Big plays, fast start pushes Newton football past Knoxville

Newton’s football team scored five touchdowns during its 39-17 home win over Knoxville on Friday night.

Four of those TDs covered 30 yards or more.

Big plays from the Cardinal offense were common against the Panthers during the season opener at H.A. Lynn Stadium.

The Cardinals led 16-0 after one quarter and held a 32-7 lead at halftime. Newton took advantage of Knoxville’s defense playing seven in the box as quarterback Brody Bauer threw a pair of touchdowns in the first half.

“They played seven dudes in the box all night against us so we aired it out a little bit more in the first half,” Newton head coach Andy Swedenhjelm said.

Newton (1-0) opened the scoring with 6:47 to play in the first quarter as Bauer scored on a 1-yard TD run.

Cody Klein averaged 14.2 yards per carry in the game. His first touchdown covered 63 yards with 2:04 to play in the first.

Klein added a 34-yard TD run early in the fourth. He finished with 142 rushing yards on 10 carries and hauled in three catches for 16 yards.

“He does a really good job of seeing the creases and is a big play waiting to happen,” Swedenhjelm said about Klein. “He’s an explosive kid who works his tail off to be the best version of himself that he can be.”

The other two TDs came in the second quarter and both of them were Bauer passes.

He hooked up with Curtis Payne for a 57-yard touchdown with 11:03 to go in the second. With 1 second to go until halftime, Bauer connected with Nate Lampe for a 30-yard TD.

Payne finished with 83 yards and one TD on two catches and Lampe registered 56 yards on two grabs. Christian Ergenbright gained 66 yards on his six catches and Landon Bozarth had one catch for 11 yards in their varsity debuts.

Payne said the success he had came on a play that’s mostly designed for his position on the field.

“They called the play back-to-back sometimes because it was working,” Payne said. “The fast start was big for us. I have a big smile on my face after that game. I get to show everybody what I have this year.”

Bauer completed 13-of-19 through the air for 221 yards and two scores and added the short rushing TD in his first varsity start at quarterback.

The Cardinals’ defense held Knoxville (0-1) to 188 total yards and 2.9 yards per carry.

Caleb Mattes finished with six tackles and two tackles for loss, Nathan Milburn added 5.5 tackles and 2.5 tackles for loss and Blake Schilling tallied five tackles.

Hunter Teague, Jackson Nichols and Jake Ingle all had three tackles and Wyatt Weter collected 2.5 tackles, 1.5 sacks and 1.5 tackles for loss.

“We set the tone for the season. The team last year was 5-4 and a lot of those guys are gone,” Weter said. “We have to fill in a lot of spots and we have a lot of guys out so we wanted to set the tone for the season and bring new energy and a new vibe to Newton football. We want to build off what we did last year.”

Weter moved into the starting defensive end role after playing sparingly last season. He wrestled at 182 pounds last winter but got up to 210 to prepare for this year’s football season.

“I have been lifting a lot. I bulked up and am doing a lot of speed stuff,” Weter said. “I just wanted to be the best player I could be.

“I was undersized last year but now I feel like the sky’s the limit.”

Swedenhjelm said the team’s run blocking needs work, but he also stayed pretty basic in a lopsided game.

“Our kids played physical and played hard. There were a lot of young guys out there,” Swedenhjelm said. “I think we started two seniors on both offense and defense so a lot of guys are getting their first real taste of varsity time. They are going to just keep getting better.”