Council Bluffs, IA

Defense won a championship ... in 2022.  The 2023 version of the Reivers' 'Darkside' defense seemed to find their identity in the season's second game against 11th ranked Georgia Military on a hot day in Council Bluffs.

The Bulldogs were shut down by the Reivers' for much of the day, surrendering 10 tackles for loss and five quarterback sacks while managing just 147 total yards of offense.

On the offensive side for IW, Quarterback Hunter Watson added a pair of touchdown passes to his season total, finding Jordan Johnson for the second straight week and Trevor Burnett for his first score as a Reiver.

Running back Bryant Williams surpassed his week one output by a single yard, on six less carries,  and found the endzone for his first score of the season.  The sophomore has piled up 221 yards in the first two games of the season, the first Reiver to surpass the 100-yard mark in consecutive games since 2019 when Zaquandre White did it in three straight games.

"Again, we won't look down at a win, but the guys know that things need shored up", Head Coach Scott Strohmeier said after the game. "The schedule doesn't get any easier and the little things are going to catch up with us.  We took care of the penalty issues from week one, but we still left points on the field and we've got to play sound defensively or teams are going to get those big plays, which they (GMC) did on their touchdown.  It's a good win, especially with the weather the way it was today."

Temperatures reached the upper 90s by games end, but the Reivers conditioning allowed them to overcome the sweltering heat for the first victory on the new turf at Lewis Central's Titan Stadium.  The surface, installed in the offseason, replaces the first turf that was installed at the facility in 2012, the year IWCC brought home their first national title.

Next up, the Reivers head back to Western Kansas to take on 10th-ranked Garden City.  The Broncbusters and Reivers are nearly dead even in the all-time series between the two teams, with the Reivers leading the series in Garden 2-1 and 4-3 overall.  Kickoff comes at 11:00 am from Memorial Stadium in Garden City.

All the action can be heard, free of charge, on the Reiver Sports Network.  The game, with Jake Ryan, Russ Nelsen, Josh Odson, and Tony Boone on the call, can also be found on Iowa Western's 100,000-watt FM radio station, 89.7 The River.  The RSN Countdown to Kickoff begins at 10:30 on the radio side with the video stream starting just before kickoff.

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