El Dorado, KS
The game plan was simple for Iowa Western against Butler on Saturday ... get first downs and make the Grizzlies one-dimensional. For the first half of football, the Reivers executed that game plan to near perfection - the second half didn't go quite as smoothly.
Quarterback Hunter Watson, and running backs Jonathan Humpal and Bryant Williams all rushed for touchdowns, while receiver Latrell Bonner snagged Watson's lone touchdown pass of the game as the Reivers (8-0) held off a tenacious Butler (4-3) squad, 28-21, to remain perfect on the year.
Butler and Iowa Western have become fast rivals with the two meeting in both the 2012 and 2013 Graphic Edge Bowls before the KJCCC - ICCAC scheduling alliance began in 2014. Iowa Western has now been on the plus side in eight of the ten games against the perennial NJCAA power, but the two losses have both come at BG Products Stadium in El Dorado.
Things started well for Reivers as Watson led IWCC 51-yards on nine plays after the 'Darkside' forced a three and out on Butler's first possession.
A pair of chunk plays and a pair of 15-yard penalties against BCC helped the Reivers to a first and goal before Watson scored from one-yard out to make it 7-0.
The following Grizzly drive resulted in their first movement of the chains in the game, but on 1st and 10 Dominic Wiseman forced a fumble and Malik Reed pounced on the football for the Reivers' first takeaway of the day.
Two plays later, it was 14-0 as Humpal showed off his escapability, sidestepping defenders down the far sideline before hitting the pylon for a 15-yard score.
I-dub's Defense continued to stump the Grizzlies on the next set of downs, allowing a first down on the first play of the next drive but stopping BUCO on the next three downs.
A Butler punt bounced near the 10-yard line before Joshua Pierre-Louis attempted to pick up the football on the bounce amidst four Grizzly special teamers. The risky play backfired and the home team started first and goal at the Reiver seven-yard line. Three plays later QB Tanner Murray found Jamarion McDougle in the back of the end zone for the score, cutting the lead in half.
The score sparked the home crowd, but it wouldn't last as IWCC drove 61-yards in eight plays, capped off by Latrell Bonner's second straight game with a touchdown catch as Watson found him down the middle from 11-yards out.
Trailing 21-7, Butler hit a big pass to running back Seth McGowan for 41-yards and quarterback Tanner Murray rushed to the eight yard line to set the Grizzlies up from the Reiver eight-yard line.
On the next play safety Sam Robertson jumped Murray's pass to the endzone for his first interception of the season, giving the Reivers the ball just outside of their endzone.
After a punt from the same spot, Butler's ensuing seven-play drive was snuffed out, giving the ball back to the Reivers at the Iowa Western 25 with just 1:27 remaining on the clock.
Watson hit tight end Naivyan Cargill for a 60-yard gain to flip the field and position the Reivers inside the Grizzly redzone with time running down.
After a holding penalty pushed Iowa Western back to the Butler 22, Bryant Williams took the ball to the left side of the near hashmark for his first rushing score in four games to push the lead to 28-7, Reivers.
"We've got 30 minutes of football to play and the guys on the other side of the football aren't just going to roll over," said Head Coach Scott Strohmeier as the team went to the locker room.
The first noise of the scoreboard came on the Reivers' second drive of the second half. After a pair of Butler punts, Iowa Western was set for their second when the Grizzlies' Jonathan Jordan blocked Max Bartachek's kick and the home team celebrated as Jaxon Bowles returned the football five yards to make the score 28-14.
The defenses continued to dominate with the teams exchanging punts through the remainder of the third quarter.
A pair of 15-yard penalties helped the Grizzlies down the field. Iowa Western stuffed Butler's first three attempts on 1st and goal from the one, but Tanner Murray found KJ Shankle on a pass to the home sideline for the first offensive score of the half.
With the score 28-21, the Reivers took over with just 5:21 left in the game but were forced to punt for the sixth time in the second half, giving the Grizzlies a chance to find the tying score with still over two minutes remaining.
Murray drove the Grizzlies down the field, aided by another pair of Reiver penalties. On 2nd and 10 from the Reivers' 20, Murray targeted receiver PJ Caldwell, but the ball deflected off of his hands right into the arms of a diving Clem McCullough for the turnover.
The Reivers ran two plays in victory formation to close out the win, their eighth of the season and 10th in a row overall going back to last year's NJCAA playoffs.
IWCC evened their record in El Dorado with the victory and remains undefeated with three games to play in the regular season.
Iowa Central comes to town this weekend for a game with much at stake. An ICCAC Region Championship is on the line as is 'The Cup', the travelling trophy awarded to the winner of the annual game between the two teams.
The 14th-ranked Tritons have dropped consecutive games to Butler and Dodge City and will be looking to dampen the Reivers' chances of a perfect season when they come to Lewis Central's Titan Stadium.
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 2:00 PM on the radio side with the video stream starting just before kickoff at 2:30 PM.
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