Rodewald carries Cards at home

Newton senior Gavin Rodewald (center) ran for 283 yards and caught the game-winning 79-yard touchdown pass Friday against Sioux City West. Photo by Chris Bollhoefer

E-mail this story

Print this story

Share

Newton senior Gavin Rodewald tallied 362 total yards and scored the game-winning touchdown late in the fourth quarter, senior Mike Flanagan scored on a 34-yard fake punt and the Newton football team rallied past Sioux City West at home, 45-35. Rodewald rushed for 283 yards on 22 carries and his 79-yard touchdown reception off a screen pass from Dustin Brisel with 2:07 to play in the game gave the Cardinals a lead they wouldn’t lose. “He runs so hard and it usually takes a man to stop him,” Newton senior Steve Kalkhoff said. “He’s been a huge contribution to this team this year. It was an amazing performance.” Newton head coach Ed Ergenbright felt good after the game, especially since the Cardinals had struggled in their two previous home games. “They needed a positive outcome,” Ergenbright said. “We’ve been in a lot of close ones. It looked like we wouldn’t get this one for a minute, but the guys found a way to get the job done.” The game featured big plays from both sides. The first one came from Newton as Mike Flanagan scored on a 34-yard run following a fake punt. The ball was snapped directly to Brisel and then handed off to Flanagan, who came left on an end around and did the rest with his legs. Flanagan scored the final touchdown of the game late and had 71 yards on 18 carries. After forcing the Wolverines into a punt, the Cardinals extended their lead to 17-7 following a drive that ended with a 57-yard touchdown run by Rodewald. Rodewald added another long touchdown run later as his 65-yard scamper right before halftime sent Newton into the locker room with a 24-14 lead. “Neither defense really stopped the other team,” Ergenbright said. “It is hard to believe (Sioux City West) hasn’t won a game.” The Newton defense began the second half on fire, stopping the Wolverines (0-7) on their first two possessions. The second possession ended with a Ryan VanManen tackle for loss and a sack by Caleb Watson. VanManen led the team with 12 tackles and a sack, while Watson had eight tackles and a sack. Ergenbright said the goal was to get to Sioux City quarterback Dex Gordon and make him uncomfortable when he dropped back to throw. Gordon, who stands 6-feet-3 and weighs 230 pounds, finished with 207 yards passing, but he had three picks and was sacked four times. “Our goal was to try to get to (Gordon), but then you have to worry about the draw,” Ergenbright said. “When we knew they were going to throw, we could blitz. The kids fought hard.” After the defense held Sioux City West for the second straight time, Rodewald went back to work. The senior fullback got loose again, this time scoring from 71 yards out on the first play from scrimmage. That touchdown put the Cardinals up 31-14 with 4:14 left in the third quarter. But Sioux City West wasn’t done, taking advantage of Newton’s only turnover of the game. Following a lost fumbled snap by the Cardinals, the Wolverines drove 53 yards and trimmed the deficit to 10. The drive featured six runs by Gordon as he finished off the possession with a 1-yard plunge just one play into the fourth quarter. Gordon finished with 79 yards on 25 carries. Sioux City West then caught Newton off guard on the next play as the Wolverines recovered an onside kick. No harm was done, however, as Roger Braun tipped and intercepted a Gordon pass in the end zone. Newton drove down the field at will again but was stopped on fourth and one from inside the red zone, coming away with no points. On the very next play, Ethan Turner got loose on the outside and cut into the lead midway through the fourth quarter. The 64-yard touchdown run made it 31-28 and then a 77-yard touchdown reception by Turner from Gordon on the next possession gave the Wolverines a surprising lead late in the game. The play was a designed “hook and ladder” as Turner caught the pitch from a teammate and sprinted down the visiting sideline. Ergenbright was not happy with the lack of consistency on both sides of the ball. “We would either struggle on offense and play great defense or move the ball on offense and play bad defense,” he said. “I was never comfortable with any lead.” After the Sioux City West touchdown, the fans in the stands were stunned. And then more silence came following two unsuccessful deep passes to Braun and Tyler Warner and a false start penalty. But, on third down and long, Rodewald made a nice catch on Brisel’s screen pass, broke a couple tackles and did the rest with his feet, rumbling for a 79-yard touchdown to bring life back to H.A. Lynn Stadium in a hurry. “I was just trying to get a first down,” Rodewald said. “I tried to use my speed to my advantage, and the downfield blocking was great. “We had to dig deep. Everyone in the huddle said they would do their jobs, and we were able to get it done.” The touchdown came with 2:07 left in the game, and Sioux City West ended any hopes of a rally when Gordon threw a pick to sophomore Ira Mitchell on the first play of the Wolverines’ final possession. On the play, Kalkhoff blitzed and got in the face of Gordon, forcing a bad throw. “He played a great game,” Kalkhoff said of Gordon. “But he panicked on that play. No one is comfortable though when someone's in your face.” The Cardinals took advantage of the turnover and converted it into seven points. The four-play drive ended with Flanagan scoring from six yards out. Sioux City’s final possession ended after Newton’s defense sacked Gordon on back-to-back plays. “The defensive line played another great game,” Kalkhoff said. “They are the reason I get to talk to you. It was pretty sweet to get a win. It feels better because it came in a last-minute situation.” Notes: The Cardinals will end the season on the road at Mason City Friday and at Ames on Friday, Oct. 24. “We’re capable of going 2-0, but we also could go 0-2. We’ll give the effort. That hasn’t changed all year. When we eliminate turnovers, we know what we are capable of.” ... The Cardinals ran the ball 48 times and gained 443 yards. They outgained Sioux City West, 548-444. ... Ethan Turner finished with 106 rushing yards and 173 receiving yards for the Wolverines. ... Eric Lepley intercepted a Gordon pass in the first half. He finished with seven tackles. Braun and Watson both had eight tackles, while Gage Richtsmeier and Kalkhoff each had six. ... Rodewald has now rushed for 846 yards on the season. He has six touchdowns and a 6.7 yards per carry average. ... Aaron Wilson put the Cards up 3-0 early with a 21-yard field goal. The kick was set up by Josh Illingworth’s 60-yard run.

at Newton Newton 45, Sioux City West 35

Score by quarters SC West 0 14 0 21 — 35 Newton 3 21 7 14 — 45

Scoring summary First quarter NHS: Aaron Wilson 21 kick, 2:38 Second quarter SCW: Dex Gordon 1 run (Gonzalez kick), 10:50 NHS: Mike Flanagan 34 run (Wilson kick), 6:56 NHS: Gavin Rodewald 57 run (Wilson kick), 3:08 SCW: Brandon Franco 7 pass from Gordon (Gonzalez kick), 1:09 NHS: Rodewald 65 run (Wilson kick), 0:08 Third quarter NHS: Rodewald 71 run (Wilson kick), 4:25 Fourth quarter SCW: Gordon 1 run (Gonzalez kick), 11:55 SCW: Ethan Turner 64 run (Gonzalez kick), 6:26 SCW: Turner 77 pass from Gordon (Gonzalez kick), 2:44 NHS: Rodewald 79 pass from Dustin Brisel (Wilson kick), 2:07 NHS: Flanagan 6 run (Wilson kick), 1:08

Team statistics SCW NHS First Downs 18 14 Rushes-yards 32-183 48-443 Passing yards 261 105 Passes-Att-Comp-Int 28-14-3 8-3-0 Total offense 444 548 Punt returns-yards 1-1 3-35 Kickoff returns-yards 7-128 3-91 Interception yards 0-0 3-68 Punts-Avg. 4-37.3 3-40.3 Fumbles-lost 2-0 1-1 Penalties-yards 1-5 6-40 Time of possession 21:56 26:04 Sacks-yards lost 0-0 4-32

Individual statistics Rushing: Sioux City West — Turner 6-106, Gordon 25-79, Nate Bauer 1-minus 2. Newton — Rodewald 22-283, Josh Illingworth 7-89, Flanagan 18-71, Brisel 1-0. Passing: Sioux City West — Gordon 14-27-3-261, Turner 0-1-0-0. Newton — Brisel 3-8-0-105. Receiving: Sioux City West — Turner 5-173, DeVante Clark 4-10, Warren Joiner 2-62, Franco 2-4, Bauer 1-12. Newton — Rodewald 1-79, Flanagan 1-15, Tyler Warner 1-11.