Nov. 12—The Newton football team has a proud history. The Cardinals won state championships in 1952 and 1980 and finished second in 1977, 1988 and 1990.
Chad Guthrie owns around 10 individual records as maybe the best running back in the history of the school.
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Dan Malone and Ryan Maki also set multiple records in the 1990s, Brian Rose has plenty of passing records from 2011 and Matt Easley set multiple kicking records around that same time.
But what the Newton football team is doing this fall is quite impressive, too.
Caden Klein
The Cardinals are writing their own story and will face Class 4A No. 1 Cedar Rapids Xavier in the state semifinals at 7 p.m. on Thursday inside the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls.
Newton has won 10 games in a season for the first time since 2006, and many players from this year’s team have re-written the record books.
“You see all the names in the record book and you hear about all the past greats, but it’s great that these kids are in the same conversation as those guys were,” Newton head football coach Andy Swedenhjelm said. “A little bit of it is stylistic, but we’re doing some special things with these kids. They work really hard to perfect their craft.”
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Seniors Caden Klein and Finn Martin and junior Nick Milburn have etched their names in the record books in a big way this season.
But junior kicker Jackson Price as well as senior defensive lineman Coleby Revell also will have their names to a record or two after this season.
Price took down one of Malone’s kicking records from 1990. Price’s 57 PATs this season eclipsed Malone’s 55 from 35 years ago.
Price also has a school-record 44 touchbacks this season and set a school record for career touchbacks with 51.
Revell now has his name next to two school records. His three fumble recoveries this season ties a school record set by several former Cardinals.
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But his six career fumble recoveries also ties Lucas Tratchel for the school record. Tratchel set that mark first back in 2007, 2008 and 2009.
“That’d be pretty cool, but I just need to play my game and if that happens it happens,” Revell said about getting one more fumble recovery to have those records all to himself. “It’s mostly right spot right time, but it’s pretty cool.”
Coleby Revell
Newton’s 2025 offense has been described as explosive. The Cardinals have nearly 20 touchdowns this season that have gone for 25 yards or more.
And that’s not counting explosive plays that didn’t result in touchdowns.
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Newton has set new team records for passing yards, passing touchdowns and passing yards per game this season.
Klein and Martin have connected 42 times through the air this season. That has helped both players break a plethora of passing and receiving records.
Klein’s 1,700 passing yards and 20 passing touchdowns both are single-season records.
He also set new single-game records with 399 passing yards and five TD passes in the season opener against Carlisle.
In that same game, Martin set new single-game receiving records with 213 yards and three scores.
“Coach Swede does a great job scheming up plays that allows us to have big games,” Klein said. “It’s what it comes down to. The balance of our offense has allowed us to excel, too.”
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Klein doesn’t have all the passing records, yet. He’s two touchdown passes away from tying Tyler Wood for career touchdown passes.
Klein also is within 351 passing yards of Wood’s career record of 3,496.
Jackson Price
The Cardinal senior quarterback’s cheat code comes with his ability to run the football.
Klein, who has an NCAA Division I football offer from Army, set school records for combined passing and rushing yards in a game, season and career, too, this fall.
His 5,041 career combined passing and rushing yards passed Todd Scott’s early 1990s record of 3,578.
Klein’s 2,469 combined rushing and passing yards this fall broke Eric Karsten’s single-season record of 2,128 set back in 1999.
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Klein also broke Ryan Maki’s single-game record of 373 combined rushing and passing yards from 1996 when he went for 420 against Carlisle in the season opener.
“It’s exhilarating. We score in four plays or less a lot,” Newton junior offensive lineman Nicholas Batawui said. “It’s crazy. It’s awesome running down the field and celebrating with everyone.”
Klein’s success through the air allowed Martin to re-write the record books on the other end of the pass.
Aside from the single-game receiving yards and receiving TDs records, Martin also has compiled single-season records of 1,078 yards and 14 touchdowns.
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Collin Reynolds had the previous single-season receiving yards record of 731 and single-game yards record of 177. He also had the career receiving yards mark.
Martin’s 14 touchdowns through the air passed Nick Easley’s mark of nine set back in 2013.
“It’s awesome because all the hard work is paying off,” Martin said. “The records are a side bonus. I’m not thinking about how many yards I need to break another record. I’m thinking about playing my best, bringing some intensity and winning a game.”
Finn Martin
Martin, who is committed to Notre Dame for swimming, caught three passes last week in the Cardinals’ win over Gilbert. That pushed him past Reynolds for the career receptions record at 96.
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The only record set by Reynolds that is not yet broken is single-season catches. Martin needs seven catches to equal the 49 Reynolds caught back in 2011.
The best part about Martin setting the records may be enjoying the success with his older brother Oliver Martin, who played NCAA Division I football at Michigan, Iowa and Nebraska and is currently on the Newton coaching staff working with the receivers.
“He has a lot of experience. It’s been super helpful,” Martin said. “He’s helped me the past four years because we live in the same house, but I’ve seen a lot of improvement with the other guys, too. It’s the little things like how many steps you should be taking on a certain cut or route. Those little things can change the outcome of a game.”
Klein, Martin and junior tailback Isaiah Hansen have led the charge in the Cardinals scoring 439 points in their 11 games this season. The school record for an 11-game season is 448 points set in 2007.
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Hansen has not set any rushing yards records yet, but his 1,271 yards this season rank in the top five in 4A. Hansen’s 18 rushing touchdowns trail only Klein’s 19 at the top of the 4A leaderboard.
It’s not only offensive players who are resetting the record books.
Milburn still has one year left of eligibility, but his 214 career tackles already is a school record. That broke Dakota Hills’ 172.5 set back in 2010-12.
Milburn set the single-season school record with 102 tackles last season but eclipsed his own mark this year. He goes into the state semifinals with 112 tackles and his 104 solo tackles in a season also is a school record that was previously held by his older brother Nathan Milburn.
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“It feels pretty good,” said Milburn, who also has the single-game tackle record. “It’s even better that my brother had some of those records before, too.”
Milburn doesn’t play to break records. But his 199 solo tackles in a career also is a school record.
Nick Milburn
His tackles for loss total for 2025 is currently at 18. The school record is 21.5 set by Reece Rosenquist back in 2016.
“You want to win first, but I do think it’s pretty cool that a ton of us are setting a bunch of records,” Milburn said. “If it’s only me setting a few records, it may not meaning anything. But when it’s multiple dudes doing it, it’s really awesome. That just shows you how good our team is and sets us a part from some of the other past teams.”
