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Defense kickstarted Newton High’s Cardinals in Friday’s home opener against visiting Ottumwa at H.A. Lynn Stadium.
Scoring the Cardinals first defensive touchdown of the season was senior linebacker Canaan Terpstra as Newton trailed the Bulldogs 7-0.
Terpstra’s scoop and score play of 83 yards on a fumble return stopped another Bulldog drive and put a charge into the Cardinals.
“It was a big turning point for the team. We were down by a score and were stopped on our first drive,” Terpstra said after Newton’s 42-21 win over the Bulldogs. “The team got fired up and we went on from there.”
Josh Meyer, who was 6-of-6 on extra-point kicks, tied the game at 7-all following Terpstra’s first career touchdown. There was 6:13 remaining in the first quarter. The fumble ended the Bulldogs’ second drive of the game, coming at the Newton 11-yard line.
“I just saw it and I knew this was my chance to come back from last week when I didn’t recover a fumble for us,” Terpstra said. “Once I got it in my hands, I just took off.”
The teams had a touchdown apiece on the scoreboard going into the second quarter. Newton would score two TDs in the final five minutes of the first half to lead 21-7 at halftime.
“We looked awful on our first offensive series and I didn’t know why. All of our kids came to the sideline and told us they (Ottumwa’s defensive players) were barking go,” Newton head coach Ed Ergenbright said. “It was causing our kids to false start. The referee put a stop to it, and we were OK.”
Five different players scored touchdowns for Newton. The Cardinals had two players score their first-ever varsity TDs, they had their first defensive touchdown of the season and had four rushing scores and one through the air.
Newton produced 349 yards on the ground with seven players having one or more carries. Three different players caught passes from senior quarterback Kyle Long.
As the offense spread the load of running the football around, the Cardinal defense had 17 players with one or more solo tackles. The defense had five quarterback sacks, recovered two Ottumwa fumbles and had an interception.
Sophomore defensive back Keith Moko had eight solo tackles and four assisted tackles for the Newton defense. Senior linebackers Dalton Altemeier and Destin Schroder had five solo stops and two assists while Zane Kohlmeyer had four solos and four assisted tackles.
Senior Camden Winther and sophomore defensive back Zay Arguello had five solo tackles. Junior defensive linemen Owen Sanger and Lane Arrowood had four solos and one assist and one solo and four assisted tackles, respectively.
“Once we settled in — we’re this close to putting it all together — it’s a process and we’re going to keep working to improve,” Ergenbright said of the Cardinal offense. “I was proud of the energy our guys brought to the game tonight.”
A game-ending injury to Ottumwa’s 6-foot-3, 215-pound junior tight end Trae Swartz late in the first quarter changed the complexion of the game. Swartz had four big catches for 102 yards, including a 13-yard TD reception from quarterback Adam Denniston.
Following Terpstra’s touchdown, the Bulldogs were driving again. Swartz had a 44-yard reception but was injured on the tackle. He did not return to the field for the Bulldogs.
Newton’s defense held the Bulldogs from getting any closer than the Cardinal 17. Junior Owen Sanger had a quarterback sack and forced a fumble by Denniston with 32 seconds left in the first period. Senior Gage Linahon made the recovery for Newton.
The teams exchanged punts as the second quarter began.
The Cardinals had an eight-play drive using four minutes. Long capped the march with a 6-yard TD pass to senior receiver Julian Hotchkin. It was three plays and punt for the Bulldogs.
Newton had a short field — 26 yards — to go for its third TD of the night. Senior Dylan Farver had a 9-yard run to the end zone and Meyer kicked his third extra point.
“Our offensive line was cracking holes wide open for us as we exploited them playing soft on defense,” Farver said. “We’re a cohesive group as all the starters (running backs) are seniors and we’ve worked well together since Day 1 of flag football.”
The Cardinals used the opening drive of the second half to go up 28-7. They had to overcome a couple of bumps in the road but got into Ottumwa territory on a run by senior Cody Satterfield. Satterfield only had three carries on the night but led Newton with 103 yards.
Senior Jarrett Antle joined Terpstra in scoring for the first time. When an Ottumwa defender dived to try to tackle Antle, he leaped over the defender and finished off a 16-yard run to the end zone.
At the 4:26 mark of the third quarter, the Bulldogs responded with a 23-yard TD pass from Denniston, who was 10-of-18 for 172 yards passing, to Blaze Rominger. It was 28-14.
“We’ve got some young guys in our secondary and they’re getting better every week. Teams are going to test them. You’re out there by yourself,” Ergenbright said.
Hotchkin returned a Bulldog punt to the Ottumwa 18-yard line with 45 seconds remaining in the third quarter. Farver scored his second TD of the game from 13 yards out on the first play of the fourth quarter.
“Once we get the penalties under control, which is a huge thing, we’ll be alright,” Farver said after Newton was called for 15 penalties for 101 yards on Friday night. “Our line is blocking good, the defense is playing rock solid. It’s us and penalties holding us back on offense.”
Ottumwa had one more drive to the end zone. It took five plays to go 78 yards with the final 33 covered on a run by Gage Cole.
The final TD scored in the game came with 4:46 remaining to play. Senior William Cheng finished off the 55-yard drive on a 23-yard run. Meyer kicked his sixth extra point of the contest and is 9-fo-9 for the season.
“Overall, I thought the kids played really hard and with a lot of passion,” Ergenbright said. “We keep doing that we’ll be OK.”
Newton (2-1) concludes its non-district games with a homecoming contest Friday against Waterloo East at H.A. Lynn Stadium.
Ottumwa 7-0-7-7—21
Newton 7-14-7-14-42
Ottumwa — Swartz 13 yd pass from Denniston (Carapia kick)
Newton — Terpstra 83 yd fumble return (Meyer kick)
Newton — Hotchkin 6 yd pass from Long (Meyer kick)
Newton — Farver 8 yd run (Meyer kick)
Newton — Antle 16 yd run (Meyer kick)
Ottumwa — Rominger 23 yd pass from Denniston (Carapia kick)
Newton — Farver 13 yd run (Meyer kick)
Ottumwa — Cole 33 yd run (Carapia kick)
Newton — Cheng 23 yd run (Meyer kick)
Newton Ottumwa
15 First Downs 18
38-349 Rushes-Yds 44-181
64 Passing Yds 172
413 Total Offense 353
7-13-0 Passing 10-18-1
1-0 Fumbles/lost 3-2
15-101 Penalties/yds 6-42
4-36 Punts/Avg. 4-25
Individual Leaders
Rushing: Newton-Satterfield 3-103, Cheng 10-97, Farver 6-47, Long 12-44, Antle 3-30, Adams 3-24, Hotchkin 1-4. Ottumwa-Glosser 21-100, Cole 11-81, McKinnon 4-15, Denniston 8-(-15).
Passing: Newton-Long 7-13-64-0. Ottumwa-Denniston 10-18-172-1.
Receiving: Newton-Hotchkin 4-32, Satterfield 1-11, Cheng 2-21. Ottumwa-Swartz 4-102, Rominger 5-56, Glosser 1-14.
Punting: Newton-Cupples 4-144 (36 yd. avg.). Ottumwa-Jaime 4-100 (25 yd. avg.)
Newton Defense
Tackles (solos/assisted): Moko 8/4, Altemeier 5/2, Schroder 5/2, Winther 5/1, Arguelo 5/0, Kohlmeyer 4/4, Sanger 4/1,Lane Arrowood 1/4, Terpstra 2/1, Allen 1/0, Abrams 1/1, Adams 1/1, Conner 1/0, Suttek 1/0, Maki 1/0, Antle 1/0, Chance 1/0, Becker 0/1,
Quarterback sacks (solo/assisted): Moko 1/0, Kohlmeyer1/0, Sanger 1/0, Terpstra 1/0, Conner 1/0.
Fumbles (forced/recovered): Terpstra 0/1, Sanger 1/0, Linahon 0/1.
Interceptions: Allen 1.
Contact Jocelyn Sheets at
641-792-3121 ext. 6535
or jsheets@newtondailynews.com