3 takeaways from No. 5 Lewis Central's dominating 42-13 win over No. 8 Norwalk

Mother Nature did not grant Iowa great weather, but fifth-ranked Lewis Central found a way to make the most of it in their 42-13 win over No. 8 Norwalk on Friday.

The Titans scored on their first three drives of the ball game, thanks to senior running back Caleb Moore and a defense that gave the offense good field position. From there, Lewis Central (6-2) never looked back and mostly dominated the second half in an impressive blowout win over a fellow Class 4A top-10 team.

Here are three things we learned in Lewis Central’s win over Norwalk (5-3).

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Lewis Central’s defense was up for the fight against Norwalk’s dynamic passing attack

On the Titans’ first three drives, they started on Norwalk’s half of the field and made the most of it. Starting on the 38 of the Warriors, Moore finished off the drive with a 14-yard touchdown run after taking over for an injured Brody Patlan.On the following two drives, despite good field position and the Norwalk defense hanging tough, Lewis Central’s Daniel Espinoza was able to kick back-to-back 35-yard field goals to get his squad up to 13-0.

The defense for Lewis Central time and time again was able to set up its offense in great situations, largely because of their ability to make Norwalk quarterback Aidan Harder uncomfortable in the pocket. They didn’t record many sacks, but on almost every play it seemed the front seven of Lewis Central was deflecting a pass or forcing Harder to throw the ball away.

Lewis Central defensive back Bryce Juon played a massive role in that as well, intercepting two passes on the night. He helped start the Titans’ final drive of the first half with an interception, with Lewis Central's signal caller Brady Hetzel finishing it with a quarterback keeper at the goal line to make it 27-0.

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“It’s a heck of a lot easier scoring from the 50 than it is going 80 yards,” said Lewis Central coach Justin Kammrad.” We had a 90-yard drive, which was really nice to take some time off the clock and pound the ball in there a little bit. For our defense to give us (a) short field to make it a little bit easier on us has been our game plan the last several weeks.”

Caleb Moore and the depth of Lewis Central dazzle

Normally if the team’s leading rusher, Patlan, got hurt on the first drive, it would have been easy to abandon the run game. But with the rainy weather on Friday, that wasn’t an option.

In comes Moore, the senior who had been mainly contributing on the defensive side of the ball this season.

“Patlan is a really good running back, so when he went down, I knew I had to step up,” Moore said.

Moore stepped up in a massive way, rushing for two touchdowns in the first half and catching another in the second half to put an exclamation point on the game. He only had one carry for over 20 yards, but his physical style of running was a massive asset.

“The next guy had to step up,” Kammrad said. “That’s our mentality at Lewis Central, the next guy had to be ready to step in and play at any moment and he’s the next guy. He’s a senior, he’s bought his time and he’s done everything we’ve asked him to do.”

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Moore was often laying his head down, pushing for extra yardage and breaking tackles for first downs. He drew inspiration from a former Seattle Seahawks star when he was called upon to carry the offense.

“I kind of got that Marshawn Lynch mentality,” Moore said. “I like running through people, not around them."

Despite a tough situation, Lewis Central’s depth with guys like Moore played a major role in the win.

Norwalk continues to show fight, but rain hampers comeback

Kicking off to begin the second half with the rain falling harder than it would all night, Norwalk smartly squib-kicked it down the field and the Titans failed to get a handle on the ball, allowing Norwalk to recover. Warriors wide receiver Eli Robbins brought in three straight receptions on his way to a touchdown to cut the deficit to 20 early in the third quarter.

Robbins was a bright spot for much of the game, making plays in the return game to give his team good field position a couple of times and being a reliable pass catcher despite the conditions.

But with the rain coming down consistently, it made it incredibly difficult for Norwalk to move the chains. Their passing attack was drowned by the wet conditions and a relentless pass rush from Lewis Central. Another Juon interception to end the third quarter stopped the Warriors from ever getting back in the game, as the opposing offense capitalized with a touchdown and two-point conversion for a 35-7 lead.

The Warriors never gave up, however, scoring one more time before the clock struck zero.

It was a struggle all night for Norwalk's offense and defense, but seeing Robbins consistently make plays and the team as a whole fighting until the final whistle blew are positives that coach Paul Patterson can take into the final week of the regular season.

Eli McKown covers high school sports and wrestling for the Des Moines Register. Contact him at Emckown@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @EMcKown23.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: What we learned in Lewis Central's Iowa HS football win over Norwalk