March 28, 2024

Cardinals drop district game to Bobcats; area football roundup

On a not-so-nice night for football, the area teams were 4-1 with Newton taking the loss on the road. Collins-Maxwell/Baxter, Colfax-Mingo and Prairie City-Monroe notched road victories and Lynnville-Sully won at home.

Benton 26, Newton 20

VAN HORNE — In a driving rain, Newton High’s Cardinals opened Friday’s Class 3A District 6 contest the best way a team can — running the opening kickoff for a touchdown.

Joseph Banfield went 85 yards on the kickoff return, and Josh Gulling kicked the extra point to put the Cardinals up 7-0 over host Benton’s Bobcats. It was the only time Newton led in the game.

The Bobcats put the game in junior quarterback Riley Pfiffner’s hand and his feet. Pfiffner scored three rushing touchdowns of 30 yards, 47 yards and 2 yards in leading the Bobcats to a win over the Cardinals.

There was a strange twist ending to the game. Time expired with Benton at the Newton 4-yard line, the teams shook hands, players and fans began leaving the stadium, but wait... Apparently, the Benton head coach convinced the officials he called a timeout before time expired, and the teams were called back onto the field for one final play.

Benton attempted a field goal to get to a 13-plus point winning margin. The snap was muffed by the Bobcats, and Newton's Dalton Nevels scooped up the football and raced 85 yards for a touchdown. There was no PAT attempt, leaving the final score at 26-20.

Pfiffner’s 30-yard run helped tie the score a 7-all three minutes after Banfield’s electrifying kickoff return. The Bobcats took the lead on a 19-yard touchdown run by Hunter Semelroth just before the end of the first quarter.

Newton’s defense stiffened in the second and third quarters. The Cardinals forced the Bobcats into punting situation with 3:42 left in the first half. A bad snap was recovered by Newton’s Dalton Nevels at Benton’s 34.

Seven plays later, which included two big runs by quarterback Garrett Sturtz, Banfield bulled his way over the goal line from one yard out. Gulling’s kick tied the game at 14-14.

Semelroth returned the ensuing kickoff to the Newton 33. The Cardinals made a goal-line stand keeping Pfiffner from scoring on the final play of the half.

There was no scoring in the third quarter, but Pfiffner broke loose for a 47-yard go-head touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter. A Newton fumble set up another Bobcat scow with 7:20 left in the game.

Newton falls to 0-4 overall and 0-2 in district play. The Cardinals host Gilbert Friday.

Newton’s freshmen claimed a 24-6 win over Benton.

Lynnville-Sully 10, Montezuma 7

SULLY — Lynnville-Sully’s Hawks were better mudders than the Montezuma Braves Friday night. The Hawks upended the Braves, 10-7, in Class A District 6 action on a muddy field in the rain.

The contest’s start was delayed by 30 minutes because of lightening. The Class A seventh-ranked Braves came into the game at 3-0. The Hawks (1-2) were coming off a disappointing loss at Colfax.

“Our players just willed this win tonight,” Lynnville-Sully head coach Mike Parkinson said. “It was a sloppy, muddy field and our guys managed the weather very well. We took care of the football. Those two things were big.”

Montezuma scored a touchdown late in the first quarter to jump out to a 7-0 lead. Lynnville-Sully’s Kobe Fisk capped a Hawk drive with a 1-yard touchdown plunge and Noah Engle kicked the extra point.

Engle missed a field goal in the first half, but he nailed a 37-yard field goal in the third quarter. That was the game winner.

Sage Ehresman rushed for 140 yards on 30 carries for the Hawks. Lynnville-Sully’s defense held the Braves to under 100 yards rushing. There were only six passes completed between the two teams in the wind and rain for a combined 62 yards.

Dylan Roozeboom led the Hawk defense with 10 tackles. Fisk had an interception and fumble recovery. Jack Hardin made an interception and Trevor Squires recovered a Brave fumble.

Lynnville-Sully (2-2, 1-1 district) hosts Iowa Valley Friday.

PCM 37, Davis County 0

BLOOMFIELD -- With wet field conditions, the PCM football team decided to turn its high-octane passing offense into a ground and pound attack and Logan Littrell rushed for 105 yards and three touchdowns during a Class 2A District 7 win.

The Mustangs led 14-0 after the first quarter and held a 34-0 lead at halftime before coasting in the second half with a continuous clock most of the way.

Ethan Thomas blocked a punt on Davis County's first possession and the Mustangs were off and running.

PCM (3-1, 2-0) went up 7-0 following a 11-play, 51-yard opening drive that featured 10 runs and was capped by a Littrell 1-yard touchdown run.

The Mustangs recovered a Davis County fumble on the next offensive possession and then Logan Gilman needed just one play to put PCM up 14-0. That one play was a 25-yard touchdown pass to Luke Greiner, who finished with three catches for 55 yards and two scores.

Davis County's next possession ended with a snap over the punter's head. PCM started with the ball on the Davis County 3-yard line and Littrell needed just one play to make it 21-0.

Another 1-yard run later in the second quarter made it 28-0 and the visiting Mustangs made it 34-0 at the break when Sheldon Speers connected with Greiner on an 8-yard touchdown off a fake field goal.

The lone points of the second half was a 29-yard field goal by PCM's Chase Wilkie.

That put the continuous clock in motion with 8:45 left in the third quarter.

Davis Herndon led the defense with five solo tackles, three assisted tackles, two tackles for loss and a fumble recovery. Littrell had three solo tackles and three assisted tackles, while freshman Brycen Rogers intercepted a Davis County pass late in the fourth quarter.

Davis County falls to 0-4 on the season.

Colfax-Mingo 38, Belle Plaine 28

BELLE PLAINE -- The Tigerhawks rallied from a 16-14 halftime deficit and picked up a big Class A District 7 win on the road.

A Jared Myers 4-yard touchdown run and a two-point conversion pass from Myers to Jacob Lietz gave the Tigerhawks their first lead in the third quarter and the two teams entered the fourth frame tied at 22-all.

The Tigerhawks pulled away in the fourth quarter, outscoring Belle Plaine 16-6.

Myers scored the Tigerhawks' two first-half touchdowns, too. He answered Belle Plaine's first score with a 38-yard fumble return touchdown and then countered another Belle Plaine touchdown with a 10-yard touchdown run. That made it 16-14 at halftime.

Colfax-Mingo and Class A No. 2 BGM are the only two remaining District 7 teams without a loss in district play. Class A No. 7 Montezuma lost for the first time when it was upset by Lynnville-Sully.

CMB 41, Nevada 21

NEVADA -- The Raiders rushed for 391 yards and improved to 4-0 thanks to 521 total yards.

The CMB defense had five sacks and held Class 3A Nevada to just 49 rushing yards in a non-district affair.

Blake Coughenour gained 247 yards on 24 carries and scored three times for the Raiders, who trailed during the early stages of the game for the second week in a row.

Macade Matuska put Nevada up 7-0 in the second quarter following a 25-yard touchdown pass to Joe Heintz.

CMB quarterback Nate Bishop gave CMB the lead for good when he hooked up with Brady Stover on a 34-yard touchdown and then found Tucker Maxwell on a 43-yard score.

Coughenour took over from there, scoring on runs of 39 and 44 in the third quarter and then made it 34-14 with a 24-yard touchdown run in the fourth.

Bishop finished 6-for-10 for 89 yards and two scores, while Hunter McWhirter had 41 yards passing and 58 yards rushing. McWhirter also led the defense with five tackles and two sacks.

Marcus Mitchell rushed for 44 more yards, while Stover gained 33 yards on the ground and hauled in four passes for 63 yards through the air.

Matuska threw for 168 yards and two scores for Nevada, which dropped to 2-2 on the season.

At 4-0, CMB travels to Praire City-Monroe next Friday to take on the 3-1 Mustangs.