March 19, 2024

Cardinals rough up Bulldogs in opener

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Hello, Class 4A football.

Newton High returned to Class 4A football competition with a strong opening victory Friday night. The Cardinals powered past visiting Ottumwa’s Bulldogs, 42-6, as the two former CIML rivals played in on-again, off-again rain at H.A. Lynn Stadium.

“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.”

Smith along with senior offensive guard Alex Miller, senior running back Jordan Norvell and senior safety Josh Gulling spoke for the team following the win. To a man, they said the team knows there’s more work to be done.

“We know we’re going to play better teams this season. That’s just a fact,” Miller said. “We’ll work on our rocket sweeps, which is where our offense starts as it opens up the inside runs and the passing game.”

Norvell, who scored two touchdowns Friday night, admitted he was worried about playing at the 4A level this season.

“But I got past that, and we as a team, set our minds to working hard to be the best we can be this season,” Norvell said. “I was playing for Trenton Brady. We all are.”

Emotion and energy swirled around the Cardinal football team heading into the 2016 opening game.

Prior to the varsity game Friday night, Newton honored three Cardinals who died since late April — former teacher and coach Tim Trier, former player and 2010 NHS graduate Ryan Klingensmith and Trenton Brady, who would have been a senior on the 2016 team.

Smith, Miller, senior offensive tackle Caden Manning and Gulling were the game’s captains. They walked out to the middle of the field carrying the No. 52 jersey of their late teammate Brady, who died in an accident in June, to start the game.

Then the Cardinals went to work on the field against the Bulldogs.

Newton’s opening drive stalled out, and the Cardinals punted the ball to Ottumwa, which took over on its own 20-yard line.

“I thought the first series Ottumwa was taking it to us pretty good. We came back and responded to that,” Newton head coach Ed Ergenbright said. “I wanted to see if we got hit in the mouth a little bit if these guys would stand and fight. They did. I couldn’t be prouder of how they played.”

The Bulldogs had two high snaps over quarterback Addison Coram’s head but recovered the ball both times. The Bulldogs used a pass play to pick up a first down and moved the ball to Newton’s 44-yard line.

Newton’s defense set 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 Coram to give the Cardinals the football at Ottumwa’s 45.

“We had a lot of energy before the game. I told our guys I wanted everybody to hit hard. We have to play ruthlessly every single down,” Smith said. “We had to sustain that energy throughout the game right to the final play. We never let down tonight.”

Norvell broke off a 10-yard run to start the drive to the end zone. On a second-down play, junior quarterback Garrett Sturtz found junior running back Jaron Roush on a pass play. Roush scrambled to the Bulldog 12-yard line.

Two plays later, junior running back Josh Miravalles capped the drive with a 6-yard touchdown run. Zach Combs, a junior, kicked the first of six extra points for the Cardinals for a 7-0 lead at the 2:12 mark of the first quarter.

A third-down pass play from Sturtz to junior Trevor Ergenbright jump started Newton’s second scoring drive to begin the second quarter. The play picked up 17 yards, putting the Cardinals on Ottumwa’s 30-yard line.

The final 12 yards came on a run by Norvell to the end zone at the 7:21 mark. Combs kicked the extra point.

Newton had the ball back four plays later. The Cardinals pushed their way through the Bulldog defense for 81 yards to paydirt, using runs by Roush, Norvell and Miravalles. There were two pass plays on the drive, Sturtz found Ergenbright on a crossing pattern to pick up a first down.

The second pass was a 24-yard touchdown throw by Sturtz to Ergenbright, who had gotten past the Bulldog defender. With Combs’ kick, Newton led 21-0 with less than two minutes remaining in the first half.

“This game had a lot of emotion and passion in it,” Miller said. “We just pounded the ball all night. We were really working hard and staying on our blocks.”

Newton’s 21-0 halftime lead was increased in the first two minutes of the second half. Ottumwa fumbled the second-half kickoff and Newton recovered the ball at the Bulldogs’ 19-yard line. Roush scored from 6-yards out at the 9:41 mark.

Ottumwa averted a shutout when running back Nik Batterson got loose for an 80-yard touchdown run two plays following the ensuing kickoff. The Bulldogs’ extra-point kick failed, leaving it 28-6.

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. Norvell finished with 77 yards on nine carries. Roush had 54 yards on 13 carries.

“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,” Norvell said after the game.

Newton’s defense continued to overwhelm the Bulldog offense. Ottumwa ended up with 123 yards of total offense. The Bulldogs had 81 yards on 24 carries on the ground. Batterson had 98 yards rushing and 80 came on the one run.

“This win means so much, after only winning one game last year, to start this season with a win at home,” Josh Gulling said. “We seniors took the leadership roles of making sure everybody was in the weight room every day this summer. This gives us so much confidence. We’re all in this together.”

On the third play of the fourth quarter, Combs intercepted a Bulldog pass, allowing the Cardinals to start their final scoring threat at the Ottumwa 32-yard line. Smith and senior linebacker Reese Rosenquist took over in the backfield on offense.

Smith, who led the Newton defense with four solo tackles and three assisted tackles, had a 10-yard touchdown run with 8:34 remaining in the game, and Combs’ kick made it 42-6. Newton had another scoring opportunity when Ottumwa fumbled the ensuing kickoff. The Cardinals were at the Bulldogs’ 19-yard line, but did not score.

“We just keep working hard. We work harder than we did on the last play tonight in practice on Monday and build from there,” Smith said.

Rosenquist recorded three solo tackles and three assisted tackles. Rosenquist and Smith had back-to-back quarterback sacks in the fourth quarter. Jaise Gulling had two solos, two assisted tackles and a quarterback sack. The two Bulldog fumbles were recovered by Newton’s Joe Busch and Grayson Graham.

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.

“We have to get more physical, but we responded well to things tonight,” Ergenbright said.

When Ottumwa’s defense was set to take away the rocket-sweep portion of the Newton offense, Ergenbright said the Cardinal players executed some things they hadn’t worked on to run in the opener. He said the Cardinals lined up and ran right at Ottumwa and Sturtz threw the ball well in situations to move the ball through the air.

“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.”

The Cardinals host Waterloo East, which lost 41-6 to Des Moines North Friday. Des Moines North is Newton’s third-week opponent. Kickoff for the varsity game is 7:30 p.m. at H.A. Lynn Stadium.

Ottumwa 0-0-6-0—6

Newton 7-14-14-7—42

Newton — Miravalles 6 yd run (Combs kick)

Newton — Norvell 12 yd run (Combs kick)

Newton — Ergenbright 24 yd pass from Sturtz (Combs kick)

Newton — Roush 6 yd run (Combs kick)

Ottumwa — Batterson 80 yd run (kick failed)

Newton — Norvell 10 yd run (Combs kick)

Newton — Smith 10 yd run (Combs kick)

Newton Ottumwa

20 First Downs 5

54-275 Rushes-Yds 24-81

96 Passing Yds 32

371 Total Offense 123

7-8-0 Passing 2-8-1

2-0 Fumbles/lost 2-2

8-50 Penalties/yds 9-45

1-33 Punts/Avg NA

Individual Leaders

Rushing: Newton-Norvell 9-77, Roush 13-54. Miravalles 11-44, Smith 6-8, Sturtz 6-8, Rosenquist 2-4, Lukefahr 1-2, Miller 3-1, Barr 1-(-5), Zibert 1-(-7), Ottumwa-Batterson 5-98.

Passing: Newton-Sturtz 7-8-96-0, Ottumwa-Carom 2-8-32-1.

Receiving: Newton-Ergenbright 3-60, Roush 3-31, Miravalles 1-5. Ottumwa-Brumbaugh 1-24.

Punting: Newton-Sturtz 1-33 (33-yd avg.). Ottumwa: Not Available.

Newton Defense

Tackles (solos/assisted): Smith 4/3, Rosenquist 3/3, Jaise Gulling 2/2, Bush 2/1, Baltisberger 2/0, Combs 2/0, Graham 2/0, Peterson 1/1, Josh Gulling 1/0, Murphy 1/0, Steinbach 1/0, Zibert 1/0, Kite 0/1, Rhone 1/0.

Quarterback sacks (solo/assisted): Jaise Gulling 1/1, Rosenquist 1/0, Smith 1/0, Kite 0/1.

Fumbles (forced/recovered): Busch 0/1, Graham 0/1.

Interceptions: Combs-1

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