Council Bluffs, IA
'The Cup' is staying in The Bluffs!
Iowa Western (9-0, 2-0) used a suffocating defense and a dominating ground game to top NJCAA #14 Iowa Central (5-4, 1-1), 34-14 over the weekend.
As they have been known to do, the Reivers' 'Dark Side' set the tone early in the match-up.
Defensive back Joshua Pierre-Louis intercepted Triton QB Justin Silverstein's fourth pass, returning it 38 yards for a touchdown to start the scoring.
The Reivers would force three more turnovers in the first half, a pair of interceptions by Jack Wattier and Matt Kordas, and a fumble recovered by Joe Hjelle to keep Iowa Central from ever getting into the game. Samuel Robertson grabbed his second interception of the year in the second half as the Reivers forced five total Triton turnovers.
Clev Lubin forced the fumble on a strip sack as he continued to pile up tackles for loss on the season. On the day the defense racked up six sacks of Triton quarterbacks and 10 more tackles for loss.
Offensively, Jonathan Humpal rushed 32 times for 183 yards and a touchdown, while Hunter Watson tossed a pair of touchdown passes as the Reivers ground out 457 yards of total offense, their most of the season. Kyrell Jordan and Louis Brooks each caught one of the scores, while receiver Lucci Fidone scored his first points as a receiver on a pass from Watson for a two-point conversion in the third quarter, their first two-point play since 2021. Max Bartachek's two field goals, including a career-long 45-yarder, capped off the scoring.
While the Reivers posted season highs, the Tritons' vaunted passing attack was limited to only 129 yards on the day while being intercepted four times. Silverstein, who entered the game as one of the NJCAA's top QBs, was outperformed on the day by Triton backup Trevon Taylor, although neither quarterback's performance is likely to make the recruiting reel.
"We knew coming in that they were pretty much one-dimensional and that Silverstein likes to throw on the run," said Head Coach Scott Strohmeier after the game, "I felt like our defensive secondary may have had one of their best games of the year locking up their receivers and really limiting the options that he (Silverstein) had. I mean Sanders is one of the top guys, statistically in the NJCAA, and, I haven't looked at the numbers, but he had maybe two catches on the day".
Coach was right, Mario Sanders, who entered the game with nearly 900 yards receiving finished the game still shy of the mark with just two catches for only 23 yards.
It was the Reivers' 16th victory in 18 tries against Iowa Central and the sixth straight since an upset loss in 2019.
Humpal's 32 carries were the most since Zaquandre White carried a program record 36 times in a come-from-behind win over Highland in November of 2019 and the sixth time in program history that an IWCC back has carried 30+ times in a single game.
IWCC completed another undefeated October, the 11th time in the program's history that they've managed to do so. The victory moves their all-time record during the month to 53-4. Historically, the Reivers have the exact amount of wins in the month of October as games played in September.
As far as conference numbers go, the Reivers are now 53-6 all-time in regular season conference match-ups, which dates back to the Midwest Football Conference when the now-defunct Grand Rapids CC football team won two of three regular season meetings with IWCC before folding their program. The Reivers are a combined 35-3 against the two teams that remain in their conference, Iowa Central and Ellsworth, including playoff match-ups.
Iowa Western finds themselves in an identical spot to last season, undefeated with two games to play.
Coffeyville, ranked 7th in the NJCAA's preseason poll, has had a down year as far as record goes, but they come to town to play spoiler at Lewis Central's Titan Stadium.
The Red Ravens are fresh off an upset of Butler and are always dangerous, they're one of the few teams with a win at Iowa Western and the overall series between the schools stands with just a one-game advantage for the Reivers.
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 12:30 p.m., with a pregame interview with Coach Strohmeier, a highlight reel of the win over Iowa Central, scores from college and area high school action, and of course a preview of the game. The video stream starts just before kickoff at 1:00 p.m.
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