March 29, 2024

Newton falls to Knoxville late; area football roundup

Week No. 1 of the 2015 football season for area high school teams is in the book. Area teams went 2-3 on opening night as some teams had to deal with wet conditions and others had a great night to play high school football.

Knoxville 26, Newton 23

KNOXVILLE — Newton High’s Cardinals opened with a forced fumble/fumble recovery to set up the first score of the night. Dalton Nevels powered into the end zone from four yards out and Josh Gulling’s kick had the visiting Cardinals up 7-0 with 10:32 on the first quarter clock.

The Cardinals allowed 23 unanswered points by Knoxville’s Panthers before bowing their necks and climbing back in the game Friday night at Knoxville’s Ken Locke Stadium. Newton capped a 58-yard touchdown drive on the first play of the fourth quarter on a 14-yard touchdown pass from Garrett Sturtz to Bryce Tish. Jwan Roush added the two-point conversion run.

Newton drove to the Knoxville five-yard line but came up empty with 5:14 remaining in the game. The Cardinal defense held once again, forced a punt and moved to score. Sturtz broke loose for 34-yard run on a fourth-and-three play. Roush ran up the middle on the next play to score a four-yard touchdown, then Joseph Banfield rammed in for the tying two-point conversion.

It appeared the teams may go to overtime on a wet night with 23 seconds left on the clock. But a solid kickoff return and a trick play moved the Panthers to the Newton 10-yard line.

Caleb Light booted a 22-yard field goal with three seconds remaining to give the Panthers a 26-23 lead. That would stand up.

“I’m really proud of the way our guys battled,” NHS head coach Ed Ergenbright said. “We made a lot of young mistakes tonight. We knew we were going to have some bumps in the road. The kids came back and got back in the game.”

Tish forced a fumble on the first offensive play of the game and Cole Peters scooped the ball up and returned it to the Knoxville 22-yard line. Four plays later Nevels scored on a four-yard run and Josh Gulling kicked the extra point.

Knoxville put up two points on a safety late in the first quarter. The Panthers scored a touchdown with 1:37 left in the first half to take a 9-7 lead. They tallied two touchdowns in the third quarter.

Knoxville used a hook-and-lateral play to get into the final scoring position. Jacob Zuck passed the ball to Braden DeLong, who pitched the ball backward to Connor Bailey. Bailey was pushed out a the 10. D.J. Snyder was the workhorse running the ball for the Panthers, scoring two touchdowns

Newton's freshmen defeated Knoxville, 14-0.

Lynnville-Sully 53, Van Buren 6

KEOSAUQUA — Sage Ehresman scored five touchdowns and rushed for 133 yards to lead the Lynnville-Sully to a 53-6 win over Van Buren Friday. Ehresman crossed the goal line four times in the first half as the Hawks held a 27-0 lead at the break.

“Van Buren moved the ball really well on us one drive in the first quarter. We stopped them at the two-yard line, but that was all,” Hawk head coach Mike Parkinson said. “Our guys really played well and responded to the challenges we gave them.”

Parkinson said the Hawk led 19-0 when Kobe Fisk hooked up with Noah Engle on a long pass play to the Van Buren five-yard line right near the end of the first half. He said the Hawks scored a touchdown to end the first half.

Other Hawk players scoring on touchdown runs were Dylan Roozeboom, Evan Squires and Elijah Collins.

“We played on their side of the 50-yard line most of the night. Our special teams were very solid. Caden Dunsbergen returned punts and kickoffs for us tonight. It was beautiful night to play,” Parkinson said.

Collins-Maxwell/Baxter 48, West Marshall 14

GILBERT — Raider junior Blake Coughenour led a dominant effort with 194 rushing yards on 12 carries, two catches for 13 yards and four touchdowns as Collins-Maxwell/Baxter rolled to a Week 1 victory over the Trojans, who went 0-9 last year.

CMB led 21-0 after one quarter and went into halftime up 35-8.

Senior Brady Stover scored the Raiders' first two touchdowns and then it was the Coughenour show. Stover scored on a 15-yard touchdown run on the team's opening drive and then caught an 11-yard touchdown pass from Hunter McWhirter to make it 14-0.

McWhirter finished 9-of-13 with 130 yards and two scores. Stover caught six passes for 84 yards.

McWhirter found Coughenour on a 10-yard touchdown to cap the first-quarter scoring. Dalton Birchmier scored from 47 yards out to make it 28-0 and Coughenour's 64-yard scoring run made it 35-0.

Coughenour's final two rushing scores covered 65 yards and 35 yards.

CMB rushed for 300 yards in the win, and the Raider defense held West Marshall to a minus-19 yards on the ground.

Jason Hillgren had six tackles and a sack to lead the defense. Brady Kemp had 5 1/2 tackles and a sack. CMB had six sacks in the game.

Pleasantville 16, Colfax-Mingo 7

COLFAX — The Tigerhawks struggled to move the ball and couldn't overcome three turnovers in a season-opening home loss to the Trojans.

Pleasantville led 9-0 at halftime and put the game away with a deep kickoff return in the fourth quarter after Colfax-Mingo got within 9-7.

Zeb Adreon threw for two scores in the win and Sawyer Phillips led a Trojans rushing attack that gained 172 yards on the ground. Phillips had 100 yards and Adreon gained another 55 on the ground.

Pleasantville got on the board first with 13 seconds left in the first quarter. Colfax-Mingo senior quarterback Jared Myers was called for an illegal forward pass in the end zone, which resulted in a Trojan safety.

The Trojans got the ball back on the ensuing punt by Colfax-Mingo and a big return gave them the ball at the Tigerhawk 41. Seven plays later, it was 9-0 as Adreon hit Brooke Beier on a 16-yard touchdown pass.

Neither team scored in the third but the Tigerhawks drew within 9-7 on the first play of the fourth. Myers hit Blake Summy from 16 yards out on fourth and 11 and Jacob Buehrer's PAT split the uprights.

Pleasantville, though, returned the kickoff to the Colfax-Mingo 29 and the Trojans scored in four plays to put the game away.

Two of Colfax-Mingo's three turnovers came inside the red zone, including a fumble at the Pleasantville 1-yard line late in the game.

Pella Christian 48, Prairie City-Monroe 11

PELLA — The Eagles jumped out to a 35-0 lead and never looked back. Pella Christian led 20-0 after one quarter.

The Mustangs' only points of the game came on a first-half touchdown pass by Logan Gilman to Luke Greiner and two second-half safeties.

The second safety came after PCM lost a fumble on the Pella Christian 1-yard line. The Mustangs were plagued by six turnovers on the night.