Cardinals stay unbeaten, hold off late Bobcat rally
Sep. 11—MARSHALLTOWN — Newton's football team used a strong first quarter to grab an early advantage against Marshalltown on Friday night.
The Cardinals though needed a trick play in the fourth quarter to stay in front and then held off a late rally by the Bobcats during a 28-21 non-district road win at Leonard Cole Field.
"We still have a lot to work on," Newton football coach Andy Swedenhjelm said. "Closing out games is a big one. We are still working some guys back into rotations, too. I think we'll have a good week of practice and come out firing on Friday."
Newton led Marshalltown 14-0 after one quarter and held a 21-0 advantage at halftime.
But facing a fourth and 14 with a 21-13 lead midway through the fourth, the Cardinals dialed up a hook and lateral to stay in front.
Brody Bauer hit Nate Lampe who then pitched the ball to Cody Klein for a 44-yard touchdown that put the visitors in front 28-13.
"We like to have a lot of fun," Swedenhjelm said. "We kind of drew that play up in the dirt. Lampe had a nice night on offense for us. He also had a couple of long touchdowns called back because of penalties."
Marshalltown (1-2) scored 13 points in the third to get back into the game and Ace Holmes trimmed the margin to 28-21 with 4:14 to play following a 14-yard TD run, but the Bobcats didn't get any closer.
Klein rushed for 122 yards and two scores on 26 carries and grabbed two catches for 46 yards and a TD to lead Newton's offense.
Klein scored on a 2-yard run with 9:17 to play in the first and then added a second rushing touchdown from 28 yards out with 2:44 left in the frame.
"They are a smart group of talented kids. They were 2-0 for a reason," Marshalltown head football coach Adam Goodvin said. "We knew the Klein kid was talented. We saw it a year ago and saw it on film. He may not be the biggest kid, but he's got a motor and a lot of heart."
In the second, Bauer hooked up with Caleb Mattes for a 29-yard TD pass that put Newton in front 21-0. It was Mattes' only catch of the game, but he did have eight tackles on defense.
Dalen Huston had rushing TDs of 8 and 2 yards in the third to get Marshalltown within one score. The hook and lateral from Bauer to Lampe and then Klein was the difference in the fourth though.
The Bobcats changed to a 4-3 defense after halftime to slow down Newton's running game.
"We had to switch it up to make it a little tougher for Newton's offensive line," Goodvin said. "They probably prepped for a three front all week and in that four front we were able to stop the run a little better. We had to do something to take that away."
Swedenhjelm didn't feel like the Cardinals' offense stalled in the second half. They just didn't get many possessions.
"We only had three possessions in the second half — we scored on one and ran the clock out on another," Swedenhjelm said. "It was kind of crazy really. We both kind of traded long possessions."
After the Bobcats closed to within 28-21, Newton ran out of the clock. After a timeout with 54 seconds to play, Bauer came up short on third and four but converted on fourth down with a 10-yard run to ice the win.
Newton out-gained Marshalltown 411-356 and rushed for 194 yards. The Cardinals (3-0) averaged 5.1 yards per carry and each team registered 21 first downs.
"We were able to spread the ball around," Swedenhjelm said. "We were able to attack all areas on the field."
Bauer was 17-of-25 through the air for 226 yards and two scores. He also rushed for 53 yards on nine carries.
Christian Ergenbright rushed for 19 yards on three carries and hauled in two catches for 21 yards.
Turner Williams gained 63 yards on four catches, Lampe hauled in four catches for 47 yards and Curtis Payne added four catches for 20 yards.
Carson Satterfield made his season debut and registered a career-high 11.5 tackles. Jake Ingle had 7.5 tackles and Nathan Milburn finished with 6.5. Wyatt Weter chipped in 4.5 tackles.
Hunter Teague and Lampe each had interceptions in the second quarter that halted a pair of Bobcat drives, one of which was in the Newton red zone.
"Those picks were huge," Swedenhjelm said. "Our kids were able to limit the big plays early to get in favorable positions."
