A slow start and an outstanding opponent were too much to overcome Friday night as the Norwalk football team suffered its first loss of the season at the hands of Lewis Central, 49-27. The game was streamed live on KNIA3 via kniakrls.com.
The Class 4A 2nd-ranked Titans improved to 3-0, building a 21-0 lead in the first 14 minutes and holding off every Warrior rally the rest of the way. LC used a balanced attack to outgain Norwalk 539-385 in total offense, getting 266 passing yards from quarterback Braylon Kammrad and 215 rushing yards from senior Jonathan Humpal. Together, Kammrad and Humpal had a hand in all seven Titan touchdowns.
Norwalk, which was ranked fourth in 4A by BC Moore, dropped to 2-1 on the season. The Warriors had many positives on the night, but lost the turnover battle 4-0 and were plagued by some unforced and correctable mistakes. Norwalk head coach Paul Patterson says his team fought valiantly after digging an early three-score hole.
“I don’t know if I can say it enough, but lots of positives from tonight,” Patterson said. “The mistakes, however, put us in a hole, and we’re down three scores and then we’ve got to dig out. And then you spend all that energy trying to dig out, and then one more mistake and it’s two scores, and then another mistake and now it’s three scores again and you’re fighting again and it makes it really tough on you in a high school football game.”
Norwalk opened the game with a lengthy drive that stalled in the red zone and ended with a missed 31-yard field goal that was knocked down by a strong north wind. Lewis Central would score three times during a six-minute span of the first and second quarters, including a 37-yard TD run by Humpal.
The Warriors cut the margin to 28-14 at the half on scoring passes of 22 and 7 yards from Landon Hochstein to Dillon Ranck and made it 28-21 on Hochstein’s 22-yard pass to Braeden Carlson midway through the third quarter.
During one stretch of the third, the Warriors and Titans combined to score four touchdowns in a span of less than two minutes, including back-to-back kickoff return scores of 80-plus yards by Norwalk’s Keilor Rodman and LC’s Humpal.
Trailing 42-27 late in the third, the Warriors had just reached the Titan 1-yard line on a Hochstein run but were flagged 15 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct and did not score. Lewis Central capped the scoring with 9:26 to go on Kammrad’s 34-yard TD pass to Curtis Witte, who finished with eight receptions for 133 yards.
Hochstein passed for 237 yards and three TDs and was intercepted twice. He also netted 125 rushing yards. Carlson led the Warriors with eight catches for 114 yards.
Norwalk will look to get back on track next Friday when they close out non-district play at Dallas Center-Grimes.