Pirates Upset Bid Sunk, Reivers Win Fifth Straight

Council Bluffs, IA

When you're the back to back National Champion, you're always the hunted.

Iowa Western, winners of four straight, welcomed an Independence team that had dropped four in a row, to The Bluffs on Saturday.

It wasn't easy, but the Reivers (6-1) topped the Pirates (1-6) with a persistent defense and enough offense for a 21-10 victory and another tally in the win column.

IWCC rolled their offense onto the field after winning the opening toss and promptly trucked 88 yards down the field, reaching the end zone in 13 plays. 

Quarterback Hunter Dekkers, on a torrid passing pace this season, completed seven of nine passes on the drive, including a 15-yard dart to wide receiver Fresh Walters for the score.  

Independence, averaging just under seven points per contest during their four game skid, promptly answered, driving 61 yards before settling for a Mario Ventura field goal to make the score 7-3 with 4:26 remaining on the first quarter clock.

A three and out gave the Pirates the ball back quickly and they marched just outside the Reivers' red zone in three plays.  On 3rd and 8, The Darkside took control.  Andy Burburija completed a strip sack of Pirates' QB Isaiah Nathaniel and Ayden Barnby pounced on the loose ball.

Dekkers and the Reivers' offense marched the ball down the field, splitting the 10-play drive between the end of the first and start of the second quarter.  

Titus Myers had a chain mover off the arm of Dekkers, while Walters cashed in a pair of catches for 39 yards, the last taking Iowa Western to the one yard line. 

After defensive lineman turned running back Jaxon Cherry was dropped for a five-yard loss, Trevor Burnett blasted in on a nifty run, stepping left and then back right to go up the middle untouched for a 14-3 Reivers' lead.

Unfortunately for the Reivers' defense, the big play bit again two drives later when ICC running back Cortez Fisher ripped off a 40-yard play and Nathaniel found receiver Kalvin Gilbert for a 33-yard score. 

Independence would hold defensively and Iowa Western headed to the break up 14-10 at home.

"Guys just aren't making plays, they think they can show up and walk away with a 'W'," said an obviously disappointed Head Coach Scott Strohmeier at the half, "we need to stop giving up the big play defensively and offensively we need to protect the quarterback."

The two teams traded punts through the third quarter and Dekkers was intercepted for the second time to start the fourth with the four point lead holding for IWCC.

Iowa Western sealed the game with a drive that absorbed five plus minutes in the middle of the final quarter.

The 10-play drive ended with Keyon Brown's first receiving touchdown since week two against Hutchinson.  Brown did find the endzone against #3 Snow on a 10-yard rush in the Reivers' previous game and scored from the same distance on Dekkers' second scoring strike of the day.  

On the day, Iowa Western's 'Darkside' held, posting their fewest points allowed on the year, .  Cameron Done sacked Nathaniel once by himself and joined Jerome Baker to split another.  Dominic Wiseman grabbed the Reivers fourth of the day as Lucas Struck once again led the Reivers in tackles with nine.

Offensively, IWCC cleared the 300-yard mark for the 13th consecutive game, the third longest such streak in school history.  Dekkers cleared 250 yards through the air on 27 of 42 passing to 10 different Reiver receivers.  Fresh Walters continued to pile up the yardage with his third 100 plus yard receiving day and grabbed his third score of the year. His 47 receptions lead the team with Titus Myers paving the way in receiving yardage.  Both receivers have cleared 500-yards on the year and have combined for half of Dekkers' 16 passing touchdowns.

The win also marked the eighth consecutive victory in the series against Independence with the Reivers collecting four victories at home and on the road.

IWCC improved to 15-1 after a bye week and 55-4 all-time in the month of October.  The win was also the 70th all-time at Titan Stadium, the field the Reivers have called home since their second season in 2010.

Next up for the NJCAA's second ranked squad is a trip to #5 Garden City on Saturday.  The Reivers are 5-3 against Garden City with three of the wins coming at Broncbuster Stadium.  Shockingly, it will be the first game where both teams are inside the Top 5, while it will be the sixth match-up with both teams ranked inside the Top 20.  IWCC has met Garden City as the second-ranked team in four of the eight match-ups, and was tied for the top spot in the first ever meeting between the teams.  The Broncbusters have been ranked in five of the meetings with IWCC unranked in both the 2015 and 2016 meetings with GCCC.

With Saturday's game, the Reivers will have faced each of the other four Top 5 teams in this week's NJCAA poll. They're currently 2-1 with wins against #3 Georgia Military and #4 Snow College, those two teams meet on Saturday night in Utah.

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 AM from Broncbuster Stadium with kickoff from Broncbuster Stadium set for 11:00 AM.

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 your personal information, including your payment information.  DO NOT CLICK THOSE LINKS.

*OTHER NOTES

IWCC cleared program marks of 32,000 rushing yards in the game and surpassed 73,000 total offensive yards.  Overall Iowa Western has averaged 412.74 yards per game through 177 games played.  Coach Strohmeier's team will also clear 41,000 all-time passing yards with just 13 yards gained against Garden City.

Hunter Dekkers passed 2015-2016 quarterback Andre Nunez to move into 8th place on the all-time passing yards list.  He'll more than likely move into the top five on Saturday if he continues his current average of over 300 yards per game.

Titus Myers and Fresh Walters are also on the verge of entering the Top 20 on the all-time receiving yards list. Myers needs 79 yards, while Walters needs 95 to surpass former Reiver Tyus Mason.

The current streak of 300 yards or more on offense currently stands at 13 games.  The longest such streak by the Reivers' offense is 47 games, which occurred from September 25, 2010 until November 8, 2014.

Defensively IWCC has only forced four turnovers in seven games, the lowest mark in program history. The previous low came in 2017 when 'The Darkside' had eight takeaways through seven games. That season they finished the season by forcing eight in the final five games.  This years' squad has four fumbles recoveries and zero interceptions, also a program low.