The Norwalk football team was defeated by Newton 29-21 on Homecoming Friday night, dropping to 1-2 overall in a game heard live on the KNIA3 stream.

The Class 4A 7th-ranked Cardinals struck for a 68-yard touchdown pass on the first play from scrimmage and never trailed. They led 20-14 at halftime and nearly pitched a second-half shutout until Warrior receiver Brady Schmitz caught his third touchdown of the night with only 6.3 seconds remaining. Newton recovered the ensuing onside pooch kick and took a knee, improving to 2-1 on the season.

Unofficially, Norwalk totaled 328 yards of offense but was once again hurt by a couple of stalled drives and did not have an answer defensively for Cardinal junior quarterback Caden Klein. Klein connected with Reilly Trease on a 68-yard TD pass to open the game and finished with 179 passing yards and 123 rushing with one TD.

The Warriors tied the game at 7-7 and 14-14 in the first half, but came up empty on their next four offensive series. An early fourth-quarter drive reached the 5-yard line before Eli Robbins – under duress – had a pass intercepted at the goal line by Peyton Rozendaal. Norwalk coach Paul Patterson tells KNIA Sports that the Warriors must figure out their identity on offense going forward, and that process starts with him.

“What can we do in short yardage situations where we can get a first down, and then how do I do a better job of leading our young men to being prepared for what it is that we’re going to see on Friday night,” Patterson said. “That’s something that I’ve got to do a little soul searching over the weekend and get it figured out, so that I’m better on Monday also.”

Playing in his first game of the season, Schmitz made several outstanding catches and finished with nearly 130 receiving yards. His touchdown receptions covered 21, 28 and 14 yards, two from Robbins and one from James Hatlevig. Robbins and Dominic Tigner both tallied about 50 yards rushing and Robbins added another 150 through the air.

Norwalk will wrap up non-district play next Friday night, hosting the ADM Tigers.