Cardinals pick off Pella, spoil rival’s Homecoming in top-10 matchup

PELLA — Not every high school football game is going to go exactly as planned. The best teams figure out how to win under any circumstances.

The Newton football team took a big step forward in learning how to win a roller coaster of a game on Friday night.

The Cardinals lost an early lead but forced three first-half takeaways, went to the locker room with a halftime lead and held off a late charge from rival Pella during a 35-33 win in Class 4A District 4 action.

“We need to learn how to win these kind of games,” Newton head football coach Andy Swedenhjelm said. “It’s a skill. Something bad is going to happen in a game like this. The guys responded well to those moments, talked about what we needed to do, focused on the moment and were able to recover those two onside kicks. Those were big moments to finish it off, and I’m proud of the kids for getting it done.”

Newton led 7-0 early, went in front 28-14 in the third and 35-20 in the fourth but was forced to recover a pair of onside kicks late in the game to seal it.

The Cardinals had a 16-13 advantage in first downs, ran 12 more plays and had the ball for 9 more minutes than the Dutch, but Pella threw for 278 yards on its Homecoming.

The Dutch are 8-4 against Newton since 2010, but the Cardinals have won three of the past four in the series.

Newton has scored at least 35 points in all five of its wins this fall. The Cardinals also put up 35 points against a Pella squad which had allowed only 28 total points through its first five contests.

“It was very exciting. This environment was awesome, and we’ve been looking forward to this game for a long time,” Newton senior two-way starter Zach Felten said. “And it’s even better that we beat them on their Homecoming.”

Class 4A No. 7 Newton scored 21 points off three Pella turnovers in the first half.

The Cardinals (5-1, 2-0 in the district) went three and out on their first offensive possession, but took the ball away from the 4A No. 2 Dutch on their first drive.

Pella picked up a pair of first downs, including gaining 9 yards on third and nine. But three plays later, Ali Yahia came up with an interception after the ball bounced off the hands of Pella’s Logan VanDenBroek.

Yahia returned his fourth pick of the season to the 50-yard line, and the Cardinal offense marched the rest of the way in 10 plays.

Caden Klein opened the drive with a 9-yard run then connected with Gabe Otto for 12 yards three plays later. On fourth and 1, Isaiah Hansen gained 7 yards to move the chains. He scored two plays later on a 15-yard TD run.

Three of Pella’s four offensive touchdowns came on explosive plays of at least 44 yards. The first one tied the game at 7-all as Michael Manning connected with Emmanuel Diers on a 53-yard TD with 40 seconds to play in the quarter.

Newton punted after six plays and 17 yards on its next possession. The Dutch (5-1, 1-1) struck quick again. Griffin Simpson found VanDenBroek for a 36-yard completion on third and 10 then completed a second pass to VanDenBroek two plays later that went for a 44-yard TD.

“It was really about staying positive, keeping our heads up and looking forward to the next play,” Felten said about battling back from a first-half deficit. “I just tried to give it my all, and we were able to come out with the dub.”

The Cardinals went three and out on their next possession. But they took the ball away from the Dutch again five plays later as Dawson Maki snagged his fourth interception of the season.

The takeaway was a bit of redemption for Maki, who admittedly played the worst game of his career last season in a loss to the Dutch. He nearly had a pick 6 earlier in the game, too.

“I really should have caught that one, too,” Maki said. “It was wobbling and not a spiral, but I should have caught it. At least I got one later.

“I’ve been looking forward to this game all year. That game last year was probably the worst game of my life. To be able to come back and make some plays means the world to me. It feels freaking good to spoil their Homecoming.”

The turnover again led to seven points for Newton. The Cardinals marched 62 yards in nine plays. The biggest plays of the drive came from Klein and Qhjuan Coley, who had a pair of 9-yard runs on first down and then caught a 17-yard pass from Klein later.

Klein ran for 10 yards after Coley’s catch and then capped the possession with a 4-yard TD run with 30 seconds left in the half.

Pella’s final attempt to have a lead at halftime turned into a third turnover. After an incomplete pass on the first play from scrimmage, Asher Rhoads ran down a bad snap that went over the head of Simpson and into the end zone. Rhoads’ first career varsity touchdown gave Newton a 21-14 lead at intermission.

“That put us up going into the half, and we had so much more energy coming out of halftime,” Klein said. “It set the tone for the second half, and showed we came here to win and weren’t going to make mental mistakes this time like we did against North Polk. We were able to capitalize on their mistakes, which was huge for the outcome.”

The momentum allowed Newton to force Pella into a three and out on its first possession of the second half.

Starting at midfield, Newton drove 50 yards in eight plays to extend its lead to double digits.

An offsides penalty by Pella gave the Cardinals a first down on third and three. Two of the final three plays of the drive were an 18-yard pass from Klein to Isaiah Hansen and a 17-yard touchdown toss to Finn Martin.

Klein dropped the ball in a bucket and Martin toe tapped in the back of the end zone to stay in bounds, and the TD pushed the lead to 28-14.

Martin finished with only two catches in the game, but they went for 50 yards and that score. He was double covered most of the night.

“I think we learned from the North Polk game,” Swedenhjelm said. “They played us similar to the way North Polk played us, and we wanted to take what was there, be patient and for (Martin), he needed to keep doing his job and his time would eventually come. He was able to make big plays when we needed them.”

The Dutch came right back though on their next drive. They went 80 yards in seven plays. Diers started the drive with an 18-yard run and ended it with a 47-yard TD catch from Simpson. But a missed PAT made it 28-20 with 4:29 left in the third.

Newton gained only 5 yards and punted after three plays on its next possession, but Pella got behind the sticks after a pair of penalties.

The Dutch punted it back to Newton, and the Cardinals added on with an 11-play, 64-yard drive.

The biggest play of the possession was Klein’s 33-yard pass to Martin that got Newton into a goal-to-go situation.

The Cardinals scored four plays later as Klein reached paydirt on a 1-yard TD run on fourth and goal.

Klein’s improved health allowed him to play significant snaps on both sides of the ball for the first time this season.

He finished with 67 rushing yards on 19 carries, 102 passing yards on seven completions and three total touchdowns and totaled seven tackles on defense.

“Other than a little bit of cramping, it was fun to get back out there on defense,” Klein said. “The environment was crazy, and there’s no one else I’d rather be doing this with. We’re family and we have to stick together. When we do that, great things happen. We shared the ball a bunch, multiple guys made plays and that’s how we were able to come out on top.”

The Cardinals forced Pella to turn the ball over on downs on its next possession. A false start put the Dutch behind the sticks, and then Felten came through with a big sack on third down.

Newton had a chance to ice the victory but turned the ball over for the first time on its next drive. The Cardinals elected to pass on third down and long, and Rex Rhamy picked off a Klein pass that gave Pella the ball at its own 40-yard line.

The Dutch started the possession with 3:50 to play in the game. They went 60 yards in seven plays. Manning completed an 8-yard pass to Blake DeHeus on fourth and three to extend the drive.

Pella picked up first downs on its next two plays before capping the drive with 16-yard TD from Manning to Harrison Mullens.

Pella decided to go for two, but the pass attempt failed as the Dutch receiver could not come up with the ball in heavy traffic. That allowed Newton to maintain its two-possession lead.

The Dutch weren’t done though. After forcing Newton into a punt, Rhamy took a pitch from a teammate and scored on a 74-yard return. Forward progress might have been stopped before the pitch to Rhamy, but the officials let it go and the Dutch senior took it back the other way to get Pella within two with 1:51 to play.

The Cardinals recovered two onside kicks in the final few minutes to secure the win. Drew Bauer snagged the first one that came before Rhamy’s punt return, and Klein got his hands on the final attempt that was kicked right to him.

“Big on Drew Bauer to get the first one,” Swedenhjelm said. “That’s why we practice those things every single week.

“This was an awesome opportunity and it’s what high school sports are all about. A rivalry game, a Homecoming game and a packed house. A lot of kids don’t get to experience this, and we’re really blessed to be in this position.”

Newton has four straight wins since losing to No. 4 North Polk in the final seconds.

The Cardinals control their own destiny and will host their first playoff game since 2007 with two more wins or help from others in the district.

“We control our own destiny and we’re taking steps on the way to our goals,” Swedenhjelm said. “The North Polk game was a step, tonight was a step and next week will be another step. CCA and Grinnell will be fighting for their playoff lives to be honest. We’ll get the best efforts of both of those teams, and we have to be ready to go.”

Hansen finished with 60 yards and one TD on 18 carries and hauled in two passes for 21 yards. Coley contributed 39 rushing yards and 17 receiving yards and Otto’s lone catch went for 12 yards.

Colton Northcutt and Alameen Shanto both had five tackles on defense. Nick Milburn and Felten finished with four tackles each, Koltt Ahn totaled three tackles and Felten added one sack. He also averaged 36 yards per punt on his five attempts.

Jackson Price was 5-of-5 in PATs and booted four of his six kickoffs for touchbacks.

“I saw the work we put in for this one, and I knew as long as we executed we’d come out on top,” Coley said. “Our energy was awesome. It was a grind all week to get ready, but we kept our heads up, stayed as a family and that helped us get through it.”

Pella was limited to 70 rushing yards on 22 attempts. Manning threw for 148 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions and was 13-of-20 through the air. Simpson threw for 121 yards and two scores on three completions.

Diers rushed for 60 yards on 11 carries and had four catches for 100 yards and two scores.

Kyler Van Maanen led the Dutch defense with 13.5 tackles and four tackles for loss.

Nick Warner, who is the younger brother of Newton assistant coach Lucas Warner, totaled 10 tackles before leaving the game late in the fourth quarter with an injury.

Notes: Starting safety Josh Lampe missed his third straight game. He may return to action next week in Newton’s road game at Clear Creek-Amana. Backup quarterbacks Henry Allen and Kreytein Wickliffe also were in street clothes. … Newton and Pella combined to go 7-of-23 on third down. The Dutch out-gained the Cardinals 346-266. … Pella’s student section chanted “who’s your daddy,” with the game tied at 7-all in the first quarter. “It’s obvious who their Daddy is now,” Coley said. “We showed them early, and they didn’t have much to say for a while.” … Newton’s last playoff win came against CCA on Oct. 29, 2014. The Cardinals’ last home playoff victory was a 42-28 triumph over Marshalltown on Oct. 31, 2007. Newton rushed for 479 yards in the win. Kyle Wood gained 166 yards on 16 carries, Jason Roskilly went for 120 on 10 carries and Alex Richardson ran for 104 on 18 carries.