March 29, 2024

Cardinals turn away Tigers to win 3A district opener

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GRINNELL — Twice Grinnell’s Tigers threatened to score in the second quarter Friday night. Twice Newton High’s Cardinal defense turned the Tigers away. Those two defensive stands would loom big in a game that got close down the stretch.

The Cardinals led 14-0 after one quarter in the Class 3A District 6 opener on the Tigers’ turf. It was 14-0 at halftime, then the Cardinals cashed in a Tiger fumble midway through the third quarter to stretch their lead to 21-0,

Grinnell’s Tigers clawed their way back into the contest with two fourth-quarter scoring drives through the air. The second one came on a fourth-and-goal situation at the 5:08 mark of the final period.

Protecting a 21-14 lead, the Cardinals stayed on the ground with Joseph Banfield and Tyler Wood carrying the football. They chewed up more than three minutes, moving the football to the Grinnell 37-yard line.

On a last-ditch effort — a fourth-and-10 at their own 48-yard line — the Tigers’ Kade McKnight launched a long pass. The football, the Tiger receiver and Newton cornerback Bryce Tish seemed to vanish in the haze down the sideline. Tish knocked the ball away, ending the Tiger threat and sealing the 21-14 win for the Cardinals with 38 seconds on the game clock.

“We came over here and got a district win against one of the best 3A football programs in the state. I told the boys in the locker room that I was proud of them and take it one game at a time,” said Ed Ergenbright, Newton head coach.

“At the end when we needed to run right at them, we were able to do that. I got stuck in a run on play calling and went back to some plays too many times. Having that touchdown called back made things interesting at the end.”

After the Tigers marched 74 yards on a 12-play drive to score their first touchdown at the 10:47 mark of the fourth quarter, Newton thought it responded with a quick strike scoring play. Wood’s pass was tipped by a Grinnell defender, but Nick Easley pulled the ball in and raced to the end zone. The play covered 61 yards.

A pass interference on the Cardinals negated the score. Easley punted and the ball rolled to the Grinnell seven where Kenny Clark picked up the football, fumbled it and a Grinnell teammate recovered the football.

McKnight guided the Tigers on a 11-play, 90-yard scoring drive. McKnight went 5-of-9 on the driving including connecting with Julio Sanchez on a crossing pass play in the middle of the field on fourth-and-goal. Sanchez scored and Joe Rivera’s kick made it 21-14 with 5:08 left.

Then the ball was in the hands of Wood, Newton’s senior quarterback. Wood engineered three scoring drives in the game. He put together a time-consuming march for the Cardinals at the end to help curtail Grinnell’s momentum.

“When the chips are down, you want the ball in Tyler’s hands. He and Joseph ran the ball right at Grinnell when we needed it. Our offensive line stepped up and won the battles on the line of scrimmage,” Ergenbright said.

Wood rushed for 86 yards on 18 carries and Banfield had 62 yards on 14 carries in the game. Wood went 5-of-10 passing for 67 yards. Easley made four catches for 38 yards.

The Cardinals took the opening kickoff and drove 58 yards on seven plays for a touchdown. Wood connected with Banfield, who slipped out of the grasp of a Grinnell defender and scored on a 29-yard pass play. Easley kicked the extra point to put Newton up 7-0 at the 9:13 mark.

Newton’s defense forced the Tigers to punt after seven plays.

Wood capped a 10-play drive that went 60 yards with a five-yard touchdown run with 1:19 left in the first quarter. Unfortunately, the Cardinals lost the services of senior running back Deonne Harris two plays before the touchdown play.

“Deonne hurt his shoulder. It will be a day-to-day situation, and we won’t know until midweek if he will be able to play in the homecoming game (Friday),” Ergenbright said after the game. “We do get back  (senior running back) J.T. Thongvanh (who was suspended for three games) this week.”

Grinnell made a bid to score early in the second period. Newton’s Duncan Lee forced a fumble and Easley recovered the football at the Newton 9-yard line with 11:09 on the clock. An 11-yard run by sophomore Reese Rosenquist helped the Cardinals move the football out of the shadow of their own goal posts.

The Cardinals punted. Grinnell pushed into Newton territory again, when a holding penalty on the Tigers and a quarterback sack by Lee halted the drive.

Newton started a drive at its own 7-yard line and moved the ball 30 yards, using more than three minutes. Easley punted to give the ball back to the Tigers with 11 seconds left before halftime.

“Those stops were big in the first half, and became bigger as the game got close at the end,” Ergenbright said. “I knew Grinnell would be in it for 48 minutes and you have to give them credit.  Our guys stepped up and got the job done at the end.”

Wet field conditions played a part in the game all night. Players from each team slipped down on plays before a defender got to them. Grinnell had problem on center-to-quarterback snap exchanges on back-to-back possessions early in the third quarter.

The second one proved costly for the Tigers. Newton’s defensive tackle Mason Bowes dived over the line of scrimmage on the loose football in front of McKnight. The fumble recovery set up a Cardinal scoring drive at the Grinnell 35-yard line.

Runs by Rosenquist and Banfield and to pass plays to Easley moved Newton to striking distance. On a fourth-and-five play, Wood found Easley off to his left for a completion. Easley sidestepped a Tiger defender and raced to the end zone for an 18-yard scoring play. Easley’s extra-point kick made it 21-0 with 3:44 left in the third quarter.

Grinnell built momentum with back-to-back scoring drives.

“It was a great game. We lost some intensity in the second half, but pulled it out in the fourth quarter,” said Lee, Newton junior linebacker. “We stuck together as a team. We know we have to maintain our intensity level better. Starting district play 1-0 is awesome. District is what counts. It is what gets you to the playoffs, and we just have to keep winning.”

Lee had two quarterback sacks and three solo tackles for the Cardinal defense. Brett Wolf led the charge defensively with nine solo stops, one assisted tackle and a quarterback sack. Wood had five solo tackles and two assisted tackles and Jordan Travis made three solo tackles and one assisted tackle.

The Cardinals had eight tackles for loss and three quarterback sacks in the game. Bowes and Easley each recovered a fumble.

Newton is 3-0 overall and 1-0 in Class 3A District 6 play. The Cardinals host Benton Community of Van Horne Friday. Benton’s Bobcats (0-3, 0-1) are coming off a 42-7 loss to Ballard in district play.

Newton 14-0-7-0—21

Grinnell 0-0-0-14—14

Newton — Banfield 29 yd pass from Wood (Easley kick)

Newton — Wood 5 yd run (Easley kick)

Newton — Easley 18 yd pass from Wood (Easley kick)

Grinnell — Clark 24 yd pass from McKnight (Rivera kick)

Grinnell — Sanchez 7 yd pass from McKnight (Rivera kick)

Newton Grinnell

15 First Downs 16

44-196 Rushes-yds 29-131

67 Passing yds 147

263 Total Offense 278

5-10-0 Passing 11-21-0

2/0 Fumbles/lost 4/2

4-30 Penalties-yds 5-38

4-36 Punts/Avg. 3-35

Individual Leaders

Rushing: Newton-Wood 18-86, Banfield 14-62, Rosenquist 7-24, Peters 2-13, Harris 2-11. Grinnell-Simon 20-130, Clark 3-13, McKnight 6-(-12).

Passing: Newton-Wood 5-10-67-0. Grinnell-McKnight 11-21-147-0.

Receiving: Newton-Easley 4-38, Banfield 1-29. Grinnell-Clark 3-55, Honald 3-30, Harris 2-44, Cline 1-5, Sanchez 1-7, Simon 1-6.

Punting: Newton-Easley 4-144 (36 yd avg.). Grinnell-Honald 3-105 (35 yd avg.)

Tackles (solo/assisted): Wolf 9/1; Wood 5/2; Travis 3/1; Lee 3/0; Bowes 3/0; T. Peters 2/4; Murphy 2/2; Tish 2/3; Rosenquist 2/0; Barr 1/2; Easley 1/0; Jacobsen 1/0; Smith 1/0; Streeter 1/0; Bennett 0/2; Stanton 0/2; C. Peters 0/1.

Quarterback sacks: Lee 2, Wolf 1.

Fumbles (forced/recovered): Bowes 0/1; Lee 1/0; Easley 1/0.

Interceptions: None

Contact Sports Editor Jocelyn Sheets at (641) 792-3121 Ext. 6535 or jsheets@newtondailynews.com.