Klein’s big night powers No. 10 Cardinals past Bluejays

BONDURANT — Bondurant-Farrar had twice as many first downs, more total yards and held the ball for nearly 13 more minutes than the Newton football team on Friday.

But none of that mattered as the Class 4A No. 10 Cardinals used big plays to down the Bluejays 49-28 in the 4A District 4 opener for both teams.

Newton won its fourth straight game thanks in part to 293 rushing yards and five touchdowns of at least 39 yards. The Cardinals entered the game 0-3 against the Bluejays since 2014.

“Thing are going well for us,” Newton head football coach Andy Swedenhjelm said. “Our kids are playing hard and with lots of confidence right now. We believe we can compete with anyone.”

The shortest touchdown of the night for the Cardinals came on their first scoring drive. Caden Klein scored on a 3-yard run to put the visitors up 7-0.

It was only the beginning for Klein, who rushed for a career-high 245 yards and scored a career-best four rushing TDs in the win. He also threw for 125 yards and one TD on five completions and tossed one pick.

Klein gained the 245 rushing yards on only 17 carries, compiled 7.5 tackles on defense and returned an onside kick 47 yards for a score to seal the win late.

It was the first career return touchdown for Klein, who ranks sixth in 4A with 778 passing yards and fourth with 656 rushing yards. His 9.2 yards per carry average is second in the class and his 12 total touchdowns rank tied for seventh.

“Caden is a great player,” Swedenhjelm said. “We are lucky we have a lot of weapons that can do things in different ways. Caden is obviously fast and can make plays.”

The game was tied at 7-all after one quarter, but Newton went in front 21-7 at the half thanks to touchdown runs of 74 and 82 yards from Klein.

Klein connected with Finn Martin for a 39-yard TD in the third to extend the lead to three scores.

Bondurant-Farrar’s Jordan Rial threw for 344 yard and three scores. All three TD passes came in the second half as the Bluejays got within seven early in the fourth.

A 47-yard TD run by Klein and a 4-yard TD rush for Qhjuan Coley put the game away for Newton. Klein’s 47-yard kickoff return following the onside kick came with 2:49 to play.

The Cardinals (4-1, 1-0 in the district) now have two kickoff return touchdowns this season, which is one more than the previous five seasons combined.

“The guys prep themselves extremely well each week and are working hard to be the best version of themselves,” Swedenhjelm said.

Bondurant-Farrar had a 24-12 advantage in first downs, out-gained Newton 482-418 and held the ball for 30 minutes, 20 seconds.

The Cardinals also were 0-of-5 on third down but averaged nearly 10 yards per carry in the victory.

“The stats can be overrated at times,” Swedenhjelm said. “Explosive plays is a big one that we value. When you have one- or two-play drives and average 10 yards per play, it won’t win the time of possession battle too much. Plus, we had a special teams score in there.”

Coley finished with 24 yards and one TD on seven carries, and his lone catch went for 20 yards.

Isaiah Hansen rushed for 20 yards on four carries, Martin grabbed two passes for 50 yards and one score and Cade Bauer’s lone grab covered 50 yards. Martin’s 340 receiving yards this season ranks sixth in 4A.

“Both (Martin) and (Bauer) had some big things going in the receiving game, and our running backs ran hard in the middle,” Swedenhjelm said.

Nick Milburn returned from a minor injury to lead the Cardinal defense. He finished with 14 tackles and one sack. His 44 tackles this fall ranks third in 4A.

Kaiden Rogers produced 9.5 tackles, Damien Smith had six tackles, one sack and two tackles for loss and Peyton Rozendaal, Dawson Maki and Christian Ergenbright registered five tackles each. Colton Northcutt chipped in 3.5 tackles.

Rial added 48 yards on eight carries for the Bluejays, while Gavin Vroegh gained 107 yards and scored one TD on 24 carries.

Riley Vanderlinden grabbed 11 catches for 101 yards. He was targeted 26 times.

Ryder Miller produced nine tackles. Bondurant-Farrar (0-5, 0-1)  was 1-of-4 in the red zone and missed two field goals in the first half.

“Part of those passing yards came because they were behind,” Swedenhjelm said. “They also ran two games worth of plays. We knew if we could stretch it to a three-score game, they would have to press. Obviously them throwing the ball 50 times will extend the game with incompletions and going out of bounds a lot.”

Notes: Bondurant-Farrar is 0-5 but the previous four losses to 4A No. 2 North Polk (42-41), 3A No. 10 Grinnell (17-14), 4A No. 1 Council Bluffs Lewis Central (24-14) and Waverly-Shell Rock (20-7) came by a combined 27 points. … Newton was around an eight-point favorite, according to BC Moore.