March 28, 2024

Four area prep football teams head into playoffs

Four Play On

Newton High’s Cardinals, Collins-Maxwell/Baxter’s Raiders, Colfax-Mingo’s Tigerhawks and Prairie City-Monroe’s Mustangs play on in Iowa high school football. The regular season concluded Friday.

These four area teams have opening-round playoff games Wednesday. Game times are 7 p.m.

Newton’s Cardinals (6-3) head to Tiffin to take on the Clear Creek-Amana Clippers, who are 7-2, in a Class 3A clash. The Cardinals are back in the playoffs after narrowly missing them in 2013.

“The kids have been focused in practice and we’re excited to be in the playoffs again. We were able to end the regular season with a strong win at Nevada. We’re working to build on that momentum going into Wednesday’s game,” said Ed Ergenbright, Newton head coach.

After watching film on the Clippers, Ergenbright compared Clear Creek-Amana to Ballard in terms of size and style of play. Clear Creek-Amana was a district champion and the most points the Clippers have given up was 27.

Newton is led by senior quarterback Tyler Wood. Wood is the top rusher for the Cardinals, 723 yards on 134 carries, and he is 54-of-108 for 804 yards passing. He has seven touchdown passes and has thrown two interceptions in Newton’s nine games. Wood has rushed for 10 touchdowns.

In the backfield, Newton utilized the running skills of seniors Deonne Harris, Tristan Peters and J.T. Thongvanh along with junior Joseph Banfield and sophomore Reese Rosenquist. Senior wide receiver Nick Easley also gets in on the rushing attack at times.

Harris has 495 yards on 49 carries and Banfield produced 478 yards on 78 carries. Both have six touchdowns. Peters had rushed for 278 yards followed by Thongvanh with 175 and Rosenquist with 157 yards.

Easley, who is ranked 16th in Class 3A for receiving yards, has 27 catches for 444 yards and six touchdowns for the Cardinals. Jordan Travis, senior tight end, has nine receptions for 107 yards while Banfield made four receptions for 114 yards and a touchdown during the regular season.

“Everything starts up front. Our offensive line has come together pretty well this season,” Ergenbright said. “Key for us on Wednesday night is to move the football, take care of the football and make the most of our scoring opportunities. We need to sustain drives to keep their offense on the sideline.”

Ergenbright said Clear Creek-Amana has big offensive and defensive lines, much like Ballard — a team Newton beat 17-14 in district play. He said defensively, the Cardinals had to limit giving up the big plays, which they have done lately.

“We have to force them to drive the field to score. They appear athletic at the skill positions and we have to tackle well,” Ergenbright said. “We’ve seen the zone-read offense they run, which is similar to Ballard’s offense. We just have to do a better job of stopping it.”

Clear Creek-Amana’s offense is guided by senior quarterback Nile Rourke, who is 50-of-113 for 904 yards passing with five touchdowns and four interceptions. Rourke has rushed for 304 yards and three touchdowns.

Senior Tanner Bandy is the Clippers’ leading rusher and receiver. Bandy, who is ranked 15th in Class 3A rushing, averages 7.1 yards a carry. Bandy had 990 yards on 140 carries and seven rushing touchdowns. He has caught 17 passes for 379 yards.

“We’re just going to go out and do what we do the best and see what happens,” Ergenbright said. “We do have a couple of players with injuries, who are day-to-day right now. We’ll just have to see how they bounce back from those and if they are able to go on Wednesday.”

Winners on Wednesday advance to the second round on Monday.

South Hardin at CMB

CMB’s Raiders are on a historic run right now, They have recorded the team’s first-ever undefeated regular season. They go into Wednesday’s Class 2A playoff game at home against South Hardin (4-5) as one of the four undefeated teams in Class 2A.

The Raiders (9-0) are ranked seventh in the final AP Iowa high school poll. CMB’s offense features the passing of sophomore Hunter McWhirter, 94-of-160 for 1,355 yards and 10 touchdowns, which ranks 11th in 2A. His top targets are senior Bryce Kemp, who is fourth in 2A in receiving yards with 826 on 38 catches, and junior Brady Stover with 605 yards on 48 catches.

Blake Coughenour has been the workhorse on the ground for the Raiders. He has 739 yards on 132 carries and nine touchdowns.

South Hardin brings in the 15th ranked passer in Class 2A in senior Sam Shindelar with 1,188 yards on 113 completions. Eric Mulder is the top receiver with 705 yards on 67 catches. Jordan Wilkie has rushed for 666 yards on 106 carries.

“I think upfront is going to be important for us offensively. We have to establish a run game. We know we have the playmakers. If we can get the ball to our playmakers, we have to control the line of scrimmage a little better than we did Friday night,” said Rob Luther, CMB head coach.

PCM at Williamsburg

PCM’s Mustangs stumbled in their final regular season contest at North Polk on Friday, but had already secured their Class 2A spot. The Mustangs (4-5) have a challenge Wednesday at Williamsburg, which is one of the four undefeated teams in 2A at 9-0.

PCM does have the second-ranked passer in Class 2A in junior quarterback Logan Gilman. Gilman is 146-of-260 for 2,208 yards passing this season with 18 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

On the ground, the Mustangs have relied on the strength of senior running back Ronnie Marshall, who is 12th in rushing in 2A with 1,027 yards on 189 carries. He is sixth in rushing touchdowns with 15.

For Williamsburg, senior Mitchell Stahl comes in as the fourth-ranked rusher in 2A with 1,186 yards on 162 carries and fifth in touchdowns with 17. Jacob Holub is the senior quarterback for Williamsburg, going 60-of-127 for 917 yards. Alyn Francis is another go-to runner for Williamsburg’s ground attack.

Colfax-Mingo

at Mount Ayr

Colfax-Mingo’s junior quarterback Jared Myers leads Class A in passing yards. Myers guides the 6-3 Tigerhawks Wednesday against eighth-ranked Mount Ayr (8-1).

Myers is 159-of-294 for 2,411 yards with 22 touchdowns and and nine interceptions. Myers is also the team’s leading rusher with 639 yards and six touchdowns. Junior Jake Lietz has 180 yards rushing for the Tigerhawks.

The Tigerhawks have two of the top 10 receivers in Class A. Junior Blake Summy is fourth with 648 yards on 41 catches with five touchdowns. Senior Jimmy Abell has 465 yards on 22 receptions and six touchdowns. Lietz has caught 32 passes for 403 yards and four touchdowns.

Mount Ayr has a strong running game led by senior Grant Staats, who has 486 yards on 59 carries. Mount Ayr has seven other running backs with more than 100 yards rushing. Kyle Dolecheck has 354 yards on 39 carries.

Mount Ayr’s quarteerback Jacob Taylor has rushed for 288 yards. He is 47-of-106 passing for 782 yards with seven touchdowns and seven interceptions.

Contact Jocelyn Sheets at 641-792-3121 ext. 6535 or jsheets@newtondailynews.com.