Cardinals begin season at Ottumwa

Team goals are discussed before every season. Newton High head football coach Ed Ergenbright sits down with each class and with the entire team and talks about what the players want for the season.

“This senior class wants to become a great team. This team wants to become a great team,” Ergenbright said. “To become a great team, we have to do things people don’t think you can do. For us that is beat teams like Fort Dodge, Southeast Polk or Valley.”

Newton has 23 seniors on its 2017 football team. Ergenbright pointed out most of those seniors have a lot of varsity experience after having starting roles or first sub roles since they were sophomores.

Before the Cardinals get to Class 4A District play where they take on Fort Dodge, Southeast Polk, West Des Moines Valley, Marshalltown and Indianola, they have to prove themselves in non-district play. Work on being better than a 6-3 mark of a year ago and being a great team begins Friday on the road for the Cardinals.

Newton plays Ottumwa at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Schafer Stadium in Ottumwa. Schafer Stadium has undergone renovations including a new artificial turf field. The freshman game is at 4:45 p.m.

“They want to do something special this season. They want to make the 4A playoffs. To reach those goals it takes getting off to a good start. We’re on the road against very competitive opponents the first two games,” Ergenbright said.

The Cardinals rolled to a 42-6 win over the Bulldogs last year, leading 28-0 at one time. The Bulldogs went 0-9 in their 2016 season and have a 10-game losing streak.

“Our focus this week has been on executing our basic offense and defense. We threw a lot at our guys with some new things on both sides of the ball finding out what works for our personnel,” Ergenbright said. “We’re looking to establish the run game then pass off of that because if you can run the football, you’re going to be successful.”

The Cardinals racked up 2,472 yards rushing last year, averaging 5.8 yards a carry. The running game put up 30 touchdowns. Newton had 731 yards in the passing game and five touchdowns.

“We want to move the ball on the ground. We’ve added some new power-running plays to our basic gun-rocket offense. They fit well into the scheme we use,” Ergenbright said. “We believe we have the guys who can run the ball.”

Ottumwa has 11 seniors on its roster. The Bulldogs lost a preseason scrimmage, 6-3, a week ago to Mount Pleasant.

The Bulldogs’ leading rusher back is junior Sam Yeaway, who rushed for 154 yards on 30 carries. Ottumwa had 773 yards rushing and 497 yards passing as a team in 2016.

“Ottumwa struggled last year, but they’ve changed both their offense and defense. We’ve been practicing to go up against their pro-set offense and a 4-3 defense,” Ergrenbright said. “Now, once you get into the game things can change so you make adjustments.”

Newton has enough depth to two-platoon so players only play on one side of the football — offense or defense not both. Ergenbright said to be able to do the two-platoon system was something Newton was able to do last year and is beneficial to the players not having to go both ways.

Senior Jaron Roush is the one player for the Cardinals who will see double duty. Roush is a starting wing back on offense and is a two-year starter at cornerback on defense.

Ottumwa’s senior Addison Coram and junior Eli McDanel are the leading candidates for the starting quarterback position. Coram was the starter a year ago against Newton. He finished the season at 23-of-77 passing for 259 yards with one TD and five interceptions. McDanel was 26-of-73 passing for 212 yards and seven interceptions.

Defensively, the Bulldogs have senior Joey Mitchell and junior Bryan Cordova at the linebacker spots and Yeaway as a defensive back. Mitchell had 48 solo tackles and 16 assisted tackles a year ago. Yeaway had 31 solos and seven assisted tackles. The Bulldog defense had 16 takeaways last year — six interceptions and 10 fumble recoveries.

“They are trying to come up with something which will work for them. I think they are on the right track,” Ergenbright said of Ottumwa.

Running the Newton gun-rocket offense for the third straight season is senior quarterback Garrett Sturtz, who is 6-foot-3 inches and 165 pounds. Ergenbright said Sturtz does a really great job making the decisions for the Cardinal offense.

In the Cardinal offensive backfield, three seniors are tapped as the starting running backs. At the tailback spot is the 5-foot-7, 175-pound Josh Miravalles. Roush, who is 5-foot-10 and 175 pounds, and Carson Cazett, who is 5-foot-10 and 165, are the wing backs. Junior Josh Miller (5-foot-11, 180) is the back up tailback, but also can rotate into the wing back spots.

Newton returns its top receiver in senior split end Trevor Ergenbright (5-foot-9, 150). Junior Jacob Murphy, who is 6-foot-2, 185 pounds, is the starting tight end.

Up front along the offensive line are two seniors, two juniors and a sophomore. Benny Cheng, a 6-foot, 205-pound senior, returns as center. The guards are senior Jace Lukefahr (6-foot-1, 235) and junior Ben Peterson (6-foot-1, 285) and the tackles are junior Ike Bebout (6-foot-3, 247) and sophomore Gage Linahon (6-foot, 235).

Turning to the defensive front, the Cardinals will go with 6-foot-1, 280-pound senior Landon Hansen at nose guard with juniors Austin Romberg (6-foot-1, 205) and Mason Lee (5-foot-10, 195) at the starting defensive ends. Senior Jaden King (5-foot-11, 205) will rotate in at the defensive end spots.

The linebacker corps has three returning starters and a seasoned senior. On the outside will be 6-foot, 200-pound senior Blayden Rhone and 6-foot-2, 185-pound senior Grant Garvis, who missed most of his junior season with a broken leg. Filling the inside linebacker positions are senior Joe Busch (5-foot-10, 185) and junior Jaise Gulling (6-foot, 220).

“We’re really happy with our defensive front and our linebackers. I think the strength of our defense is our backfield with four experienced starters,” Ergenbright said. “We have good size in the secondary. We just have to come together as a unit.”

Roush and 6-foot-2, 165-pound senior Grayson Graham return as starting cornerbacks with senior Kamden Kuennen (5-foot-8, 150) rotating into spell Roush, who plays offense also. Leading the group is 6-foot-2, 170-pound senior free safety Zach Combs. Junior Aaron Bartels (6-foot-1, 175) is the strong safety.

Combs is back as Newton’s placekicker and Sturtz is the Cardinal punter. Senior Evan Walker (5-foot-11, 235) is the long snapper and is expected to rotate in along the offensive line.

“We have pretty good depth in almost every position on offense and defense. It’s great to be able to rotate people in and keep fresh players on the field,” Ergenbright said.

“What I’m looking for this week is a win, but just as important is how our kids respond playing on the road. Also, I want them to respond in being tough physically and mentally. Now, it’s just about going and playing a game.”

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