Cardinals run past rival Pella on Homecoming

The Cardinals controlled the first half of their football game against rival Pella on Friday night.

But the first drive of the second half sent a message to the Dutch and it set the tone for the third quarter as Newton jumped out to a big lead and held on for a 21-18 win on Homecoming.

“This is awesome. It’s fun beating Pella every time it happens,” Newton senior tailback Cody Klein said. “You know how I feel about Pella. They’re a solid program that wins a lot so it’s fun to knock them off.”

The Class 4A District 4 contest produced Newton’s first-ever win over Pella at H.A. Lynn Stadium. The last home victory against the Dutch came at Emerson Hough Field on Sept. 12, 1941.

“It feels great. It really does,” senior quarterback Caleb Mattes said. “I would have rather blown them out, but this was fun.”

Klein and Mattes were part of a Cardinal rushing attack that gained 367 yards and averaged 7.5 yards per carry.

Both Klein and Mattes ran for 177 yards. Klein scored one touchdown, averaged 8.9 yards per carry and hauled in three passes for 23 yards. Mattes ran for two scores, averaged 6.6 yards per carry and completed 4-of-13 through the air for 36 yards and an interception.

“You get tempted to do some fancy things and maybe out-scheme the other side, but at the end of the day you have to be really good at what you do,” Newton head football coach Andy Swedenhjelm said. “For us, we have two really good ball carriers in our backfield and we just need to keep feeding those two.

The Cardinals led 7-3 at halftime. Mattes scored on a 1-yard touchdown run with 5:42 to play in the first quarter.

The biggest reason Pella scored any points at all was because of a facemask penalty that came after the Cardinal defense forced a punt.

Luke Hardman, who also is Pella’s quarterback, booted a 44-yard field goal in the final seconds of the second to put the visitors on the board.

But Newton’s defense was huge again. Pella came into the game having scored 31 points against Cedar Rapids Xavier two weeks ago and put up 38 against Carlisle last week.

The Cardinals (3-3 overall, 1-1 in the district) held Pella to eight points under its season average and limited the Dutch to 275 total yards. Newton held a time of possession advantage of 28:30 to 19:30, too.

“It felt great. It was a long time coming,” Newton senior linebacker Nathan Milburn said about the win. “It feels amazing and we played awesome. We gave up a few big plays we shouldn’t have, but we can clean that up and we’ll be fine.”

Newton opened with the ball out of halftime, marched 86 yards in 15 plays and used up around 8 minutes on the clock.

A penalty to start the drive put the Cardinals behind the sticks, but Mattes picked up first downs on fourth and one, third and short and third and two to keep the drive alive.

Then, Mattes ran for 13 yards and 11 yards on back-to-back plays before scoring on a 2-yard TD run. That put the home team up 14-3.

Newton was 6-of-13 on third down and 2-of-3 on fourth down in the win.

“We talked at halftime, and all week, about controlling ourselves,” Swedenhjelm said. “We feel like when we do our stuff and execute, we are pretty tough. Our guys have been able to chunk together long drives when we need it at times this year. That’s the style we want to play, and it’s really exciting to be able to do that against a really good team.”

Both Klein and Mattes thought the opening drive of the second half was a game-changer and a big momentum grab for the Cardinals.

“That was a big one for us. To come out of the half and put one on the board right away was huge,” Klein said.

Pella (3-3, 1-1) got 24 yards and a first down on back-to-back runs but then was forced to punt four plays later.

The punt was downed at Newton’s 8-yard line, but Klein took the handoff on the first play of the Cardinals’ drive and sprinted 92 yards to paydirt down the home team’s sideline.

“Cody had a fantastic night. Caleb was fantastic,” Swedenhjelm said. “And I think they complement each other well with Cody’s big-play ability and Caleb’s ability to run in between the tackles.”

Pella didn’t go away quietly. The Dutch trimmed the margin to 21-11 early in the fourth after going 69 yards in eight plays.

Hardman hooked up with four different receivers on the possession before capping the drive with a 26-yard run and a 2-yard TD run. None of the six completions went for more than eight yards.

The Cardinals ran eight plays on their next drive but were forced to punt. Mattes ran for 27 yards on third and nine, but Newton got put behind the chains one player later and the drive stalled.

The Dutch responded right away with a big play. Hardman and Colin Kerndt matched up for a 62-yard pass play and Hardman connected with Bailey Shetterly on a 14-yard TD two plays later.

Shetterly grabbed the pass in the back of the end zone and got at least one foot down in the field of play.

The Cardinals gave the ball back to Pella after fumbling on their next possession.

The Dutch started their drive at the Newton 30-yard line, but a penalty and a bobbled snap put them behind the sticks.

Pella chose to go for it on fourth down instead of attempting a potential game-tying field goal. An incomplete pass though gave the rock back to Newton with around 2 minutes left in the game.

“The coaches had a great game plan and our kids just execute really well,” Swedenhjelm said about the defense. “We have a lot of fast kids and when we have fast kids all over the field, it’s tough to play against. I know everyone loves huge defensive tackles, but there’s something to be said about guys who can get off the ball really fast.

“It’s a lot of fun to be able to win a rivalry game. Winning is fun. Winning district games is fun, and I’m just excited about the road we have ahead of us.”

Curtis Payne gained 13 yards on four carries and Cade Bauer had a 13-yard catch.

Caden Klein led the defense with 6.5 tackles, while Milburn collected five tackles and Nate Lampe had 3.5 tackles and an interception. Trey Davidson and Jackson Nichols each had three tackles.

Lampe now has four picks this fall, which moves him into a three-way tie for second in 4A.

“Coleby Revell was in the backfield all night and Caden Klein was a monster,” Swedenhjelm said. “(Caden) does a lot of really nice things at the line of scrimmage. I’m excited about his future.”

Hardman threw for 227 yards, rushed for 65 more and accounted for two touchdowns. Kerndt finished with 112 yards on six catches.

Shetterly grabbed a TD catch in the fourth and snagged a pick in the first half.

Nathaniel Warner led the Dutch with 12.5 tackles. Warner is the younger brother of Newton assistant football coach Lucas Warner.

Pella still has to face 4A No. 4 Bondurant-Farrar (5-1) in district play, but Friday’s game at H.A. Lynn Stadium felt like a playoff contest. The top two teams in each 4A district get automatic berths into the playoffs.

“Going into this game, we felt like it could be a win-and-go-home situation,” Milburn said. “There’s a good chance the team that wins this game was going to the playoffs.”

Notes: Newton had a 17-11 advantage in first downs. … The Dutch dropped to 7-3 against Newton since 2010 despite being favored by nearly two points, according to bcmoorerankings.com. … Newton held the Dutch to fewer than 20 points for the second time this season. Pella fell to 1-2 on the road. The Dutch are averaging five more points per game at home. … Swendenhjelm said the team has had conversations about how the end of the season is the Cardinals’ playoff run. Newton can’t rely on being 5-4 and potentially getting an at-large berth. “Every week from here on out is a playoff game for us,” Mattes said. “We can’t lose another game if we want to guarantee a spot in the postseason.” … The Mattes family moved to 2-for-2 in being crowned Homecoming King. Caleb Mattes was named King on Thursday a few years after Adam Mattes earned the same title.