Comets clip Cards with late touchdown

ALLEMAN — Isaiah Hansen rushed for 166 yards and two touchdowns, but the Newton football team fell 16-13 to North Polk on Friday night.

Hansen’s 7-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter gave the Cardinals their second lead of the night, but the Comets scored the game-winning touchdown with 34 seconds left in the game.

“Nothing has changed from where we were at before the game,” Newton head football coach Andy Swedenhjelm said. “Trying to schedule a game against the defending champs isn’t easy. We showed out well, and we’re excited to continue to get better.”

Both teams scored 13 points in the second half, but 33-yard field goal by North Polk’s Liam Triplett in the second quarter was ultimately the difference in a game that featured two ranked teams.

Hansen’s 1-yard TD run in the third put Newton on top for 4 minutes until James Armstrong’s 1-yard TD dive pushed the defending Class 4A champions back in front.

Bryce Burke scored the Comets’ game-winning touchdown on a 5-yard run.

“The result was disappointing, but the reality is we had the defending champions on the ropes in the final seconds,” Swedenhjelm said. “I would always rather play a great team like North Polk that helps you know how to improve instead of trying to schedule teams that don’t teach you anything.”

The Cardinals (1-1) had a 15-13 advantage in first downs, rushed for 247 yards and out-gained the Comets but turned the ball over twice and committed 10 penalties.

Newton’s defense held North Polk (2-0) to 270 total yards, but the Cardinals passing offense accounted for only 80 yards on 25 attempts after a 399-yard effort last week.

“North Polk was content with staying back and not allowing for the big play,” Swedenhjelm said. “That forces you to have to string together more plays to drive down the field. We were able to make some adjustments to that in the second half.”

Hansen gained his 166 yards on 23 carries. Qhjuan Coley added 73 yards on nine carries and Finn Martin grabbed five passes for 57 yards.

Caden Klein was 8-of-25 through the air for 80 yards and two interceptions. Gabe Otto grabbed two catches for 16 yards.

“The run game was going well,” Swedenhjelm said. “We feel like our run game is a strength of our team. Our offensive line doesn’t have a ton of game experience overall so they will continue to get better as we go forward.

“There are a few situations you wish had gone differently play calling wise. I think we just got into a bad habit of trying to force things early. Additionally, when you have that many penalties you obviously need to teach things better.”

Nick Milburn led the Newton defense with 15 tackles. Josh Lampe added eight tackles, two sacks and two tackles for loss in his second career varsity start.

Malachi Mosley contributed 5.5 tackles, Colton Northcutt and Dawson Maki both totaled 4.5 tackles and Ali Yahia had three tackles and two interceptions. Alameen Shanto tallied four tackles.

It was the first two interceptions of Yahia’s varsity career.

“The defense was great,” Swedenhjelm said. “They made some nice adjustments and guys grew a bit from Week 1 to Week 2. Our defense has a little less experience than past teams so sometimes it takes more game reps to get the feel of it. Our coaches did a nice job having them prepared.”

Jackson Price booted one of his three kickoffs for touchbacks but missed his only field goal attempt from around 45 yards.

Armstrong had 176 passing yards, one TD and two interceptions for the Comets. Carson Reinhart gained 80 yards on 19 carries, Carter Harris caught four passes for 78 yards and Bryce Burke grabbed four passes for 59 yards and returned a kickoff 42 yards.

Charlie Spurgeon led the North Polk defense with 7.5 tackles and Brady Cathcart snagged both of the Comets’ interceptions.