March 19, 2024

Cardinals roll past Bulldogs in opener; Area prep football roundup

High school football got underway Friday night. Newton and Lynnville-Sully recorded wins while Colfax-Mingo, which played Lynnville-Sully, Collins-Maxwell/Baxter and Prairie City-Monroe dropped season-opening decisions.

Newton 42, Ottumwa 6

Emotion and work played big parts in Newton High’s season-opening victory Friday night.

The four senior Cardinal game captains walked out to the middle of the field carrying the No. 52 jersey of their late teammate Trenton Brady, who died in an accident in June, to start the game.

“We worked hard all summer and that’s why we got this win,” senior linebacker Brady Smith said after the Cardinals dominated in a 42-6 win over visiting Ottumwa. “We did it.”

Newton rolled up more than 350 yards of total offense to the Bulldogs’ 120 yards. Senior running back Jordan Norvell scored twice as he ran for 77 yards on nine carries for the Cardinals.

“I was playing for Trenton Brady. We all are,” Norvell said. “I was trying to find the open field as my teammates blocked then I was running as fast as I could to score the touchdowns.”

It was Newton’s defense setting up the first score of the game. On a fourth-and-four play, the Bulldogs decided to go for it, but Newton’s sophomore defensive end Jaise Gulling sacked Ottumwa quarterback Addison Coram.

A five-play, 45-yard drive was capped by a 6-yard touchdown run by junior running back Josh Miravalles. Zach Combs kicked the first of six extra points for the Cardinals for a 7-0 lead.

Newton added two touchdowns in the second quarter — a 12-yard run by Norvell and a 23-yard reception by junior Trevor Ergenbright from junior quarterback Garrett Sturtz.

Ottumwa fumbled the second-half kickoff and Newton recovered the ball. Junior running back Jaron Roush scored from 6-yards out at the 9:41 mark. Up 28-0, Newton gave up a long touchdown run by Nik Batterson two plays later.

Newton answered with a 62-yard drive for a touchdown — a 10-yard run by Norvell. The Cardinals were up 35-6 heading into the fourth quarter.

Following an interception by Combs, Newton drove 32 yards for the final score. Smith had a 10-yard run to the end zone with 8:34 remaining in the game.

“This game had a lot of emotion and passion in it,” senior offensive lineman Alex Miller said. “We just pounded the ball all night.”

Newton head coach Ed Ergenbright said he was pleased with how his team started the season. He said it was a good place to start as the Cardinals move forward in the season.

“These guys have been really focused since the beginning of the season,” Ergenbright said. “I saw a lot enthusiasm and a lot of kids having fun playing football tonight, which is what we’re trying to achieve.”

Newton’s freshmen posted a 31-0 win over Ottumwa Friday.

The Cardinals host Waterloo East, which lost 41-6 to Des Moines North Friday. Des Moines North is Newton’s third-week opponent.

Lynnville-Sully 56, Colfax-Mingo 0

SULLY — Lynnville-Sully's defense dominated Colfax-Mingo in the season opener Friday night.

The Hawks held the Tigerhawks to -8 yards of total offense, returned an interception for a touchdown and had three sacks while keeping Colfax-Mingo off the scoreboard.

Lynnville-Sully (1-0) led 35-0 at halftime thanks to two touchdown runs by Sage Zylstra, a touchdown pass by Tyler Van Zante and a 68-yard pick-six by Gage Vander Leest.

Evan Squires, who made it 35-0 with a 4-yard touchdown run with 44 seconds to play in the second quarter, finished with 82 rushing yards on 11 carries.

The Hawks rushed for 176 yards and Van Zante and Elijah Collins combined to throw for 124 yards.

Eight different players carried the ball for Lynnville-Sully and five different receivers caught a pass. Collins and Colten Arment both scored rushing touchdowns in the second half, while Caden Dunsbergen caught a 16-yard touchdown pass from Van Zante in the first quarter and Quentin Thompson hauled in a 20-yard touchdown pass from Collins in the fourth.

But the Hawk defense was dominant, too. A year after setting several offensive school records, Colfax-Mingo (0-1) converted just five first downs and threw for 21 yards. The three sacks by the Hawks helped them hold Colfax-Mingo to -29 yards rushing.

Zylstra, who rushed for 34 yards on eight carries, had five tackles and a sack on defense, while Kemper Lukehart had a team-high seven tackles. Vander Leest had four tackles and returned a pick for a touchdown. Jesse Van Wyk and Cory McCoy each had a sack, too.

Reegan Van Dyke was 3-for-12 in his first varsity start, and he left the game in the first half with a knee injury.

Jimmy Camp, who led the defense with six tackles, missed the entire second half with a shoulder injury and Zarek Hill also left the game in the second half due to injury.

Holister Koenig had five tackles for the Tigerhawk defense, while Wyatt Owens and Trent Jones each had an interception.

Pella Christian 42, PCM 20

MONROE — The Mustangs fared better against Pella Christian's high-powered offense than it did a year ago, but PCM made too many mistakes on special teams during a season-opening home loss Friday night.

Pella Christian's Levi Jungling returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown, took back a punt return on the final play of the second quarter and the Mustangs failed to recover three onside kicks and fumbled away an Eagle punt.

PCM (0-1) tied the Eagles at 7-all following a 10-yard touchdown run by Wes Cummings in the first inning and then Luke Greiner gave the Mustangs their only lead of the game when he took a screen pass from Sheldon Speers 44 yards for a touchdown.

Greiner added another 23-yard touchdown catch from Speers in the fourth quarter, but 28 unanswered points by Pella Christian was too much to overcome.

The Eagles (1-0) recovered three straight onside kicks in the second quarter and scored twice. Both scores came on touchdown passes of 33 and 13 yards from David Kacmarynski to Hayden Vroom.

Kacmarynski hooked up with Jungling twice for touchdowns in the fourth quarter, too.

Speers was 16-of-24 for 248 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions in his first varsity start. Greiner had seven catches for 131 yards and two scores, while Noah Clark hauled in four passes for 86 yards.

Isaac Telfer had 10 total tackles and an interception to lead the Mustang defense, while Greiner had nine tackles and a fumble recovery. Speers also had an interception.

Nevada 27, CMB 14

MAXWELL — Trent Stahl helped Nevada avenge a 2015 loss to Collins-Maxwell/Baxter with four touchdown runs on Friday night.

CMB (0-1) led 8-0 after one quarter following a 2-yard touchdown run by Blake Coughenour, but Stahl scored twice in the second quarter to give the Cubs a 14-8 lead at the break.

Coughenour scored on another run to tie it in the third, but a third touchdown by Stahl pushed the advantage back to Nevada (1-0). Stahl put the finishing touches on the win when he scampered 25 yards in the fourth to put the Cubs up by two scores.

Coughenour finished with 118 rushing yards and two scores to lead the Raider offense. CMB, which did not have the services of starting quarterback Hunter McWhirter, got four catches for 63 yards from Tucker Maxwell, three catches for 31 yards from Travis Lindemoen and two catches for 21 yards from Zach Schafer.

In his first varsity start, junior Braydon Aker was 11-for-26 for 146 yards and an interception.