Second-ranked Iowa Western makes a statement with 33-24 win over No. 11 Hutchinson
/ World-Herald News Service
If it hadn't done enough through the first two weeks to command the full attention of the NJCAA football world, Iowa Western's effort on Saturday probably qualified.
The second-rated Reivers traveled to Gowans Stadium and beat a No. 11 Hutchinson team that was coming off its first top-five victory in 23 years, prevailing 33-24 to run its record to 3-0.
"I really think we did make some strides,'' Iowa Western coach Scott Strohmeier said. "It showed these guys how good we can be if we play all three phases together.''
Redshirt sophomore Clay Beathard came off the bench to throw for 261 yards and three touchdowns — all to Marcell Barbee — as the Reivers scored 31 unanswered points to lead 31-7 with 3:23 left in the third quarter.
But taking a similar pattern to the Reivers' win last week over Iowa Central, Hutchinson (2-1) made things interesting. It pulled within 31-24 with 6:26 left in the game on Sebastian Garcia's 28-yard field goal.
Then came perhaps the key sequence of the game. On fourth and 6 at the Hutchinson 35 with just more than four minutes remaining, Strohmeier elected to punt, and Hunter Pinegar pinned the Blue Dragons on their own 2.
Two plays later from their 3, Jonathan White was tackled in his end zone by Morris Joseph and Jabari Meyers for a safety, giving Iowa Western a two-score lead at 33-24 with 3:11 left.
That proved important, because Hutchinson was stopped inches from the goal line on fourth down with 10 seconds remaining.
"Hunter did a nice job there,'' Strohmeier said. "I never really thought about going for it, but that was probably one of the bigger points of the game.''
Last week, the Reivers led Iowa Central 26-7 and held on for a 26-20 victory.
"Once again, we couldn't stop the momentum once they got it in that fourth quarter,'' Strohmeier said. "But obviously it's a good feeling when you come out with the win. We're 3-0 and that's a good football team.''
Barbee, a 6-foot-2, 200-pound true freshman out of Pueblo South in Colorado, caught five passes for 117 yards, including touchdowns of 33, 26 and 10 yards that turned a 10-7 Reiver lead into a 31-7 advantage.
On the first one, he took a pass in the left flat, picked up a block and raced 33 yards. On the 26-yard score, he went high in the end zone to pull in Beathard's pass with teammate Nick Singleton also in the area. And the 10-yarder came on an outstanding back-shoulder throw by Beathard.
"Marcell is really talented, and that's why we took him right away,'' Strohmeier said. "He catches the ball extremely well and goes up and gets it with his hands. He's kind of our wild card. He can play three to four positions.''
Beathard — the younger brother of former Iowa quarterback C.J. Beathard — entered the game on Iowa Western's seventh possession with 3:18 left in the first half. He threw TD passes to Barbee on three of his first four possessions.
"Clay made some plays,'' Strohmeier said. "Made some throws. Really managed the game and did a good job.''
Led by former West Des Moines Dowling standout Willie O'Hara's nine solo tackles and five assists, the Reiver defense held Hutchinson to 32 rushing yards and 332 total yards.
The Reivers finished with 510 total yards, picking up 338 through the air and an important 172 on the ground despite being banged up at running back. Gayflor Flomo led the rushing attack with 12 carries for 61 yards.
"We knew we weren't just going to gash them in the run game, but we had to stick to it a little bit, and I thought that was key,'' Strohmeier said.
Iowa Western heads into its bye week with some momentum. It returns to action on Sept. 22 at 2-0 Garden City, which entered the week rated seventh.
Strohmeier said the best part is that his squad isn't yet close to reaching its potential.
"I don't think they're satisfied with just winning,'' he said. "They're obviously happy, but they know we're not playing our best at times. When we do, we're pretty good, and when we don't, we're pretty bad.''
Iowa Western (3-0)............... 3 14 14 2—33
At Hutchinson (2-1)................... 7 0 7 10—24
H: Khalil McClain 60 pass from Mason Schucker (Sebastian Garcia kick)
IW: FG Eddie Ogamba 21