Cardinals end on Senior Night win; Area Prep Football Roundup

Regular-season Friday Night Lights closed for the five Jasper County high school football teams on Friday night. Newton, Class 2A top-ranked Prairie City-Monroe and Baxter claimed home wins on Senior Nights. Lynnville-Sully closed out an undefeated district run on the road. Colfax-Mingo lost at home on Senior Night.

PCM and Lynnville-Sully will prepare for Class 2A and Class A playoffs which begin next Friday. The other three area teams wrapped up the 2018 season on Friday.

Newton 55, Knoxville 12

It was the way seniors want to go out. If that can’t win a state championship, senior football players went to win their final game, especially at home.

Newton High’s Cardinals made sure their seniors claimed a win on Senior Night 2018. The Cardinals rolled to a 55-12 win over visiting Knoxville’s Panthers Friday at H.A. Lynn Stadium.

“It was great to get the win for our seniors. They’ve give a great deal to our program,” Newton head coach Ed Ergrenbright said. “Overall, we played well in the final game. It gives us something to build on during the offseason and for next year.”

Senior tight end Jacob Murphy caught his first touchdown pass of the season in his final game for Newton. Senior running back Josh Miller scored two rushing TDs as he led the Cardinal running attack with 181 yards on 10 carries.

“It’s surreal to think you just played your last game for Newton,” Murphy said. “We came together as a team and worked hard through some adversity this season and got the win in our final game.”

Senior defensive end Mason Lee had seven solo tackles and three assisted tackles. He led the Cardinal defense that gave up 149 yards rushing to the Panthers and 32 yards passing.

Senior defensive back McKenna Davis went up and made his first interception of the season. He returned the ball to the Knoxville 46-yard to set up the second touchdown of the third quarter for Newton.

Earlier in the third period, a fumble recovery by senior Ike Bebout put the Cardinals on the right path to score. Bebout is a starting offensive lineman who also played on the defensive line his final game for Newton.

It was a junior who got loose early — William Cheng turned the corner and dashed down the sideline for 48 yards and the first TD of the night for Newton. It came on the third offensive play of the game and sophomore Josh Meyer kicked the extra point.

After the teams traded punts, the Panthers set up shop at the Newton 42 at the midway point of the first quarter. Knoxville sophomore Kieren Nichols had two big runs then connected with sophomore Mike Hudson for a 17-yard TD pass. Newton blocked the extra kick and it was 7-6 with 4:37 on the clock.

That was as close as the Panthers got. Junior running back Dylan Farver, who had 104 yards on 10 carries, had back-to-back 18-yard carries to put the Cardinals in striking distance again. Cheng used the blocking and scampered 16 yards to the end zone and with Meyer’s kick it was 14-6.

Junior Julian Hotchkin intercepted a Panther pass with 1:30 left in the first quarter. On the first play of the second period, junior quarterback Kyle Long found Cheng for an 18-yard pass. Farver scored from 22 yards out and Newton’s lead grew to 21-6.

Knoxville was able to get one more score, It came on the Panther’s first play after the ensuing kickoff. Nichols eluded a couple of Newton defenders in the backfield, found a crease and went down the sideline. His dash covered 75 yards but the Panthers’ 2-point conversion run failed

The Panthers recovered an onsides kick but couldn’t move it. They were forced to punt.

Newton moved down the field but Long, who was 4-of-5 passing on the night, was intercepted by Knoxville senior Cristian Magana. Magna returned the ball more than 40 yards then fumbled it.

Newton junior Clay Meyer made the recovery at the Newton 48. That set up a seven-play march to the end zone by the Cardinals. Long found a wide open Murphy for a 30-yard TD pass and Meyer’s kick made it 28-12.

The Cardinals weren’t done in the first half. Miller led a TD drive which began at the Cardinals’ 12-yard line. He had a run where he tip-toed down the sideline. Cheng, who had 146 yards on 11 carries for the night, picked up a chunk then Farver went the final nine yards with 1:26 left.

Newton led 34-12 at halftime. Miller had a TD run of 36 yards on a fourth-and-three play at the 6:47 mark of the third quarter. Long scored from five yards out three minutes later.

Miller broke away from several Panthers, one of which tried to pull him down by the facemask, to go 52 yards for the final score of the night at the 11:07 mark of the fourth quarter.

Newton rushed for 507 yards on 50 carries to push it’s season total to more than 3,000 yards for the second year in a row. The Cardinals finished 5-4 and went 3-2 in Class 3A District 7 play.

The Cardinal freshman finished their 2018 season with a 43-0 victory over Knoxville.

Lynnville-Sully 49, Martensdale-St. Marys 7

MARTENS DALE — Lynnville-Sully’s Hawks had already knew they were the Class A District 8 champions. They knew they were headed to the Class A playoffs.

The Hawks did not take their final regular-season and district game lightly on Friday night. They kept moving forward to get ready for the playoffs with a 49-7 dominance of winless Martensdale-St. Marys.

“It was a challenge game for young people to stay focused, but our kids handled it well,” Lynnville-Sully head coach Mike Parkinson said. “It was a good game for us. We ran the ball and our rushing defense was outstanding.”

Lynnville-Sully had 389 yards on 37 carries on the ground. The Hawk defense held the Blue Devils to minus-23 yards on 20 carries on their home field. The Blue Devils did got 14-of-39 passing for 234 yards.

The Hawks led 37-0 by halftime. Senior Tyson Vander Linden had three TD runs — 5 yards, 76 yards and 26 yards — in the first half. Vander Linden finished with 152 yards on nine carries. Senior Evan Squires had a 14-yard TD run in the first quarter.

To end the first-half scoring for the Hawks, senior Rylan James blocked a Blue Devil punt, scooped up the ball and scored on a three-yard return. Senior Nate Stock had two 2-point conversion runs and junior Slater Young kicked an extra point.

The Blue Devils scored on a 20-yard pass play in the third quarter but Lynnville-Sully answered with a 30-yard TD run by junior Ethan Wyma to make it 43-7 after three periods.

Young had a 6-yard TD run with 10:38 left in the game. Wyma had 122 yards on 11 carries.

Lynnville-Sully won its final six games of the regular season to go 7-2. The Hawks went 5-0 in Class A District 8 play. They await their first-round opponent in next Friday’s Class A playoffs.

Baxter 76, Meskwaki Settlement School 30

BAXTER — Baxter’s football team ended its season with two straight wins, defeating Meskwaki Settlement School on Friday night, 76-30, in its season finale.

The Bolts got four touchdown runs and a TD catch from freshman Rory Heer, and senior Brendyn Padget tossed three TDs in the Class 8-Man District 5 win.

Will Clapper, Peyton Johnston, Dalton Heer and Mason Ziesman all had touchdowns on their Senior Night, and senior Koby Barber also scored points with a two-point conversion run. Clapper added a two-point run and a two-point catch to an 8-yard TD pass that he caught from Padget in the first quarter.

Rory Heer’s touchdown runs covered 14 yards, five yards, 12 yards and 36 yards. He got the scoring going with a 10-yard TD catch from Padget on a screen pass.

Paget’s TD pass to Clapper made it 22-0. Johnston’s 42-yard TD run put the Bolts up 36-14 early in the second quarter.

Baxter (3-6 overall, 3-4 in district play) scored two more times before halftime. Padget found junior Carter Nelsen for a 21-yard TD midway through the second and then Dalton Heer’s 11-yard run two minutes later put the Bolts up 52-14 at the break.

Meskwaki Settlement (0-9, 0-7) scored twice in each half. The Warriors got within 30 with the only points of the third quarter, but Heer’s back-to-back TD runs pushed the Bolts’ lead to 68-22.

Ziesman’s 15-yard touchdown run capped the scoring with 14 seconds to play in the game.

The 35-point continuous clock was triggered in the second quarter.

The Bolts rushed for 307 yards in the win. Rory Heer led the way with 89 yards on seven carries. Johnston had 73 yards on three carries and Padget and Dalton Heer ran for 53 and 54 yards, respectively.

Padget also threw for 108 yards. Nelsen led the receivers with 47 yards on five catches.

PCM 69, Centerville 18

MONROE — Two school records went down during Prairie City-Monroe’s football game against Centerville on Friday night.

The top-ranked Mustangs won the Class 2A District 8 game 69-18 to become the second team in school history to finish the regular season at 9-0.

Wes Cummings is now the all-time leading rusher in school history and Reed Worth has thrown more TD passes than anyone in school history.

Cummings rushed for 152 yards on 10 carries and now has 3,412 rushing yards for his career. He scored two touchdowns on the ground and had a 53-yard TD catch from Worth second quarter. That TD came after a 56-yard TD run.

Worth was 11-for-17 on the night for 269 yards and five TDs. He now has 21 TD passes and only one interception this season and 47 touchdown passes in his career.

PCM (9-0 overall, 5-0 in district play) led 21-0 after one quarter. Worth connected with Preston Van Wyk for a 16-yard TD and then hit Brayton Van Dyke for a 13-yard TD strike. Cummings’ 25-yard TD run made it 21-0.

Worth put the Mustangs up 28-0 with a 1-yard TD run. He then connected with Jarron Trausch for a 70-yard TD that countered Centerville’s first score of the game.

Centerville came right back with an 80-yard kickoff return for a TD, but Cummings scored twice to make it 50-12 at halftime.

The starters played one offensive series in the second half. Worth broke the career TD pass record on a 13-yard strike to Trausch.

The final two Mustang scores came on an Austin Simo 45-yard interception return for a TD and Sage Burns’ 53-yard TD pass to Colby Tool.

Trausch finished with 104 yards on four catches and two TDs. Van Wyk had 22 yards and TD on two catches, Van Dyke had 53 yards and a TD on two catches and Isaac Telfer gained 37 yards on two catches.

Defensively, Trausch had 4 1/2 tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack, Cole Dustin finished with 5 1/2 tackles, one tackle for loss and one sack and Telfer had 3 1/2 tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack.

Nick Buswell had four tackles and a pick and Trent Johnston finished with 3 1/2 tackles and three tackles for loss.

With the No. 1 RPI in 2A, the Mustangs are expected to host the first two rounds of the postseason. They’ll kick off the playoffs next week in Monroe.

Woodward-Granger 30, Colfax-Mingo 0

COLFAX — Woodward-Granger kept its slim playoff hopes alive and eliminated Colfax-Mingo from the postseason conversation with a 30-0 shutout road win on Friday night during Class 1A District 7 action.

Both teams end the regular season at 5-4. Colfax-Mingo finished 2-3 in district play, while Woodward-Granger went 3-2.

The Tigerhawks ended the season with three losses in their last four games.