Two of the top three tacklers for Newton’s varsity football team will return next season. Sophomore linebacker Nick Milburn is currently tied for second in Class 4A in total tackles according to Varsity Bound Iowa. Milburn is credited with 102 tackles this season. 95 of those tackles were solo and 9.5 were made behind the line of scrimmage. Senior linebacker Damien Smith was the Cardinal’s second leading tackler this season with 44.5 total tackles, including 40 solo tackles and 7 tackles for loss. Junior linebacker Caden Klein was right behind Smith with 43.5 tackles, including 39 solo. According to Varsity Bound, Juniors and Sophomores made 283 of the 506 tackles attributed to the Cardinal defense this year. That’s just under 56%. The Newton defense gave up an average of 16.7 points per game this year as the Cardinals finished 6-4. Every loss was to a playoff team, including the season ending 15-14 loss in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs at Decorah.