Orange City, IA
As the lyrics went in the opening to the 90's cult classic 'The Last Boyscout', Friday night's a great night for football, as it turned out ... Friday night was in fact, not a great night for football. Much like that opening scene, the weather for Iowa Western's trip to Orange City was less than ideal, but the result was exactly what the undefeated Reivers were looking for.
Kickoff temperature in northwest Iowa hovered just below freezing at kickoff with fresh snow blanketing both the field and the stands at Korver Field, the home of the Northwestern College Raiders, as a cold north wind whipped through the area.
"We were lucky that Coach (Matt) McCarty agreed to this game," said Reivers Head Coach Scott Strohmeier, "they didn't have to play, but they knew we were in a pinch and were gracious enough to play us the night before their last game of the (regular) season. We're glad just to come get a win and stay reasonably healthy, especially with tonight's conditions."
The Reivers (9-0, 4-0) put in a request with the Raiders after Air Force Prep abandoned plans to play in Council Bluffs, due to a shortage of players, on Saturday.
NWC's reserves struck first in the game, intercepting a first-quarter pass from quarterback Nate Glantz to stop the Reivers' opening drive. IWCC had picked up three first downs to get inside the Raiders 30-yard line with Milton Sargbah doing work on the ground and Glantz completing a trio of passes.
Three plays later the 'Darkside' returned the favor, making their mark when Rashion Hodge returned an interception 30-yards for the score, the Reivers third pick-six of the season.
From there, the first half was all IWCC.
Touchdown runs by Glantz, Sargbah, and Moses Bryant ballooned the halftime score to 27-0 visitors as the teams raced for the warmth of the locker room at the break.
IWCC's reserves played exclusively in the second half as the defense continued to dominate, Sheldon Cage led the team in tackles as the Reivers collected four turnovers in the game and nine tackles for loss. Northwestern completed just two passes in the contest, while gaining only 33 total yards. Isaiah Robinson led the Raiders with 29-yards rushing.
Trey King, Jr. led the Reivers attack, rushing for 92-yards while Jaden Koger joined Glantz, Sargbah, and Bryant with rushing scores as IWCC piled up 403 yards of offense in the shortened shutout.
Next up on the schedule, McDougle Tech, a new JUCO making the circuit against NJCAA schools this fall. Kickoff is scheduled for Saturday at Titan Stadium at 1:00 pm with coverage on the Reiver Sports Network and 89.7 the River.
**UPDATE - Saturday's game with McDougle Tech has been canceled. Several requests were sent to other NJCAA members about the possibility of playing a game this weekend, but no agreements could be made. Details on the NJCAA 4-team playoff will be released on Monday, November 22nd. Please follow @NJCAAFootball on Twitter for the news on the Reivers' next game.
NOTES
Friday's win was only the second all-time against a four-year program's JV squad. The first match-up, in 2009, came against Dana College out of Blair, Nebraska with the Reivers posting a 66-0 win, the first shutout in team history.
Shane Larson, current IWCC Director of Athletics, was an assistant basketball coach for the Vikings in 2009-10, before moving to Midland University (College) the following summer after Dana shuttered its doors in the Spring of 2010.
Dana's varsity coach that year was Bill Danenhauer, Jr., known as Dave Sullivan when he was a wrestler for World Championship Wrestling.
Northwestern College was the NAIA National Runner-up last season and entered Saturday's win over Briar Cliff the #4 team in the country. They begin the opening round of the NAIA playoffs at 10-1 overall and will play host to 16th ranked Central Methodist on Saturday at noon.
