March 28, 2024

Cardinals return to home turf to challenge Tigers

Pregame Outlook —

Establishing the running game and stopping the running game are key components to success for Newton High’s Cardinals. Both are challenges for the winless Cardinals heading into Friday’s Class 3A District 6 game at home against Gilbert’s Tigers.

The Tigers come into H.A. Lynn Stadium with the top rushing attack in the district — 1,109 yards, averaging 6.3 yards a carry and 13 touchdowns.

Newton has rushed for 716 yards in four games, averaging 4.1 yards a carry and have eight rushing touchdowns.

It is homecoming for Newton Friday. Action starts with the freshman game at 4:45 p.m. followed by the varsity game at 7:30 p.m. at H.A. Lynn Stadium.

Gilbert is 3-1 overall and 2-0 in district play. The Tigers are fresh off a 28-22 win over Ballard. Newton is 0-4 and 0-2 in the district. The Cardinals have been close to victory in all four games this season.

“We’ve made some changes on both sides of the football. Last week was the first time in a new defensive alignment and when we did things right, we had success,” Newton head coach Ed Ergenbright said. “We have to tackle well against Gilbert.”

Ergenbright said the Cardinals recognize the need to run the football better to be able to throw the football more. One of the biggest changes for the Newton offense will be senior Duncan Lee moving from the offensive line to a running back.

“Duncan has played running back before. The young players we had in the backfield gave us great effort, and I’m proud of how they handled the situation they were thrown into because of injuries,” Ergenbright said.

Newton’s leading rusher is senior Joseph Banfield, who is eighth among district rushers, with 324 yards. Banfield averages 4.3 yards a carry and has scored five rushing touchdowns. Senior Dalton Nevels has 122 yards on the ground and is ranked 13th in the district.

“Gilbert wants to run downhill on you, but they use a lot of reverses with receivers out of their basic offense. It’s a well conceived offense,” Ergenbright said. “We have to play assignment sound to stop it.”

Powering the Tiger offense are junior running back Cody Dvorak and senior running back Zach Becker, who stand fifth and sixth in the district rushing ranks. Dvorak averages 15.5 yards a carry with 441 yards in four games while Becker has 374 yards rushing.

Senior Cole Drzycinski is the Tiger quarterback, who has rushed for 194 yards and is 140-of-55 passing for 210 yards. Gilbert has a total of 300 yards passing, three touchdowns through the air and Drzycinski has thrown six interceptions.

Leading the Cardinal defense is the linebacker trio of seniors Lee and Austin James and junior Brady Smith. Lee has racked up 29 solo tackles and 19 assisted tackles while Smith has 19 sole stops and 12 assisted tackles and James has 17 unassisted tackles and six assisted tackles.

Unfortunately, Smith is possibly out for the rest of the season because of knee injury, Ergenbright said.

Two more linemen will not play for the Cardinals this week in sophomore defensive tackle Ryan Constant, who had 10 solo tackles and four assisted tackles, and junior Alex Miller, who plays offensive guard and defensive nose guard, joined the ranks of the injured.

Ergenbright said Trent Brady, Landon Hansen and Caleb Kite will be playing along the offensive and defensive line.

Andrew Weiland is moving to linebacker to take Smith’s spot. Jace Lukefahr, Lucas Montgomery and Banfield will be working on the defensive side for the Cardinals.

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