Reivers Outrun Panthers, 'Darkside' Grabs Second Shutout of Season

Council Bluffs, Iowa

Halloween Day, 2009.  It's been nearly 14 years since Iowa Western's first signature win, a 20-17, upset victory over 11th ranked Ellsworth to end the 2009 season.

The Panthers would go on that year to top Central Lakes in the Graphic Edge Bowl, while the Reivers were content to finish 5-4 in their inaugural season.

Since that victory to end the 2009 campaign, IWCC has posted 119 additional program wins, including three appearances in the NJCAA National Championship game.  The Panthers, haven't been so fortunate, dropping their 16th straight to the Reivers in a 52-0 shutout at Titan Stadium.

The Reivers, now winners of four straight to open the season welcomed the winless Panthers.  ECC, losers of six straight dating back to last season, last defeated an NJCAA squad in September of 2019.

IWCC got the offense going right away, marching 75 yards in 10 plays to open the scoring.  Aiden Niedens, starting in place of a banged-up Andre Goodman, stair-stepped his way, 15-yards, into the endzone for his first score as a Reiver.  Niedens was 3-3 passing on the drive in addition to 19 yards rushing and the score.

James Graham would add to the lead one drive later.  The Sophomore transfer came in for a 4th & goal from the 2-yard line and blasted his way in for the score.  Graham's opportunities have come largely in a wildcat look for the Reivers this season, but without the big body of the injured Derek Coombs, Graham was called in for the short yardage play and capitalized on the opportunity.

After another Panther punt, Ellsworth would thwart the Reivers' next attempt as Graham was stripped near the goal-line.  Micah Davis would gift the Reivers another 'goal to go' opportunity when he returned the next Panther punt inside the ECC 10-yard line.  Two plays later it was Ty'Shun Jordan in the end zone for the first time this season as Niedens found the Reiver sophomore on a quick slant route for the score.

Graham and Niedens would continue to split time at the QB spot, while the 'Darkside' continued to dominate.  Ellsworth would manage just 27 yards of total offense and three first downs in the opening half.  That total reflects 27 yards of negative rushing yardage and a pair of quarterback sacks by Jackson Filer, giving the defensive end the career record before halftime.  Filer's career total of 15 sacks, surpassed the previous career record of 14.5 quarterback tackles, held by Ty Branz (2010-11).

Niedens would get banged up late in the second quarter, leaving Graham to handle the play-calling duties and Head Coach Scott Strohmeier to open up the playbook for the sophomore. "We weren't expecting to have James cover such a large part of the game," Strohmeier said, "so at the half we had to open things up for him a bit more than the 'Wildcat' looks we had him set up for."

Before the playbook opened up, Graham would punch it in for his second score of the day after the Reivers took over at the ECC 15-yard line, the result of a 13-yard punt off the foot of Robert Harris.  Sam Wilber's fourth extra-point of the half would give the Reivers a 28-0 lead into the half.

The first Reiver drive of the half featured the second challenge of the game for the home team. After a punt by Ty Nissen on fourth down and four to go, the Reivers challenged that Ellsworth had two players on the field wearing the same number.  After review, it was determined that both DaMyles Clark Tate and Darrius Jackson, wearing number five, were both in on the punt return giving the Reivers five yards and a first down to continue the drive.

Bryant Williams carried for a first down on three carries and on 3rd and three, Graham kept the football and rambled 35-yards down the right sideline for his third score of the game and ballooned the Reiver lead to 35-0 with 6:26 remaining in the quarter.

Another ECC possession and another punt, fair caught by Micah Davis at the IWCC 45 allowed Graham to show off his arm.  The Fitzgerald, Georgia native found Roscoe Parrish for 19 yards before Jaden Koger carried the ball three straight plays for another 16 yards.  That's when Offensive Coordinator Tony Koehling and Coach Strohmeier dialed up #84's number.  

"We saw that we might have a play toward Tate's (Schmitt) side and so we called it", said Strohmeier after the game, "he makes catches just like it in practice all the time".

And that's exactly what the Reivers did, Graham found Tate Schmitt on the right side of the end zone with Schmitt stretching his 6'5" frame out for the catch of the day and his first score as a Reiver to extend the lead to 42-0 in the home team's favor.

Already up against IWCC's stout defense, Ellsworth didn't help themselves with another pair of penalties on the ensuing drive and was forced to punt again in the 3rd quarter with the Reivers taking over near midfield.

Trey King, Jr. carried on the drive's first three plays, racking up 26 yards in the process before recently added Zyon Gayfield took over.  The St. Louis product rushed four times for 27 yards before Graham found the end zone for his fourth score of the game from one-yard out.  The score made Graham the fourth Reiver to find the endzone four or more times in a game and the first since Marcell Barbee caught four touchdowns against Snow College in October of 2019.

The only scoring in the fourth quarter came off the leg of Josh Meyer.  The sophomore out of Newton, Iowa banged home a 32-yard field goal to cap the scoring at 52 for the Reivers and the defense posted their second shutout of the season, limiting ECC to just 75 total yards of offense.

The 'Darkside' picked up five quarterback sacks on the day and held the Panthers to just 47 plays.

Gayfield's persistence at the back end of the 3rd and much of the 4th quarter nearly earned him IWCC's first 100-yard rusher of the season, but he finished just three yards shy of the mark.  Four consecutive kneel downs on the Reivers' last drive cost them a 400-yard rushing performance.  The total of 398 was the first time the team cleared the 300-yard mark since last September, also against the Panthers, and the fifth most in program history, surpassing the 397 yards IWCC put up in a 2011 home game against Dakota-Bottineau.

The Reivers earned their 38th all-time victory in the month of September and roll into a tough quartet of games in October where they'll face three teams in the Top 10 of the NJCAA rankings and Independence, who at 1-2 overall is receiving votes in the most recent poll released and was ranked in the Top 10 in this year's preseason poll.

The Reivers will kick off with the Pirates at 5:00 pm at Emmot Field in Independence where the Reivers are 3-0 all-time.  Emmot Field as it's known now was formerly known as Shulthis Stadium, the site of the first night game in organized baseball history back in 1930 and also the site of Mickey Mantle's first professional home run.  The story goes that Mantle hit the homerun over the centerfield wall 460 feet away and onto 'Monkey Island' at the neighboring zoo, 600 feet away.  

All the action can be heard, free of charge, on the Reiver Sports Network.  The game, with Jake Ryan, Russ Nelsen, and Josh Odson 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 4:30 on the radio side with the video stream starting just before kickoff.

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