Cards get in gear, get the win

COUNCIL BLUFFS — It was third and goal from the Lynx 10-yard line. Newton was down 6-0 and not much had been going right offensively for the Cardinals. And with a passing down in order, many may have thought more trouble was coming. A few seconds later, many were wrong, however, as senior split end Roger Braun took advantage of one-on-one coverage on the outside, beat his defender on a slant route and strolled into the end zone to put Newton on the board. The Cardinals led 7-6 after the extra point and never trailed again as Newton traveled 160 miles west to Council Bluffs and began the 2008 season with a victory, knocking off Abraham Lincoln, 27-13, at Council Bluffs Stadium. “I knew I could get him,” Braun said of the single coverage. “That is a tough route to cover, and he didn’t know where I was going. My eyes lit up when I saw he was the only one guarding me.” Four different players scored on the night for Newton as the Cardinals’ new-look team — featuring 22 new starters — passed an early road test. Braun’s touchdown reception came with five minutes to play in the second quarter and was on the heels of a poor first quarter for Newton’s offense. Senior tailback Mike Flanagan added a touchdown run a few minutes later in the second quarter, while senior Josh Illingworth’s 62-yard sprint to paydirt on the second play from scrimmage in the third quarter gave Newton a comfortable lead. Following a quick answer by the Lynx, which cut the lead to seven, Newton put the game away in the closing minutes as a fumble near the goal line was recovered by quarterback Dustin Brisel in the end zone. “We didn’t need to panic when we got down in the first quarter because we all have good offensive plays,” Newton coach Ed Ergenbright said. “We made some adjustments, and things started to work for us. This first win was big for our team. We fought hard and kept our poise. I was really pleased with our first effort.” Abraham Lincoln’s offensive and defensive lines were much bigger than Newton’s and the size showed up early as the Lynx took the early advantage following a couple of three and outs by Newton. Dustin Davis controlled the first quarter on the ground and his touchdown run from 3 yards out made it 6-0 with 8:54 to play until halftime. But as the game went on, Abraham Lincoln’s bigger lines wore down, allowing Newton’s inexperienced team to gain confidence with each play. “After we got the butterflies out, things started to click for us,” senior center Matt Shea said. “We started to do things right.” Newton’s first touchdown drive — the Brisel to Braun completion — lasted 11 plays. The drive was highlighted by a 26-yard run by Flanagan and another first-down run off the option by Brisel. Braun made the TD grab on third and goal from the 10. “Dustin made a great pass on the play and Roger made a nice catch,” Ergenbright said. “They both exectued things well.” Flanagan’s touchdown run with 1:38 to play before the half gave Newton the momentum heading into the locker room, and Illingworth’s breakaway score 44 seconds into the third quarter gave the Cardinals’ even more confidence. “We were in great shape at halftime, and I thought we had them after our early score in the third quarter,” Ergenbright said. “But to Council Bluffs’ credit, they came right back and stayed in it. That was a solid effort by them.” After the Lynx made it 20-13, Newton put together another long drive, but this time came away with no points. Another pass completion from Brisel to Braun and a 23-yard run by Illingworth highlighted the drive, but the Cardinals stalled after a few short runs and two incomplete passes. That meant the Cardinal defense had to get a stop. And after three first downs, they came through. A healthy dose of Davis, who finished with 156 yards on 31 carries, nearly tied the game. Davis grabbed a first down on an option to start the possession and then grabbed another first on fourth and two a few plays later. However, the Cardinals regained possession after a Lynx receiver couldn’t make the diving catch near the sidelines on fourth and seven. Following the turnover on downs, Newton had a chance to put the game away as it took possession with 7:24 to play. The initial first down came on a Gavin Rodewald six-yard run and was aided by a Lynx offsides penalty. Flanagan then took over on the possession as his 18-yard burst was later followed by a pair of seven-yard gainers. He would have scored his second touchdown of the game late but lost the football just near the goal line. Luckily, an alert Brisel pounced on the ball and the result was six points. “The win is a huge momentum boost for our team,” Shea said. “Everyone thought we’d struggle this year because we lost so much, but we got it done. It’s awesome.” Flanagan led the offense with 113 yards on 17 carries. Illingworth added 99 yards on just eight carries and Rodewald gained 71 yards on 16 carries. Brisel finished 3-for-7 through the air for 33 yards and a touchdown. All three completions were to Braun. The defense was led by Eric Lepley’s 11 total tackles. Braun, Caleb Watson, Ben Schober and Steve Kalkhoff all had nine tackles, while Tyler Latcham finished with eight. Ryan VanManen had the game’s lone sack. Notes: Newton will travel to Ottumwa on Friday. The Bulldogs lost their season opener to Southeast Polk, 39-10. ... The Cardinals received the ball to begin both halves because a Lynx player accidentally asked to defend a certain goal rather than defer to the second half. ... Senior cornerback Gage Richtsmeier gave the Cardinals outstanding field position all night. He was the primary return man on both kickoffs and punts and routinely used his speed to put Newton past its own 40-yard line. “We want to cut the field in half,” Ergenbright said. “The returns were huge. I also was pleased with Aaron Wilson on kickoffs.” At Council Bluffs Scoring by quarter Newton 0 14 6 7 — 27 CB Lincoln 0 6 7 0 — 13

Scoring plays First quarter None Second quarter CBL - 8:54 - Dustin Davis 3-yard run (kick blocked), 0-6 Newton - 5:00 - Roger Braun 10-yard pass from Dustin Brisel (Aaron Wilson kick), 7-6 Newton - 1:38 - Mike Flanagan 29-yard run (Wilson kick), 14-6 Third quarter Newton - 11:10 - Josh Illingworth 62-yard run (kick failed), 20-6 CBL - 4:56 - Davis 2-yard run (Johnson kick), 20-13 Fourth quarter Newton - 1:23 - Brisel fumble recovery in end zone (Wilson kick), 27-13

Team Statistics Newton CBL First Downs 14 18 Rushes-yards 43-293 43-180 Passing yards 33 88 Passes (A-C-Int) 7-3-0 16-7-0 Total off. (plays-yds) 50-326 59-268 Fumble returns-yds 0-0 0-0 Punt returns-yds 3-30 0-0 Kickoff returns-yards 4-77 3-45 INT returns-yards 0-0 0-0 Punts (number-avg) 2-33 3-32 Fumbles-lost 2-0 1-0 Penalties-yards 5-30 4-25 Time of possession 19:52 28:08 Sacks by (number-yds) 1-5 0-0

Individual statistics Rushing Newton - Mike Flanagan 17-113, Josh Illingworth 8-99, Gavin Rodewald 16-71, Dustin Brisel 2-10. CBL - Dustin Davis 31-156, Tyler Johnson 9-14, Austin Hively, 2-9, Nick Milner 1-2. Passing Newton - Dustin Brisel 3-7-0-33. CBL - Tyler Johnson 7-16-88. Receiving Newton - Roger Braun 3-33. CBL - Jamison Lalk 2-34, Colby Beck 2-19, Nick Milner 1-16, Devin Thomas 1-12, Austin Graham 1-7. Interceptions - none Sacks Newton - Ryan VanManen CBL - none Tackles (unassisted-assisted) Newton Eric Lepley 4-7, Caleb Watson 4-5, Steve Kalkhoff 4-5, Ben Schober 2-7, Roger Braun 2-7, Tyler Latcham 4-4, Ira Mitchell 3-3, Gage Richtsmeier 1-4, Devon Abel 1-2, Dillon Wright 0-3, Ryan VanManen 1-1, Alan Salsberry 1-0, Lucas Tratchel 0-1, Tyler Warner 0-1.