22-30
N — McDermott 1 run (Mitchell run), 0:06 30-30
Fourth Quarter
O — Rowley 6 run (Cook kick), 6:22 30-37
—————
TEAM STATISTICS
Newton Oskaloosa
First downs 17 15
Rushes-yards 61-270 39-256
Passing yards 55 88
Total yards 325 344
Punts-avg. 2-22.5 5-38.6
Fumbles-lost 2-1 2-1
Penalties-yards 4-27 6-50
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — N: Ira Mitchell 39-213 1TD; Reid McDermott 8-35 3TD; Brian Rose 3-23; Joe Brock 2-8; Zach Roskilly 6-10; Scott Niles 1-39; Matt Easley 3-(-39). O: Adam Rowley 21-196 3 TD; Jake Osborn 12-40; Tyler Hafner 4-25; Tim DeJong 2-4
PASSING — N: Brian Rose 2-7-1 55 yards. O: Tyler Hafner 5-11-0 86 yards 2TD; Jake Osborn 1-1-0 2 yards
RECEIVING — N: Alec Richsmeier 1-35; Colton Hoffman 1-20. O: Alex Christensen 3-67 2TD; Tim DeJong 2-21
PUNTS-AVG. — N: Matt Easley 2-45. O: Tim DeJong 5-193
TACKLE LEADERS (solo-assists) — N: Reid McDermott 6-2; Sam Coen 6-2; Brandon Henning 4-3; Dakota Hills 4-3; Dustin Schelling 2-3; Michael Bell 2-1; Derrick Hurt 2-1; Colton Hoffman 2-1; Ragan Brock 2-0; Evan Rethmeier 1-2; Nick VanDerWilt 0-4; Blake Tish 1-0; Tim Jenner 1-0; Logan Bird 0-2; Andrew Clements 0-1
INTERCEPTIONS — O: Jake Osborn 1-4
FUMBLES LOST — N: Sam Coen 1-0. O: Dalton Shaull 1-0
