Cherry Puts Reivers On Top, Sets Up Top 3 Showdown With Snow

Council Bluffs, IA

Through one half of play Saturday at Titan Stadium it looked like Iowa Western Football finally had it figured out.

Through a complete game, it's evident there's still work to do.

Iowa Western (4-1) marched 65 yards on 10 plays on their opening drive, punctuated with a one-yard blast by defensive end turned running back Jaxon Cherry, to take the lead they wouldn't relinquish in a 42-20 victory over visiting Coffeyville (2-2).

The Reivers' 'Darkside' defense came ready to play, allowing Coffeyville to crack into Iowa Western territory on their opening drive, but standing strong to force a turnover on downs on back to back incomplete passes by Red Ravens' quarterback Chris Arviso.

His counterpart, Hunter Dekkers, promptly drove the Reivers back down the field, completing three of four passes on the ensuing drive before Max Bartachek came on for a field goal attempt when the drive stalled inside the Coffeyville red zone.

Jarvis Murray blocked the attempt and CCC's Cyler Christmas scooped the ball and raced 75 yards to slice the lead for the Reivers to 7-6.

Hunter Martens' first PAT attempt of the year sailed wide left to help the Reivers maintain their advantage.

Dekkers found another offensive newcomer for the Reivers' second score of the game.  DeAndre Horn, added to the roster in place of an injured Naivyan Cargill, caught a 13-yard strike from Dekkers and then banged off a pair of defenders before crossing the goal line for an 18-yard score and a 14-6 lead.

The turnover bug bit Coffeyville on the following Bartachek kick when Christian Williams popped return man Brandon Heyward to jar the ball loose and the Reivers' Trevor Burnett came away with the recovery to set up IWCC inside the Red Ravens' 20-yard line.

Four plays later, Jaxon Cherry blasted in again and it was 21-6 Iowa Western just inside the 2nd quarter.

For those familiar with the freshman out of Webster City, it was no surprise to see him get snaps in the offensive backfield.  Cherry played both sides of the ball and racked up 1891 yards rushing, the 7th most in the State of Iowa during his Senior season.

Iowa Western's defense has been much maligned through four games, but on Saturday they looked like the 'Darkside' that fans and opponents have come to expect.

Coffeyville again took their chances when they elected to go for it on 4th and 1 from their own 34-yard line, but Running back Steven Robinson failed to get the necessary yardage when Reivers' linebacker De'Veion McLilley-Bulo tackled him for a one-yard loss.

Six plays later it was Trevor Burnett's turn, cashing in a carry from four yards out for the Reivers' fourth score of the half.

The Reivers closed out the first half scoring on another six-play drive when Dekkers found Jaivyn Moore from 32 yards out for his first score as a Reiver and a 35-6 halftime lead.

"We've still got 30 minutes to go," said Head Coach Scott Strohmeier at the break, "but that was a well-played half of football."

Arviso, the Red Ravens' first-time starter, finally found success to start the second half.  The redshirt freshman completed six of nine passes to lead Coffeyville inside the five before running back Steven Robinson found paydirt from three yards out to open the second half.

It took CCC's second turnover of the day to spark the Reivers' offense.  

After Tim Roberson stripped wide receiver Ty Durham of the football to force the fumble, De'Veion McLilley-Bulo pounced on it to give IWCC the possession inside Coffeyville's red zone.

Four plays later it was Jaxon Cherry's third touchdown capping IWCC's total. Cherry took the direct snap 10 yards for the fourth rushing touchdown of the game for the Reivers.

Coffeyville added a late Arviso to Jalile Boost touchdown reception, but IWCC's strong first half proved too much to overcome.

"I think the defense played their best game of the year, but we lacked focus offensively in the second half," said Strohmeier after the game, "that won't be good enough next weekend."

IWCC moves to 6-3 all-time versus the Red Ravens, including a 4-1 mark at Titan Stadium.

It was the Reivers' 7th straight game of 37 points or more, the first time since 2017 that IWCC has put those type of offensive numbers on the scoreboard.

After a pair of 300+ passing games, Dekkers fell short of the mark for the second consecutive game, barely. The Quarterback, averaging 317 yards passing per contest, continues to climb the all-time charts and currently stands 11th in program history in passing yards and is the 12th Reivers' quarterback to reach double-digit touchdown passes.

For the third straight game a Reiver scored three touchdowns or more as Cherry joined Daniel Swinney and Titus Myers with his three scores in a game this season. It marks the first time since the 2017 season that the feat has happened. That season's Reivers recorded five straight games with a player reaching the mark and in two of the games, multiple players found the endzone three or more times.

The NJCAA's third-ranked squad comes to town next.  Snow College remained perfect on the season, rallying from 14 points down to win in El Dorado, Kansas over Butler on Saturday.  The Badgers scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns to stay unbeaten on the year. 

The Reivers and Badgers have met annually since the 2019 season, including twice during the Fall of 2021. Snow upset the Reivers in the opening game of the Spring 2021 season (20-21 academic year) and earned their way to that season's National Championship game versus Hutchinson. IWCC has won four straight contests in the series and aside from a 26-0 victory for the Reivers in 2022, the games have been decided by one score, including a pair of contests decided by just one point with both teams earning a victory in those contests. Overall Iowa Western leads the series 6-2, including a 2-1 record in the postseason and a 3-1 record at Titan Stadium.

The game is set for a 1:00 pm kickoff from Titan Stadium in Council Bluffs.

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 PM from the press box at Lewis Central High School.

The complimentary tailgate party, sponsored by Barley's Bar & Grill in Council Bluffs begins approximately two hours before kickoff in the west parking lot outside of the stadium. Reiver fans are invited to set-up their personal tailgates near the main tailgate village parking lot. A $5 donation will allow tailgaters to park inside the tailgate lot near the main tailgate.

A reminder that Reiver games are free to watch and to listen to, no credit card information or payment is necessary.  Any links asking for that information are spam/phishing and will attempt to get you to enter credit card information. DO NOT CLICK THOSE LINKS.