Cardinals drop heartbreaker in OT

Duncan Lee took off his helmet, asked for water, and then went over to sit down on Newton High’s bench flanked by big electric fans. But the Cardinal senior linebacker was up and ready to go out for the coin flip to start overtime in Friday night’s game.

Lee and the Cardinal defense stopped visiting Marshalltown’s Bobcats on a late drive in regulation to force the non-district game into overtime. Newton won the overtime coin toss, electing to go on defense first.

“Our defense stood up and got us to overtime. It came through in overtime, giving up just a field goal. We came up one play short of winning the game,” Newton head coach Ed Ergenbright said following a 24-21 loss to the Bobcats.

After holding Marshalltown to a 27-yard field goal by Kyler Ladehoff, the Cardinals took their turn on offense in overtime. Starting at the 10-yard line, two running plays yielded no yards, and Newton faced a third-down and goal at the 10.

Sophomore quarterback Garrett Sturtz dropped back and threw the ball while under pressure from the Bobcat defense. Bobcat senior defensive back Sam Rogers went up and made the interception in the end zone to thwart the Cardinals and end the game.

“We thought we could hit that crossing pattern, but we gave Garrett no time, and he had to throw the ball earlier than he wanted,” Ergenbright said. “I’m very proud of the way our kids played and extremely pleased with their effort.”

It was the second heartbreaking loss in a row for the Cardinals, losing by a field goal in the first two games of the season.

The Cardinals (0-2) head into Class 3A District 6 play Friday at home against Grinnell.

“The bottom line is we have to get people healthy and get better overall. We have many players who played every down of the game. In the second half, we had backups playing for backups. We had two young kids playing wingback, who haven’t had many reps with the varsity in practice and quite honestly don’t know all the plays,” Ergenbright said.

Newton and Marshalltown’s players had to battle not only each other, but a hot and humid night at H.A. Lynn Stadium in Friday’s home opener for the Cardinals. The teams matched each other score for score — it was 14-14 after the first quarter, no scoring in the second period, and then each had a touchdown in the third quarter.

The Cardinals had the Bobcats on their heels early. Dalton Nevels partially blocked a punt. Newton had the ball at the Marshalltown 43, but had to punt it pinning the Bobcats on their own 8-yard line.

Josh Gulling put pressure on Bobcat quarterback Peyton Williams, who threw the ball up for grabs. Jwan Roush came up with the interception at the Bobcat 24-yard line.

On a third-down play, Sturtz found Bryce Tish clear in the middle of the field. Tish made the catch and raced into the end zone on a 19-yard scoring pass play. Gulling kicked the extra point for a 7-0 lead with 7:46 left in the first quarter.

Marshalltown faced a third-and-10 on its next possession. Williams was under pressure again, but managed to get the screen pass off to Luke Severson. Severson broke a couple of tackles and raced to the end zone, covering 61 yards. Ladehoff’s kick tied the game.

Back-to-back penalties and quarterback sack forced the Cardinals to punt from their own end zone which provided the Bobcats with a short field. They covered the 32 yards in four plays as Williams connected with Josh Edel on a 14-yard scoring strike.

Newton was down 14-7, but not for long.

Roush quickly put the Cardinals in scoring position on the ensuing kickoff. Roush returned the football to the Marshalltown eight. Joseph Banfield had a 3-yard run then Roush finished it off with a touchdown run from five yards out. Gulling’s kick made it 14-14.

Marshalltown missed on a 37-yard field goal attempt with six minutes left in the second quarter. Newton moved the ball to its own 47-yard line before Jordan Norvell fumbled the ball and Marshalltown recovered it.

The Cardinal defense turned the Bobcats away on downs at the Newton 37 late in the second quarter. The teams went into halftime, locked at 14-all.

Newton took the second-half kickoff and went on an 11-play, 76-yard scoring march. The Cardinals mixed in running by Banfield and Nevels with passing by Sturtz to Nevels and Tish. The pass plays came in big third-down situations to keep the drive alive.

Sturtz had a quick pass to Norvell to move the ball to Marshalltown’s 23. Banfield powered ahead for nine yards and scored on a 14-yard run at the 7:41 mark.

“We go up by seven and two plays later we give up a long touchdown run,” Ergenbright said. “It comes down to fatigue tonight. We had really tired kids, who kept fighting to the end. We lost Jwan to an injury. He tired to play in the second half but couldn’t go.”

It was John Ross breaking loose for a 57-yard touchdown run for the Bobcats and with the extra-point kick it was knotted at 21-21.

Newton and Marshalltown had opportunities to score in the final 12 minutes of regulation but didn’t. Marshalltown’s Rogers intercepted a pass to stop a Cardinal drive. Newton knocked the football out of the grasp of Williams as he tried to score. The ball bounced into the end zone and was recovered by Nevels for a touchback.

The Cardinals fended off the Bobcats twice in the final two minutes. Newton got the ball at its own 19 and faced a fourth-and-inches with just a little more than a minute left in regulation. Ergenbright decided to punt the ball.

“We’re at our own 28 and if we don’t make it, they only need two plays to get into field goal range and we lose. Our kids had played too hard to take that chance. I wasn’t going to beat our own kids and I’d make that decision again,” Ergenbright said.

Marshalltown failed to pick up a first down. Newton had the football when time expired in regulation.

“We keep moving forward. We use the work ethic and efforts of these kids to get better and prepare for district play,” Ergenbright said. “These are the games that count. We get healthy, we get better and keep working hard.”

Lee, who plays linebacker and on the NHS offensive line, recorded 11 solo tackles for the second straight game. He also had seven assisted tackles. Austin James made seven solo stops and six assisted tackles. James forced a fumble.

Brady Smith was credited with five solo tackles and two assisted tackles. Nevels recovered a fumble and Roush had an interception.

Offensively, Newton’s ground game was led by Banfield with 83 yards on 19 carries. Sturtz went 9-of-13 passing for 74 yards. Tish caught four passes for 31 yards.

Marshalltown got 94 yards on 18 carries from Ross. Williams rushed for 81 yards on 14 carries and threw for 137 yards, going 12-of-25.

Williams connected with seven different receivers in the game. Severson made two catches for 66 yards.

Marshalltown   14-0-7-0-3—24

Newton   14-0-7-0-0—21

Newton — Tish 19 yd pass from Sturtz (Gulling kick)

Marshalltown — Severson 61 yd pass from Williams (Ladehoff kick)

Marshalltown — Edel 14 yd pass from Williams (Ladehoff kick)

Newton — Roush 5 yd run (Gulling kick)

Newton — Banfield 14 yd run (Gulling kick)

Marshalltown — Ross 57 yd run (Ladehoff kick)

Marshalltown — Ladehoff 27 yd field goal

Newton   Marshalltown

9   First Downs   14

43-111   Rushes-Yds   36-183

74   Passing Yds   137

185   Total Offense   320

9-13-2   Passing   12-25-1

2-1   Fumbles/lost   2-1

5-25   Penalties/yds   7-45

7-33   Punts/Avg.  5-36.5

Individual Leaders

Rushing: Newton-Banfield 16-83, Nevels 5-21, Jwan Roush 6-14, Jaron Roush 1-11, Norvell 5-8, Karsten 1-1, Sturtz 5-(-24). Marshalltown-Ross 18-94, Williams 14-81, Severson 2-5, Hauser 1-2.

Passing: Newton-Sturtz 9-13-74-2. Marshalltown-Williams 12-25-139-1.

Receiving: Newton-Tish 4-31, Banfield 2-2, Norvell 1-29, Nevels 1-14, Kite 1-(-2). Marshalltown-Severson 2-66, Edel 1-14, Rogers 2-22, Banes 1-19, Hauser 2-5, Heinrich 3-(-3) Snyder 1-9.

Punting: Newton-Sturtz 7-228 (33 yd avg.). Marshalltown-Heinrichs 4-146 (36.5 yd avg.).

Newton Defense

Tackles (solos/assisted): Lee 11/7; James 7/6; Smith 5/2; Nevels 2/4; Miller 3/1; Bennett 2/1; McKinney 2/0; Banfield 2/0; Weiland 1/2; Norvell 1/1; Gulling 1/1; Constant 1/1' Jaron Roush 1/0; Tish 0/1; Nook 0/1.

Quarterback sacks: Weiland 1.

Fumbles (forced/recoverd): James 1/0; Nevels 0/1.

Interceptions: Jwan Roush 1.

Contact Jocelyn Sheets at
641-792-3121 ext. 6535
or jsheets@newtondailynews.com