Posted: Sep 19, 2021
Council Bluffs, IA
Behind three touchdowns from running back Moses Bryant and an outstanding defensive effort, Iowa Western cruised to victory over ICCAC rival Ellsworth on Saturday, topping the Panthers, 64-6, at Titan Stadium in the Bluffs.
Freshman kicker Noah Sauberan opened the game's scoring with a field goal in the first quarter and the Reivers followed with 38 more points before ECC could answer. When they did, on a third-quarter, 65-yard, broken play, touchdown pass, the Reivers took two points back. Namdi Obiazor scooped the blocked point-after try for a defensive two-point conversion and IWCC added three more scores before the afternoon was over. In all, the Reivers piled up 505 total yards of offense in their 16th victory in 17 tries against the Panthers. IWCC's 'Darkside' defense held the visitors to just 188 yards and forced five turnovers on the afternoon, improving the Reivers takeaway margin to +9 on the year. Interceptions from Cortez Eatmon, Dylan Reyes, and Jacob Ellis coupled with fumble recoveries by Zach Strickland and Quientrail Travis punctuated an outstanding afternoon by the defense.
"The defense was definitely the momentum swinger for us early on," Head Coach Scott Strohmeier said. "Turnovers all game long allowed Tony (Bartalo) to get comfortable and get in control of just running the offense instead of shouldering all of the early misses. Our expectation is to still get better starts, but I was pleased with how the team kept their intensity throughout the game and finished strong."
The Reivers made their statement on the ground, rushing for 309 yards and four scores. Moses Bryant crossed the goal line twice on the ground, while Milton Sargbah raced in from 59 yards out. Trey King, Jr. and Jaden Koger also saw plenty of action with IWCC doing their best to run the clock in the second half. Koger scored his first career TD as a Reiver, finishing with a game-high 86 yards rushing, while King finished with 30 yards.
Freshman quarterback Tony Bartalo started his first collegiate game in place of Nate Glantz, finishing 7-16 for 98 yards and a touchdown, while teammate Walker Kinney also saw significant time, throwing for a pair of touchdowns in equaling Bartalo in completions (7) and yards (98). One of Moses Bryant's three scores on the afternoon was a reception from Bartalo, while Ryan Flournoy found the endzone for the second straight week off the arm of Kinney and Ty'shun Jordan caught his first score as a Reivers, also from Kinney.
Special teams also grabbed their share of the spotlight. In addition to Obiazor's blocked PAT for a score, Kaden Wetjen continued to shine in the return game, returning five punts on the day for 117 yards and a touchdown. The score, a 71-yard statement maker in the second quarter, was his third career punt return for a TD. Sauberan banged home a pair of field goals and remained perfect on point-after tries, making all eight attempts in the rout.
IWCC has a chance to move to 2-0 in ICCAC play this weekend when they travel to Ft. Dodge to face Iowa Central for a 12:00 pm kickoff. The game will be played on Sunday instead of Saturday, giving the Reivers an extra day of preparation for the Tritons. The game can be heard on Iowa Western's 100,000-watt radio station, 89.7 the River, in the Council Bluffs / Omaha area and online at 897theriver.com while the live video stream can be seen at GoReivers.com with Jake Ryan and Russ Nelsen on the call on both formats. The Reivers will return home on October 2nd at 1:00 pm when they welcome ASA-Miami to Titan Stadium for the two teams' first-ever meeting.
NOTES
IWCC is now 16-1 all-time versus Ellsworth, outdistancing the next closest match-up by three games. That deficit will grow closer with the upcoming match-up with Iowa Central. The Reivers lead the series with the Tritons, 12-2, heading into Sunday's game.
Namdi Obiazor's defensive PAT return marked the fifth time the team has scored defensively on an opposing team's point-after attempt. It was the first since Morris Joseph returned one in 2017, marking the third straight season the Reivers had scored in that manner.
Iowa Western is now 55-8 all-time at home, including 52-6 at Lewis Central High School.
A win on Sunday would extend IWCC's current winning streak to 10 games. In the program's 12+ seasons, IWCC has had five winning streaks of 10 games or more.
