Cardinals handle Bulldogs in opener

OTTUMWA — Newton High’s Cardinals scored 42 points against Ottumwa’s Bulldogs for the second season in a row. It was deja vu for the two teams Friday at Ottumwa’s Schafer Stadium as Newton claimed a 42-7 win.

Last year’s game ended with a 42-6 Cardinal win.

“It’s great to get this win to start the season,” senior center Benny Cheng said. “The younger guys — we have four new starters on the (offensive) line — did well for the first game. We have some things to fix, but this was a good start.”

Newton’s offense scored on its first possession of each half. The Cardinals were up 14-0 at halftime then took complete control on a five-play, 66-yard drive to begin the third quarter.

Senior running back Josh Miravalles, who rushed for 121 yards on 16 carries in the game, had three straight carries up the middle against the Bulldog defense. He gained 19 yards then fellow senior running back Jaron Roush broke out for a 47-yard dash to the Ottumwa 2-yard line.

Miravalles pushed his way across the goal line for the first of his two TDs in the second half. Zach Combs, senior placekicker and safety, nailed an extra point to give Newton a 21-0 lead with 9:54 left in the third quarter.

“At halftime, we talked about how the first five minutes of the second half were the most important,” Cheng said. “We came out and executed.”

Under the direction of senior quarterback Garrett Sturtz, Newton High’s offense clicked more often than not in the 2017 season opening game. There were good, bad and better aspects of how the Cardinals played in the opener.

“Overall, I was really pleased with what we did tonight,” Cardinal head coach Ed Ergenbright said. “We’ve got to get better though.”

Ottumwa took the opening kickoff and moved the ball against the Newton defense. The Bulldogs executed their veer offense with the running of junior Sam Yeaway and senior quarterback Addison Coram.

The Cardinal defense stopped Yeaway for a three-yard gain on a fourth-down and seven play at the Newton 24-yard line.

“You have to see the veer offense and get a feel for it. We made the adjustments on defense during that first drive of theirs. After that, we held them in check, especially on the ground,” Ergenbright said.

Ottumwa finished with 129 yards rushing and 65 of those yards came on the opening drive of the game.

Sturtz and the Cardinal offense took over with 6:23 on the clock. A 21-yard third-down pass from Sturtz to senior split end Trevor Ergenbright got the drive kick started. On a fourth-and-two play, Miravalles scampered 11 yards then picked up another five yards.

Sturtz finished the drive on a 30-yard touchdown run at the 1:48 mark of the first quarter. Combs added the extra point for a 7-0 lead.

The Bulldogs decided to go on a fourth-and-16 on the second play of the second quarter. Senior linebacker Blayden Rhone sacked Coram and Newton took possession of the ball at its own 44-yard line.

“Our defense struggled a little bit in the beginning then we started executing as a team,” Blayden said.

Newton’s next offensive possession was thwarted by a holding penalty forcing the Cardinals to punt for the first and only time in the game. Jayqwon Bridges returned the punt 20 yards setting the Bulldogs up at their own 42.

Combs knocked Yeaway down in the backfield for a five-yard loss on the second play of the series. Coram’s third-down pass was incomplete. Yeaway went back to punt and senior nose guard Landon Hansen broke through to block the kick and Newton recovered the ball at the Ottumwa 29.

On six plays, the Cardinals were knocking on the door again with a third-and-goal at the 1-yard line. An illegal procedure penalty moved the Cardinals back to the 6-yard line. Sturtz connected with Ergenbright out in the flat and Ergenbright made the catch and ran into the corner of the end zone with 4:39 left in the second quarter.

It was 14-0 and that’s where the score stood at the intermission.

Newton had a big loss at the end of the first half. Senior linebacker Joe Busch injured his right knee with 1:05 left to play. He did not return to the game.

“It’s the toughest part of coaching — seeing players who have worked hard and prepared for their senior season go down like that. Joe went over backwards on that play. We’re hoping for the best. We have to wait on a MRI.”

Newton set the tone of the second half with its opening drive for a touchdown. The defense forced Ottumwa to punt, which went four yards. Three plays later, Sturtz weaved through the Bulldog defenders on a 28-yard TD run.

“Probably the biggest disappointment of the game for me was when we were up 28-0, got the fumble recovery and didn’t punch it in. We had a chance to put the game away right then and there and didn’t do it,” Ergenbright said.

On the ensuing kickoff, the Bulldogs ended up with the ball at their own 7-yard line. They fumbled the ball and Newton recovered it with 4:44 left in the third quarter.

Newton had its own fumble, but retained possession at the Bulldog 7-yard line then had a five-yard penalty. Sturtz rushed for three yards on third-and-goal at the 12.

The Cardinals lined up for a 26-yard field goal attempt by Combs. Combs’ kick bounced off the left upright.

“We’re doing things with our snap count so teams don’t get a running start at us. It caused us to jump on several plays,” Ergenbright said. “We are going through some growing pains. Our last drive of the game, we overcame a big penalty and scored.”

The Cardinals had six penalties for 40 yards. The Bulldogs were penalized eight times for 55 yards.

Newton held the Bulldogs at bay once again and had the ball back at the Ottumwa 37 with 11 seconds remaining in the third quarter. Roush had a 22-yard run to begin the drive then the Cardinals had back-to-back penalties.

On the final play of the third quarter, junior running back Josh Miller powered ahead for 10 yards the Bulldog 14-yard line. Miravalles capped the drive with a 2-yard TD run, and with Combs’ extra-point kick, Newton led 35-0.

The Bulldogs averted the shutout by scoring on its next possession. Coram found Bridges open down the sideline for an 84-yard TD strike. Juan Carapia kicked the extra point.

Newton used up almost five minutes on an eight-play drive — all running plays by Miller, Miravalles, who had a 51-yard run, junior Logan Cummins and senior Carson Cazett. The Cardinals were at the Ottumwa 4-yard line when they had another penalty.

Sturtz went up the middle for a 9-yard TD run. Sturtz had 93 yards rushing on 11 carries and went 2-for-4 passing, both to Ergenbright.

Coram led the Bulldog running attack with 84 yards on 13 carries. He was 5-of-8 passing for 140 yards. Friday’s loss on the new artificial turf at Schafer Stadium extended the Bulldogs’ losing streak to 11 games.

Leading the Cardinal defense were Combs with five solo tackles, two assisted tackles and three tackles for loss, Rhone with five solos, one assisted tackle and a quarterback sack.

Senior linebacker Grant Garvis had five unassisted tackles and Busch had four solos and four assisted tackles before his injury. Junior linebacker Austin Romberg recovered the fumble.

“Joe’s tough, but we have a lot of good linebackers,” Rhone said. “When he went down, we all stepped up. Thomas (Cox) came in and did a good job. We work as a team.”

The Cardinals (1-0) travel to Waterloo East this Friday. Waterloo East broke a 37-game losing skid Friday by beating Newton’s Week 3 opponent Des Moines North, 38-0.

Newton Ottumwa

14 First Downs 10

44-353 Rushes-Yds 33-129

27 Passing Yds 140

380 Total Offense 269

2-4-0 Passing 5-8-0

1-0 Fumbles/lost 2-1

8-68 Penalties/yds 10-77

1-42 Punts/Avg 4-18

Individual Leaders

Rushing: Newton-Miravalles 16-121, Sturtz 11-93, Roush 7-68, Carson Cazett 5-37, Miller 3-23, Cummins 2-11.Ottumwa-Coram 13-84, Yeaway 12-34, Mitchell 4-10, Cordova 3-4, Barndt 1-(-3).

Passing: Newton-Sturtz 2-4-27-0, Ottumwa-Carom 5-8-140-0.

Receiving: Newton-Ergenbright 2-27. Ottumwa-Barndt 2-21, Yeaway 2-34, Bridges 1-84.

Punting: Newton-Sturtz 1-42 (42-yd avg.). Ottumwa: Yeaway 4-72 (18-yd avg.)

Newton Defense

Tackles (solos/assisted): Rhone 5/1, Combs 5/2, Garvis 5/0, Busch 4/4, Kuennen 3/1, Cole Cazett 2/1, Lee 2-0, Romberg 2/1, King 1/4, Hansen 1/3, Cox 1/2, Gulling 1/2, Graham 1/1, Caves 1/0, Wolfe 0/2, Barr 0/2, Lukefahr 0/1, Bartels 0/1.

Quarterback sacks (solo/assisted): Rhone 1/0.

Fumbles (forced/recovered): Romberg 0/1.

Interceptions: None.

Blocked punts: Hansen 1.

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