Cardinals drop district game to BlueJays

Finish.

Newton High’s Cardinals need to finish. Four times — three in the first half and one on the first possession of the second half — the Cardinals moved deep into Bondurant-Farrar territory and came away with no points in Friday’s Class 3A District 6 clash with BlueJays.

Not taking advantage of those scoring opportunities proved to be costly. Newton fell behind the BlueJays 24-8 by halftime and 32-8 with five minutes left in the third quarter.

The Cardinals made a run at the the BlueJays late, but Bondurant-Farrar senior running back Grant Peterson sealed the win with his fifth touchdown run, 37 yards with 3:27 left in the game. Bondurant-Farrarr left Newton’s H.A. Lynn Stadium with a 46-30 win.

“Stalling out early in the game was big. When we got down there, maybe my play calling wasn’t what I thought it was — I mean when I called the play, I thought it would go. Those are plays that have gone for us before,” said Ed Ergenbright, Newton head coach.

Newton fell to 3-2 in Class 3A District 6 play. With the results of other district games Friday night, the Cardinals are in a three-way tie with Gilbert and Grinnell for the final two playoff spots in the district. Bondurant-Farrar is 4-2 and Ballard is 4-1.

Ballard plays at Grinnell Friday and a win by the Bombers would help the Cardinals. Newton travels to Nevada (2-6, 0-5) Friday to conclude the regular season.

“There’s a lot left for these seniors to play for, so we have to go to Nevada next week and put together a good effort. These guys will do that I have no doubt. We need to continue to improve, get into the playoffs and stay together for a few more weeks,” Ergenbright said.

Peterson, who leads Class 3A in rushing, opened the game with a 56-yard touchdown run and tacked on the two-point conversion. Newton answered with its own four-play drive capped with a 41-yard dash to the end zone by senior Deonne Harris. Newton went for the two-point conversion and got it with a pass from senior quarterback Tyler Wood to senior Tristan Peters.

On a fourth-and-four, the Cardinal defense stopped Peterson short to gain possession of the football at Newton’s 21-yard line with 1:30 left in the first quarter. Newton’s offense began a march down the field.

Wood connected with senior tight end Jordan Travis over the middle on a third-down play to keep the drive alive. Newton had the ball at the BlueJay 19. Peters picked up five yards on first down then Harris got four. Joseph Banfield was caught for a yard loss, putting the Cardinals in a fourth-and two situation.

Easley appeared to be on his way to gaining the first down yardage but stepped out of bounds inches short at the 10. Bondurant-Farrar used two big pass plays from quarterback Dylon Storey to Tucker Ksiazek and Payton Duit to reach Newton’s 38-yard line.

Peterson took over from there. He scored from five yards out and ran in the two-point conversion to put the Jays up 16-8 at the 5:12 mark.

Peters provided a big runback on the ensuing kickoff to set up the Cardinals at the BlueJay 48-yard line. Wood and senior running back J.T. Thongvanh gained 11 yards then Harris and Banfield picked up eight yards on three runs. A pass from Wood to Thongvanh came up short on fourth down.

Four plays later, Storey connected with Jarrid Clark for a 55-yard touchdown pass. Peterson ran in the two-point conversion for a 24-8 lead.

Newton had to punt the ball — it was the lone punt of the game. Bondurant-Farrar was at the 50-yard line but Storey’s pass was intercepted by Newton’s Peters with 1:06 on the clock.

The Cardinals had one more shot at scoring before halftime. Wood found Easley for a long catch putting the Cardinals at the BlueJay 9-yard line. They didn’t get any closer and Easley attempted a 28-yard field goal, but it was wide right with 14 seconds left.

Newton opened the second half with the football, starting a drive at its own 40. The Cardinals pushed their way down the field, but once again were turned away on a fourth-down-and one play at the BlueJay 25.

Peterson, who most of the night lined up in the wildcat formation taking a direct snap, busted a 66-yard touchdown run off on a fourth-and-one play. The BlueJays led 32-8 at the 5:15 mark of the third quarter.

The Cardinals finally broke through again. A penalty against the Jays gave the Cardinals a first down then Travis made a leaping grab of a Wood pass at the Bondurant-Farrar 6-yard line. Banfield capped the 66-yard drive with a six-yard touchdown run. Wood tossed a two-point conversion pass to Easley.

Newton had Bondurant-Farrar, which never hesitated to go on fourth down, in a fourth-and-four at the BlueJay 40-yard line. Peterson’s hard count drew the Cardinals off sides for a five-yard penalty. On the second play of the fourth quarter, Peterson went 47 yards for a touchdown, but the Cardinals stopped him on a two-point conversion run.

Peters returned the ensuing kickoff into BlueJay territory. A 15-yard penalty set the Cardinals back to the 50. Two penalties against Bondurant-Farrar helped the Cardinal effort on the drive, but it was a 17-yard scramble by Wood on fourth down that put the Cardinals at the 3-yard line.

Wood went right up the middle for the touchdown and Peters had the two-point conversion run with 7:17 left.

Trailing 38-22, Easley and the Cardinals successfully executed an onside kick with Wood recovering the football at the 50-yard line. Wood’s scambling ability paid off again. He eluded the BlueJay defenders and lofted the pass down the field where Easley out jumped a BlueJay for the catch at the Bondurant-Farrar 26-yard line.

Thongvanh picked up five yards but Wood was sacked on the next play. Wood ran for 11 yards then got the necessary yardage on a fourth down play to the BlueJay 12. Wood ran for another 11 yards then scored from one yard out with 3:48 on the game clock. Harris busted across the goal line for the two-point conversion to make it 38-30.

Newton attempted another onside kick but Storey was there to handle the high bounce for the BlueJays at the Newton 49-yard line. Three plays later, Peterson scored for the final margin.

Peterson rolled up 323 yards on 29 carries. Ergenbright said the Cardinal defense had trouble with one particular play, which Bondurant-Farrar ran all game. He said Newton wasn’t getting to the point of attack on time with its second level players.

“He (Peterson) is an outstanding player and is all that they say he was,” Ergenbright said. “Bondurant-Farrar went for two points each time and that was smart by its coach. Peterson can get them three or four yards whenever they need it, that is a good move. Teams have had a hard time stopping that play.”

Wood led the Cardinal offense with 169 yards on 23 carries. He also was 12-of-25 passing for 130 yards. Easley made five catches for 78 yards.

Junior defensive back Bryce Tish had six solo tackles and three assisted tackles for the Newton defense. Michael Barr, a senior linebacker, and defensive backs Dalton Nevels, a junior, and Reese Rosenquist, a sophomore, each had three solo stops and one assisted tackles.

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

Bondurant-Farrar   8-16-8-14—46

Newton   8-0-8-14—30

B-F — Peterson 56 yd run (Peterson run)

Newton — Harris 41 yd run (Peters pass from Wood)

B-F — Peterson 5 yd run (Peterson run)

B-F — Clark 55 yd pass from Storey (Peterson run)

B-F — Peterson 66 yd run (Peterson run)

Newton — Banfield 6 yd run (Easley pass from Wood)

B-F — Peterson 47 yd run (run failed)

Newton — Wood 3 yd run (run failed)

Newton — Wood 1 yd run (Harris run)

B-F — Peterson 37 yd run (Peterson run)

Newton   Bondurant-Farrar

22 First Downs   15

50-296   Rushes-yds   36-357

130   Passing yds   104

426   Total Offense   461

12-25-0   Passing   3-7-1

0-0   Fumbles/lost   0-0

6-40   Penalties/yds   8-63

1-28   Punts/Avg.   0-0

Individual Leaders

Rushing: Newton-Wood 23-169, Harris 5-55, Banfield 8-32, Peters 5-18, Thongvanh 6-17, Easley 3-5. Bondurant-Farrar-Peterson 29-323, Clark 3-29, Story 3-6, Vermie 1 (-1).

Passing: Newton-Wood 12-25-130-0. Bondurant-Farrar-Story 3-7-104-1.

Receiving: Newton-Easley 5-78, Travis 4-41, Peters 1-9, Thongvanh 2-2. Bondurant-Farrar-Clark 1-55, Duit 1-34, Ksiazek 1-15.

Punting: Newton-Easley 1-28. Bondurant-Farrar-none.

Newton Defense

Tackles (solo/assisted): Tish 6/3; Barr 3/1; Nevels 3/1; Rosenquist 3/1; Travis 2/3; Wood 2/4: Bennett 1/0; Harris 1/0; Jacobsen 1/1: Lee 1/1; Patterson 1/2; Peters 1/0; Smith 0/1; Stanton 1/0; Thongvanh 1/2.

Quarterback sacks: none

Fumbles (forced/recovered): none

Interceptions: Peters 1.