Goal-line intervention: Reivers 2-0 after weird ending

If there are such things as football gods, perhaps they knew it was time Saturday to smile on the Iowa Western football program.

One year after the Reivers lost their first two games on the final play and three others by fewer than 11 points, Iowa Western won in the unlikeliest way imaginable.

The Blue Dragons hustled to the line of scrimmage in hopes of catching Iowa Western off guard, but they weren't set for a full second, and a flag flew. Since the clock showed nine seconds remaining, the 10-second runoff ended it and sent the 12th-ranked Reivers flying around in celebration of their 27-21 victory at Titan Stadium.

Iowa Western coach Scott Strohmeier was asked if he believed the football-gods angle held any weight.

"I hope so, because that means we've got a few more wins (to come) because we lost a few more (like that) last year,'' he said. "I've never seen an ending like that.''

The Reivers improved to 2-0 and likely will climb several spots when the next NJCAA national rankings are released. The unblemished mark came after a remarkable final 77 seconds that left everyone glassy-eyed and wondering what exactly had happened.

An 11-yard run by Otis Williams gave the Blue Dragons a first down at the Reiver 20 with 1:07 remaining. A six-yard run, an incompletion and a run for no gain presented Hutchinson with a fourth-and-4 at the 14 with 48 seconds left, so the visitors called their final timeout.

Quarterback Jones scrambled for 10 yards to the 4 with 40 seconds remaining, giving Hutch a fresh set of downs. The Blue Dragons were then penalized for a delay of game, moving them back to the 9. After an incomplete pass, Jones hit Johnny Lumpkin for three yards to the 6. Then Jones hit Erwin, who was tackled at the 2 before the personal foul moved it to the 1 with 16 ticks showing.

In their haste to complete the comeback, all of the Blue Dragons didn't get set, ending it in improbable fashion.

"Yeah, that one play stings,'' Hutchinson coach Rion Rhoades said. "But we lost the game for a bunch of plays before that. We played poorly early, and that made it different than it should have been at the end.''

The Iowa Western defense held Hutchinson out of the end zone despite allowing six snaps in the red zone in the final 67 seconds.

"I don't know about the other guys, but I know I was really gassed,'' Reiver defensive end Chester Graves said. "It really opens our eyes and tells us that if we have to win a close game that we really can.''

Iowa Western played a quality first half, leading 21-7 at the break. Kurt Walding fired touchdown passes of 18 yards to Anthony Turner and 10 to Mekhi Sargent, and Graves returned a fumble 22 yards for another score.

But the Reivers sputtered offensively in the second half, and the Blue Dragons gained the momentum down the stretch behind the running of DeShawn Waller (14 carries, 95 yards) and B.J. Emmons (14 carries, 92 yards).

It all came to a head in the final minute.

"I could see it in their face that they were tired,'' Iowa Western defensive coordinator Mike Blackbourn said. "But that's stuff that we preach all the time about, adversity. They kept battling all the way till the end. We were just fortunate we got a break.''

Emotions were high after the bizarre ending, and coaches and officials were able to keep things under control before anything regrettable happened.

A week after climbing out of a 25-0 hole to win, Hutchinson was a yard away from possibly another dramatic victory. Once things settled down, Rhoades had a long discussion with his players before assessing the afternoon.

"Coach Strohmeier's a heck of a football coach,'' he said. "He's one of my best friends in this business. I admire what he does. He's got a really good team. They just got it done today and we didn't.''

Hutchinson (1-1) 7 0 7 7–21

Iowa Western (2-0) 14 7 3 3–27