The Norwalk football team fell in their Week Five district matchup against Iowa City High on Friday’s Senior Night, 28-10. The game was heard live on the KNIA3 Stream.
The Warriors lost their second district matchup of the year, falling to the new-look Little Hawks at home this week. In a game where the importance of success on special teams was emphasized, the first half saw a lot of unorthodox scoring. After the game opened on Norwalk’s first drive with a 29-yard field goal from Greer Langel, City High responded with a 98-yard kick return for a touchdown from All-State running back Savion Miller, making the score 7-3. The Warriors would turn the ball over on downs the following drive, but then find some life when Victor Esparza blocked a Hawks field goal attempt, which led to Jordan Tapia running back for a touchdown. Norwalk would then recover a botched kick return, miss a 23-yard field goal, and end the quarter up 10-7.
After no score in the second quarter and lots of time on defense for the Warriors, the Hawks would take the lead back in the second half after Jackson Grabinski completed a 26-yard touchdown pass to Chayse Newton, making it 14-10 Iowa City. Things would then get out of hand for Norwalk in the fourth as they combined an inability to put drives together with two Savion Miller rushing touchdowns, resulting in a final score of 28-10 in favor of the Hawks.
Senior linebacker Gavin Ross was the biggest positive for the Warriors, notching 11 tackles and a couple of vital third- and fourth-down stops on City High. Quarterback Brendan Gear threw for 32 yards, while Norwalk only rushed for 23 yards, unofficially. The Warriors allowed Grabinski to throw for 119 yards and the tandem of Grabinski and Miller to rush for 101 yards, unofficially.
Norwalk moves to 2-3 overall and 0-2 in Class 5A District 1 play. They take on 1-4 Des Moines East for Week Six’s matchup at Williams Stadium in Des Moines, which can be heard live on KNIA3 beginning at 6:30.
