Newton football ends long losing skid against Pella

PELLA — A dominant rushing attack led Newton’s football team to its first win over Pella in more than a decade.

The Cardinals rushed for 391 yards, averaged 8.1 yards per carry and held a 19-13 advantage in first downs during a 21-14 road win over the Dutch in the Class 4A District 4 opener for both teams.

The 4A No. 9 Cardinals kept Pella winless after rallying in the second half. Newton trailed 14-6 at halftime but outscored the Dutch 15-0 in the second half and snapped a six-game losing streak against their rivals. The win also spoiled Pella’s Homecoming.

It was the first Cardinal football win over Pella since they dominated the Dutch 41-14 on Aug. 26, 2011.

“It’s great to be able to get that Pella monkey off our back a little bit,” Newton head football coach Andy Swedenhjelm said. “It’s a big confidence booster for our guys to be able to beat teams we haven’t beaten in a while.”

Newton also is 5-0 for the first time since starting 6-0 back in 2017.

Cody Klein rushed for a career-high 240 yards on 30 carries and Brody Bauer added a career-best 109 rushing yards on 10 carries.

Klein scored both of Newton’s second-half touchdowns. The first came on an 80-yard run with 5:26 to play in the third. He finished off the victory with a 24-yard TD run with 8:11 to go in the game.

“With the weather the way it was, we struggled a bit to throw the ball downfield, so we went to our option game instead,” Swedenhjelm said. “Brody did a nice job reading his keys and pulling the ball when he needed to and we were able to take advantage.

“A lot of times when teams play a decent amount of man coverage it can be tough to account for the QB in the option game.”

The Cardinals did not convert any of their extra-point or two-point tries, but Nate Lampe booted a 21-yard field goal early in the fourth to put Newton in front for good.

Neither team scored in the first quarter. Pella scored first and last in the second frame. Turner Williams caught a 35-yard TD pass from Bauer in between to make it 14-6 at halftime.

The final Dutch points came in the final 16 seconds of the first half. The Cardinals’ conversation at halftime was more about them than their opponent.

“When we execute the way we need to, we are pretty good,” Swedenhjelm said. “I think our guys were a little amped up in the first half. We got them calmed down and were able to do our thing.

“The first half really came down to three things. We fumbled going into the end zone, jumped offsides on a punt block that kept one of their drives going and we gave up a third and 12 just before the half when we were calling timeouts to get the ball back, which led to their score right before halftime. Those were all fixable things so our kids were feeling pretty good about where were sitting.”

The Cardinals (5-0 overall, 1-0 in the district) out-gained Pella 455-234. Newton was 7-of-14 on third down and 2-of-3 on fourth down. The Dutch were 4-of-12 on third down. Both teams threw an interception and lost one fumble.

“Winning on third and fourth down is huge,” Swedenhjelm said. “We went on a drive to run out the final 6:40 of the game and picked up a few key third and fourth downs. We didn’t have a ton of penalties either so that usually helps.”

Bauer was 8-of-12 through the air for 75 yards and one touchdown. Williams caught two passes for 40 yards and a TD, Caleb Mattes had two catches for 20 yards and Christian Ergenbright rushed for 22 yards on two carries.

Clayton Wickcliffe made his season debut and gained 22 yards on his six carries.

Defensively, Brendon West led the Cardinals with 9.5 tackles in his season debut. Nathan Milburn added 7.5 tackles, Mattes registered five tackles, Lampe, Alex Thomason and Wyatt Weter all finished with 4.5 tackles and Carson Satterfield tallied 3.5 tackles. Lampe also snagged an interception.

Luke Hardman was 5-of-17 through the air for 49 yards and a pick and rushed for 77 yards on 20 carries for Pella. He also had an interception on defense.

“It was nice to have most of our guys back (on defense),” Swedenhjelm said. “They played with an edge, and it was great to see. We had a few execution issues right before the half that led to their touchdown, but once those adjustments were made they were lights out.”

The Dutch rushed for 185 yards, led by Kenson Fuller’s 104 yards on 17 carries. Tate Weesner led the Dutch defense with 13 tackles.

Pella is 0-5 for the season with all five losses coming against ranked opponents.