Homecoming victory for Newton; Area Prep Football Roundup

Under Friday Night Lights for Week No. 4 of high school football, victories went to four of the five area teams. Newton finished up non-district play with a win while Prairie City-Monroe and Lynnville-Sully got big district wins.

Colfax-Mingo dropped a district contest. Baxter recorded a victory on the road.

Newton 47, Burlington 26

NEWTON — Two defensive plays switched the momentum to Newton High’s Cardinals on Friday night. The Cardinals used it to give a large homecoming crowd what they came to see — a Cardinal victory.

Newton improved to 4-0 on the season with a 47-26 win over visiting Burlington at H.A. Lynn Stadium. The Cardinals trailed the Grayhounds 6-0 after the first quarter.

Grayson Graham intercepted a L.T. Beck pass and raced 55 yards down the sidelines for Newton. The extra-point kick by Zach Combs put the Cardinals on top for good, 7-6, with 11:08 left in the second period.

“It’s great to win our homecoming game,” Combs, a senior defensive back, said. “We made some adjustments on defense after their opening drive. They made some big plays for touchdowns, but our offense had taken over the game by then.”

Beck was guiding the Grayhounds down the field again then the drive stalled at the Newton 42-yard line. Burlington went for a fourth-and-one, but the Cardinal defense stopped the Grayhound quarterback for a 2-yard loss which gave the ball to Newton.

Five plays later, Carson Cazett busted loose for a 26-yard TD run and Combs added the extra point. Down 14-6, Burlington moved quickly on its next possession. Beck found James McCann in the end zone on a 2-yard scoring pass but a potential tying 2-point pass failed.

Newton’s two-point lead increased to 21-14 by halftime when Josh Miller found clear sailing on the outside for a 66-yard TD run. Combs kicked the extra point.

The Cardinals took complete control of the game with back-to-back touchdown drives in third quarters — a 9-yard run by quarterback Garrett Sturtz and a 26-yard pass play from Sturtz to Jaron Roush. Newton led Burlington 34-12.

Burlington answered with a 10-yard TD run by Taven Harris and a 2-point conversion pass from Beck to Mason Leinbach.

Miller, who unofficially had 198 yards on 10 carries, capped Newton’s next march with a 25-yard scoring run to push the Newton lead to 40-20 after three quarters. Josh Miravalles plunged over from one yard out at the 8:18 mark of the fourth quarter to seal the win for Newton.

Sturtz rushed for 106 yards on 15 carries. Roush piled up 95 yards on 11 carries, mostly in the second half. Cazett sat out the second half with an injury and Miller twisted his ankle fighting to get in the end zone in the third quarter.

“This is the kind of game we needed,” Newton head coach Ed Ergenbright said. “That’s a very good 0-4 team with a tremendous athlete for a quarterback.”

Beck had a 60-yard TD run with 5:13 left in the fourth quarter for Burlington.

Newton opens Class 4A District 4 play on Friday at Marshalltown.

Newton’s freshman team got a homecoming win also, beating Burlington 50-15.

PCM 74, Centerville 14

MONROE — The Mustangs overcame a slow start and cruised to another Class 2A District 6 win Friday in their home opener.

PCM has not lost a game inside District 6 play the past two seasons. The Mustangs rushed for 268 yards and threw for 282 against Centerville.

Centerville trailed 8-7 early in the first quarter before PCM rolled off 32 straight. The Mustangs (3-1 overall, 2-0 in district play) led 40-14 at halftime and outscored the Big Red 34-0 after halftime.

Junior Wes Cummings rushed for 161 yards and three touchdowns on 12 carries, and junior Reed Worth was 12-of-20 for 257 yards and four scores through the air. Worth also had a rushing TD in the win.

The Mustang defense got off to a slow start but finished strong, forcing five Centerville turnovers. PCM held the Big Red to 26 rushing yards. Centerville (1-3, 1-1) tallied 199 passing yards on 15 completions.

The home team got a lead in the first quarter when Worth hooked up with junior Preston Van Wyk for a 42-yard TD pass play. After Centerville pulled within one, Cummings scored on a 51-yard TD run on PCM's next drive to put the Mustangs up 14-7.

Cummings went back to work on the next drive, scoring on a 78-yard run.

A Worth 36-yard TD pass to junior Jarron Trausch put the Mustangs up 26-7 and then a 14-yard run by Worth extended the lead to 33-7. Senior Noah Anderson put PCM up 40-7 with a 1-yard TD run later in the second quarter.

Centerville, backed by three 15-yard penalties by PCM, scored on its final drive of the half to trim the deficit to 40-14 at halftime.

Van Wyk hauled in back-to-back TD passes from Worth to begin the third quarter. The first one covered 55 yards and a 35-yard TD catch capped his night. Van Wyk finished with 189 receiving yards and three touchdowns on five receptions.

The starting offense ended the night when Cummings scored from 1 yard out.

Freshman Sage Burns, the backup quarterback, threw a 25-yard TD pass and rushed for a 10-yard touchdown in the final quarter for the Mustangs. The touchdown pass went to senior Chase Sanders.

The Mustangs are 9-0 in their last nine games in district play.

Lynnville-Sully 74, Cardinal 0

ELDON — Lynnville-Sully’s Class A 10th-ranked Hawks overpowered the Cardinal Comets, 74-0, in Friday’s Class A District 6 contest at Eldon.

“We played a clean football game with no turnovers. We won it up front as our offensive and defensive lines dominated the line of scrimmage,” Lynnville-Sully head coach Mike Parkinson said. “We still have plenty to work on as we continue in district play.”

The Hawks rolled to a 68-0 halftime lead, triggering a running clock for the entire second half. They had more than 400 yards of offense while holding the Comets to 54 yards of offense.

Sage Zylstra and Gage Vander Leest scored three rushing TDs apiece. Zylstra had 124 yards on seven carries to lead the Hawk ground game. Evan Squires had two touchdowns.

Nate Stock scored a rushing TD. Elijah Collins and Kinnick McFarland each threw touchdown passes. Those were caught by Tyson Vander Linden and Kodie Waggoner.

Lynnville-Sully’s defense had three takeaways and two quarterback sacks. Stock was credited with six tackles while Vander Leest, Zylstra and Kemper Lukehart each had five tackles.

The Hawks (4-0) take a 2-0 district mark into Friday’s game at Winfield-Mount Union.

Baxter 72, East Union 50

AFTON — The Bolts won their third game as an 8-man program Friday, leading previously undefeated East Union the entire way.

Baxter led 42-20 at halftime and held a 66-34 lead after three quarters.

Senior Braydon Aker was 17-of-27 through the air for 371 yards and eight touchdown passes. Aker also rushed for two scores, playing a part in 10 of the Bolts' 11 touchdowns.

Aker's favorite target was once again senior Travis Lindemoen. Lindemoen hauled in 11 passes for 267 yards and six TDs. He also returned a kickoff for a score.

Aker connected with senior Devin Carson for a 60-yard touchdown pass to open the scoring. Aker's other TD pass was a 9-yarder to sophomore Cole Damman.

The Bolts' defense allowed touchdowns at the end of both halves but forced six turnovers in the win. Carson, Lindemoen, Damman and junior Brendyn Padget all had interceptions and Baxter (3-1) forced two fumbles, too.

The win by Baxter spoiled East Union's Homecoming. The home team had previously recorded two shutouts and came into the game outscoring its opponents 144-26 in starting the season 3-0.

Belle Plaine 37, Colfax-Mingo 13

BELLE PLAINE — The Tigerhawks fell to 1-4 overall and 0-2 in district play. Belle Plaine led 20-0 at halftime and improved to 3-1 on the season.

Reegan Van Dyke hooked up with Alex Lewis for the Tigerhawks' first touchdown pass in the second half. Van Dyke also scored as time expired to close the gap to 24.