The Newton Cardinals won their home opener 28-7 against Dallas Center Grimes Friday night in a game heard live on the KRLS3 stream at KNIAKRLS.com. 

The Cardinals racked up 271 yards of total offense and used a 98 yard kick-off return in the 3rd quarter by Christian Ergenbright to get the win. Newton opened the scoring with a two yard Isiah Hansen touchdown run with 5:07 left in the 2nd quarter, capping off a five play, 73 yard drive. The Cardinals converted on the ensuing two-point conversion to grab an 8-0 lead. With 17 seconds left in the first half, Newton scored again on a Skyler Milheiser two yard run, to punctuate a six play, 75 yard drive and gave the Cardinals a 15-0 lead at half. Dallas Center Grimes put together their only scoring drive of the game in the 3rd quarter, as the Mustangs got a 10 yard touchdown pass cut Newton’s lead to 15-7. On the ensuing kick-off, Ergenbright caught the football at the 2 yard line and faked a hand-off, before running down Newton’s sideline for the 98 yard score. The extra point was no good, leaving Newton with a 21-7 lead with 7:03 left in the 3rd quarter. A 14-play, 68 yard drive ended with Qhjuan Coley scoring on a two yard run to put the finishing touches on a 28-7 victory. Cardinal Quarterback Caden Klein had 15 carries for 137 yards and completed 9 of 17 passes for 91 yards, with Finn Martin catching six of those passes for 68 yards. Newton’s defense limited Dallas Center Grimes to 176 total yards of offense on the night. 

The Cardinals improved to 1-1 overall on the season and travel to Norwalk next Friday night for the Warriors’ homecoming game.