Rams hand Cardinals first loss; Area Prep Football Roundup

On a weather-controlled night, area football teams went 4-1 on Friday in Week 7 games. Some teams bumped up start times trying to avoid the storms, but most of the area games were delayed by lightning and played in rain.

Newton fell from the unbeaten ranks on the road while Lynnville-Sully pulled out a road win to stay perfect. Prairie City-Monroe, Colfax-Mingo and Baxter recorded victories at home.

Southeast Polk 49, 4A No. 10 Newton 14

PLEASANT HILL — A big defensive stop allowed Newton High’s Cardinals to cut host Southeast Polk’s lead in half with 3:59 left in the second quarter. The Rams had a 14-0 lead with 1:15 on the first-quarter clock when Friday night’s Class 4A District 4 game was suspended because of lightning.

Heavy rain and lightning delayed the contest for an hour. The teams moved the kickoff to 6 p.m. and almost got a full quarter in before the delay.

Newton scored off the defensive stop to make it 14-7. SEP’s Rams, which probably switch places with Newton in the new Class 4A football poll Monday, took it from there to hand 4A No. 10 Newton its first loss of the season, 49-14.

The Cardinals moved the ball down the field after play resumed but the drive was halted inside the SEP 20-yard line. Senior placekicker Zach Combs’ 37-yard field goal attempt was wide of the mark.

The Rams took over the football at their own 20, but got no where. Junior defensive end Lazarus Frisch sacked SEP quarterback Shane Starcevich which was followed a short pass competition by the Rams.

On a third down play, the Newton defense stuffed the Rams’ sophomore running back Gavin Williams on a short gain forcing a punt. The snap sailed over Ram punter Peyten Atzen’s head. Newton’s Combs tackled Atzen at the SEP 1-yard line.

Senior running back Jaron Roush scored from 1-yard out and Combs kicked the extra point. It was 14-7 with 3:59 on the clock. SEP answered with a drive featuring runs by Starcevich and Williams. Williams capped it with a 10-yard TD run.

It was 21-7 when the football was knocked out of Newton senior quarterback Garrett Sturtz hand as he set up to pass the ball on a third-and-eight play. SEP’s Bo Ira recovered the fumble at Newton’s 11 yard line with less than a minute to play in the first half.

The Rams scored on a short pass from Starcevich to Dylan Travis and Luke Williams’ extra-point kick was true. Newton trailed SEP, 28-7 at halftime.

Southeast Polk scored two TDs in the third quarter to go up 42-7. Newton put together an 80-yard, 11-play drive capped by a 5-yard TD run by Sturtz with 5:06 left in the game. A Sturtz interception led to a final TD by the Rams with 43 seconds on the game clock.

“They were what I expected. Southeast Polk is big and physical up front and really and controlled things along the line of scrimmage,” Newton head coach Ed Ergrenbright said after the game. “The whole game was goofy — with the early start time and the long weather delay. That’s not an excuse, we never found a rhythm tonight.”

The Cardinals go to 6-1 overall and 2-1 in 4A, District 4 play. SEP moves to 4-3 overall and 2-1 in district action.

“We have two more games together as players and coaches. We have a very good team next Friday at home for Senior Night. We just go back to work and keep improving,” Ergenbright said.

The Cardinals host 4A No. 3 West Des Moines Valley (6-1, 3-0) next Friday at H.A. Lynn Stadium

No individual statistics Friday night due to wet statistic sheets. More on the game in Monday’s Newton Daily News.

Class A No. 6 Lynnville-Sully 20, New London 14

NEW LONDON — Lynnville-Sully trailed 14-13 in the fourth quarter after taking a 13-0 halftime lead.

A scoop-and-score fumble recovery by senior Sage Zylstra was the play of the game. Zylstra picked up the loose football after a bad snap went over the head of New London quarterback Isaac McSorely.

Zylstra dashed 50 yards for the go-ahead TD and senior Brevin Hansen kicked the extra point.

“In the second half, we couldn’t get much going offensively. That fumble return was huge for us,” Lynnville-Sully head coach Mike Parkinson said. “New London had scored twice in third quarter and had the ball at our 36 when it happened.”

Junior Gage Vander Leest put the Class A sixth-ranked Hawks on top with a 43-yard TD run in the first quarter. Vander Leest had 76 yards on six carries in the game to lead the Hawks, and had an interception on defense.

Following a hour lightning delay, the Hawks struck paydirt on the first play when the game resumed in the second quarter. Senior Drake Ehresman hauled in a pass from senior quarterback Elijah Collins for a 16-yard scoring play and Hansen kicked the extra point for a 13-0 lead.

In the third quarter, New London took the lead on two scoring drives in a three-minute span.

“I’m proud of our guys finding ways to make the plays when we need them,” Parkinson said. “We are in the driver’s seat as far as the district title. We’re off next week then finish up at Montezuma. We control our destiny.”

Collins was 9-of-22 passing for 91 yards.

Senior Jesse Van Wyk led the Hawk defense with six tackles and Zylstra had two quarterback sacks along with the fumble recovery. Senior Carson Dunsbergen and junior Tyson Vander Linden each had an interception.

Lynnville-Sully (7-0, 5-0) finishes Class A District 6 play at Montezuma on Oct. 20.

Class 2A No. 7 PCM 41, EBF 8

MONROE — The Prairie City-Monroe football team was nearly perfect in the first half of its Class 2A District home game.

The No. 7 Mustangs scored on every offensive possession and allowed only two first downs defensively in the first two quarters and cruised from there, improving to 5-0 in district play.

It was the 13th straight district win for PCM dating back to the end of the 2015 season. The Mustangs are 6-1 on the season.

Junior Wes Cummings had 149 rushing yards and one TD run on 16 carries. His quarterback, junior Reed Worth threw for 166 yards and three scores and added 31 rushing yards and another TD.

The Mustangs out-gained the Rockets (3-5 overall, 2-3 in district play) 348-141. Most of the EBF yardage was gained in the second half against PCM's backups.

The Rockets didn't get a first down until late in the second quarter against PCM's starters. One of those first downs came on a penalty, and the drive ended with a lost fumble. The Mustangs forced three first-half turnovers and led 41-0 at the break.

Worth started the scoring with a 32-yard touchdown run early in the first quarter. He hooked up junior Brayton Van Dyke on a 35-yard TD on the Mustangs' next possession. The third TD of the quarter was a 15-yard pass from Worth to junior Isaac Telfer.

The second-quarter scoring started when junior Cole Dustin scored his first-ever touchdown on a 10-yard run.

Worth's final TD pass was an 18-yard strike to junior Preston Van Wyk. Cummings made it 41-0 at halftime with a 6-yard TD run.

Van Wyk had 63 receiving yards on three catches and Telfer added 36 yards on three catches. Worth and freshman Sage Burns combined for 12 completions to eight different receivers.

Burns was 3-for-5 through the air in the second half.

Colfax-Mingo 47, GMG 0 

COLFAX — Senior Reegan Van Dyke was part of four touchdowns, junior Zarek Hill scored twice on defense and senior Alex Lewis hauled in two TD receptions as the Tigerhawks cruised against the winless Wolverines.

The game was called due to lightning with less than 2 minutes to go in the second quarter.

After forcing a punt on GMG's opening possession, the Tigerhawks marched 91 yards in six plays to get on the board. The scoring drive ended with Van Dyke hitting Lewis for a 41-yard TD.

Hill's first defensive TD of the game came 15 seconds later as he picked off a GMG pass and returned it 28 yards for the score. It was Hill's Class A-leading seventh interception of the season, which sets a new school record.

Van Dyke added to the Tigerhawks' lead with a 5-yard TD run later in the first quarter. The touchdown was set up by a Van Dyke blocked punt.

A little more than 2 minutes later, Van Dyke hit Lewis for another TD, this time from 50 yards out.

The Tigerhawks (4-4, 3-2) forced another punt 2 minutes later, but the snap was botched, and the ball recovered in the end zone by Hill.

Colfax-Mingo, which has won three straight, scored three times in the second quarter. Senior Chance Rice recorded a sack in the end zone for a safety, junior Holister Koenig scored on a 4-yard TD run and Van Dyke finished off the win with a 2-yard TD plunge.

Van Dyke finished with 209 passing yards and two scores and two rushing scores, Lewis caught five passes for 117 yards and two TDs and Koenig added 52 receiving yards and 36 rushing yards. The Tigerhawks finished with 286 total yards in not quite two quarters of play.

Eight-man No. 10 Baxter 50, WACO 20

BAXTER — The Bolts outscored their visitors 28-6 in the second quarter, and the game was called at halftime because of lightning.

Baxter is 6-1 on the season after senior Travis Lindemoen caught three more TD passes from senior Braydon Aker. Lindemoen is now three TD catches away from setting a new 8-man record.

Aker tossed four TDs and also ran for a score, and senior Devin Carson added two rushing TDs and a receiving touchdown.

Aker finished 8-of-9 through the air for 161 yards and four scores, and Lindemoen caught eight passes for 83 yards and three scores.

Carson rushed for 73 yards and two scores and had 51 yards receiving, while Aker rushed for 104 yards and a TD.

Baxter led 22-14 after one quarter.