Balanced attack pushes Newton football past Norwalk

NORWALK — Scoring on its first play from scrimmage, the Newton football team played with the lead all night and answered a pair of Norwalk scoring drives with touchdowns of their own during a non-district contest on Friday.

The Cardinals scored first, held a narrow lead at halftime and outscored the Warriors in the second half during a 29-21 road win.

“I’m very excited because two weeks in a row we have been able to score on the last possession of the first half to take momentum into halftime,” Newton head football coach Andy Swedenhjelm said. “It’s really tough on a team when you think you start to get momentum and then they respond. It starts to make you feel desperate and wears on a team.”

Newton scored the only points in the third quarter to go ahead for good. Norwalk’s final touchdown came in the final 13 seconds.

Caden Klein hooked up with Reilly Trease for a 68-yard touchdown on the Cardinals’ first play from scrimmage.

It was Klein’s first career varsity touchdown pass and Trease’s first career varsity touchdown catch.

“The play was designed for Reilly,” Swedenhjelm said. “We wanted to make our slots more of an emphasis in the gameplan this week. They are really good players and have some really good skills. Reilly had that big play in the first and another big catch for a first down later in the game.”

Norwalk scored its first touchdown of the game with 3:28 to play in the first after Eli Robbins hooked up with Brady Schmitz for a 21-yard touchdown.

Newton (2-1) answered with another scoring drive in the second. This time, Klein put the Cardinals back in front with a 13-yard TD run.

Robbins and Schmitz hooked up again for a 28-yard TD with 5:22 to play in the half.

The Cardinals, who snapped a four-game losing skid against Norwalk, went back in front with a TD in the final minute. Isaiah Hansen scored from 2 yards out with 52 seconds on the clock.

The only points of the third quarter came on a Skyler Milheiser 1-yard TD run. That put Newton in front 26-14.

Jackson Price booted a 25-yard field goal with 2:23 to go in the game. Norwalk’s final scoring drive came in garbage time as James Hatlevig found Schmitz for a 23-yard TD with 13 seconds to go in the game.

Newton had a 21-15 advantage in first downs and out-gained the Warriors 410-319. Both teams had 10 possessions.

The Cardinals were 5-of-11 on third down and 2-of-3 on fourth. Norwalk (1-2) converted just two of its 11 third downs.

Newton’s offense was balanced as the Cardinals threw for 203 and rushed for 207. The visitors were plus-one in turnovers and had the ball for nearly 6 minutes more.

“I think balance is huge,” Swedenhjelm said. “Not only balance in yardage but more balance of touches. If you have players contributing in many ways it helps everyone out and makes you harder to defend.”

Klein was 11-of-21 through the air for 203 yards and the touchdown. He also rushed for 130 yards and one TD on 16 carries.

Klein’s 525 passing yards through three games rank fourth in Class 4A. His 383 rushing yards are currently seventh.

Qhjuan Coley rushed for 28 yards on nine carries and caught one pass for 7 yards. Hansen gained 24 yards on nine carries and went 13 yards on his only catch.

Finn Martin hauled in five passes for 87 yards and Trease gained 86 yards and scored one TD on two catches. Cade Bauer also snagged two catches for 10 yards.

Martin’s 16 catches and 242 receiving yards rank tied for fourth and fourth, respectively, in 4A.

“We don’t want to be a one-horse team,” Swedenhjelm said. “We have players at all positions who we trust to make plays when the time comes. Our receivers in particular have done a great job. Finn continues to be a consistent presence and a guy we can rely on for big plays.”

Nick Milburn led the Cardinal defense with 10 tackles. His 30 tackles this fall ranks fourth in 4A.

Damien Smith and Derek Wermager each had four tackles, Dawson Maki and Kaiden Rogers produced 3.5 tackles and Klein chipped in three tackles.

Rogers and Peyton Rozendaal both had picks. They each rank tied for the 4A-lead with two picks each.

Zach Felten averaged 44 yards on his two punts, while Price registered two touchbacks, one field goal and two PATs.

Robbins led Norwalk with 138 passing yards and 52 rushing yards. He had two touchdown passes, caught one pass for 11 yards and tallied nine tackles on defense.

Schmitz grabbed six passes for 127 yards and three scores.

“They have good athletes all over the field,” Swedenhjelm said. “I’m proud of how our defense plays. They embody our fast and physical philosophy and, like our offense, we have many different guys who can contribute.

“They scored on a couple of jump balls, and then we played prevent all the way down the field on their last drive. They got a chunk of their passing yardage then. We continue to focus on stopping the run because we have a lot of faith in our defensive backs.”