March 18, 2024

Top-ranked Pella too much for Newton; area prep football roundup

Blowouts were the norm for all five area high school football teams in Friday night's games. In Week 7 of the season, Newton and Collins-Maxwell/Baxter faced top-ranked teams and lost while Lynnville-Sully, Colfax-Mingo and Prairie City-Monroe notched lopsided wins.

Class 3A No. 1 Pella 47, Newton 7

PELLA — Be competitive and get better.

Newton High’s Cardinals wended to win Friday night, but they knew going into the non-district game against Class 3A top-ranked Pella, it was going to be tough. The undefeated Little Dutch set sail to a 47-7 win in the first drive — two plays — the game.

“I’m very proud of the way our guys fought. We focused all week on being competitive with Pella and we were,” Newton head coach Ed Ergenbright said. “Our run defense against Nathan Henry was outstanding.”

Henry, Pella’s senior running back, scored twice in the first quarter on runs of 16 yards and 3 yards, There were times when the Cardinal defense shut down one of the top running backs in the state. On back-to-back plays Duncan Lee and Andrew Weiland, both seniors, caught Henry in the Little Dutch backfield for losses.

“When you stack the box like that, Noah (Clayberg, Pella’s senior quarterback) is going to recognize it. They have four outstanding receivers and they had to throw the ball to move it and score,” Ergenbright said. “Noah can beat you throwing the ball and with his legs.”

Clayberg scored on a 1-yard touchdown run and raced 41 yards with 8:27 left in the second quarter. He flipped the two-point conversion to Will Warner to make it 28-0. Clayberg gave way to junior Nick Finney at the quarterback spot the rest of the game.

Finney tossed two touchdown passes late in the second quarter to put the Little Dutch up 41-0 at halftime. The teams played the second half under a running clock as per the 35-point lead margin rule.

It was 47-0 with 4:34 left in the third quarter.

Newton averted a shutout when senior Joseph Banfield bulled over from one yard out with 1:07 left in the game. Junior Josh Gulling kicked the extra point.

“We improved tonight,” Ergenbright said. “We had several drives where we ran the ball well, but Pella is so athletic and talented on the defensive side of the ball also. We can build on this for next week.”

Newton (0-7) goes on the road to play Bondurant-Farrar in Class 3A District 6 action Friday.

Newton's freshmen lost, 29-7, to Pella.

Lynnville-Sully 72, GMG 0

SULLY — The Hawks moved above .500 for the second time this year after jumping out to a 43-0 lead after one quarter.

Sage Ehresman rushed for 79 yards and three touchdowns on six carries and Evan Squires gained 58 yards and scored twice on five touches.

Sage Zylstra had four tackles and three sacks to lead a Lynnville-Sully defense that held GMG to 63 total yards. Zylstra also rushed for a touchdown in the fourth quarter as Lynnville-Sully improved to 4-3 overall and 3-2 in Class A District 7 play. GMG is now 1-6 on the season and 0-5 in district play.

Ehresman scored the Hawks' first three touchdowns on runs of 20, 10 and 36 yards.

Tyler Van Zante connected with Kobe Fisk for a 27-yard touchdown after that to put the home team up 29-0. Fisk made it 36-0 following a 28-yard punt return touchdown.

Squires scored on a 4-yard touchdown run to cap the scoring in the first quarter and then Caden Dunsbergen took a punt to paydirt from 39 yards out.

A third punt return was taken to the house in the second half as Tyson Vander Linden sprinted 57 yards for the final touchdown of the game.

Squires scored on a 31-yard touchdown run in the third and Zylstra's touchdown run in the fourth quarter covered five yards.

Van Zante finished 4-of-6 for 62 yards and a touchdown.

The Hawk defense forced two turnovers and had six sacks in the game. Fisk had an interception and GMG fumbled away its first possession on the kickoff following Ehresman first touchdown of the game. Jesse Van Wyk had two sacks and Jackson Hardin had one sack.

The Hawks look for their fourth win in five games when they travel to North Mahaska (2-5, 1-4) next week.

Colfax-Mingo 58, Iowa Valley 32

MARENGO — The Tigerhawks led 52-8 at halftime and stayed unbeaten in Class A District 7 play Friday night.

Jared Myers threw seven touchdown passes and had a rushing touchdown as the Tigerhawks won their sixth straight game and clinched a postseason berth.

Colin Lourens was on the receiving end of three Myers' touchdown passes, while Jacob Lietz caught two and Blake Summy and Gabe Simpson each hauled in one.

Jacob Buehrer also had a rushing touchdown for the Tigerhawks.

Colfax-Mingo (6-1) and second-ranked BGM (7-0) meet next week to decide the district title. That game will be played in Colfax. Both teams are 5-0 in district play. BGM defeated Belle Plaine, 55-24, on Friday.

PCM 42, Clarke 6

OSCEOLA — Logan Gilman threw for 375 yards and two scores, Logan Littrell rushed for 97 yards and two scores and Tyler Dredge had a 69-yard touchdown reception during the Mustangs' easy win over Clarke in Class 2A District 7 action.

PCM's defense had two interceptions and two fumble recoveries. Dredge had one of each as he also finished with five catches for 131 yards.

Luke Greiner tallied seven catches for 105 yards and a score and Noah Clark hauled in four passes for 88 yards. Wes Cummings also had 57 rushing yards and two scores.

The Mustangs, who have won six straight games, led 14-0 after one quarter and 28-6 at halftime.

Littrell and Cummings each had touchdown runs in the first quarter. Littrell added his second score in the second and Gilman's first touchdown pass went to Greiner in the second quarter.

Cummings made it 35-6 after three with a 2-yard run in the third and then Gilman hooked up with Dredge on a 69-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to cap the scoring.

Clarke (0-7, 0-5) was defeated for the 24th straight time. The Indians' only score came on a 12-yard touchdown pass from Rich Wilkins to Brandyne Olin in the second quarter.

PCM (6-1, 4-0) travels to top-ranked Albia next week for a chance at the District 7 championship. The Mustangs host playoff contender North Polk in Week 9 but a win over the Blue Demons would go a long way in claiming the district title.

PCM and Albia sit at 4-0 in district play, while North Polk is 3-1. All three teams locked up postseason berths after wins on Friday.

North Polk (4-3) controls its own destiny for the No. 2 seed as it hosts CMB (5-2, 2-2) next week and travels to PCM in Week 9.

Albia 42, CMB 6

BAXTER — CMB's only touchdown came on a Hunter Gunderson 47-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

Albia got 171 rushing yards and four touchdowns from all-stater Carter Isley and Isley also had three interceptions on defense as the top-ranked Blue Demons remained undefeated in Class 2A District 7 play.

Albia led 42-0 at halftime and it was 56-0 after three quarters.

CMB did not have at least six starters. Brady Stover and Hunter McWhirter missed the game due to injuries and the four players who were suspended earlier this season missed their third straight game.

Nate Bishop finished 14-of-29 through the air for 89 yards, while Braydon Aker completed 5-of-7 for 58 yards.

Gunderson's 47-yard touchdown run was his only carry of the game, but he led the rushing attack. Gunderson also had seven catches for 89 yards.

Charles Robertson led the defense with six tackles, while Gunderson had five tackles.

Isley's first touchdown covered 40 yards and he made it 14-0 with a 4-yard touchdown run and 22-0 with an 18-yard scoring run. His fourth touchdown run was a 23-yarder late in the second quarter.

Blake Bayer had one touchdown pass for Albia, and it was a 48-yarder to Tony Leshen in the second quarter. Bayer also had a 29-yard touchdown run.

Albia (7-0, 4-0) piled up 435 total yards in 35 plays and held the Raiders to 240 yards in 66 plays. The Blue Demons, who locked up a postseason berth, rushed for 358 yards and averaged 11.5 yards per carry in the win.

CMB (5-2, 2-2) will try to get back on track next week when it heads to Alleman to face district rival North Polk. The game will have playoff implications as the Comets are now 3-1 in league play following their 48-0 win over Davis County on Friday.