Complete Team Effort Helps Reivers Withstand Badger Attack, Win Top Five Clash

Ephraim, Utah

A perfect night under the lights in the Beehive State couldn't have ended any better for Iowa Western Football. 

The Reivers (7-0) rallied from a 10-point deficit to top the Badgers of Snow (4-2) in another instant classic in the rivalry between the programs.

Snow entered the contest winners of four straight, while IWCC has opened the season with six straight wins for the sixth time in program history.  

The Badgers' defense stifled the Reivers' offense to open the game, IWCC was forced to punt on its first two drives and turned the ball over on the two that followed.

Snow on the other hand had the 'Darkside' on their heels to begin the game with the quick passing game. After forcing a punt on the Badgers' first possession, the Reivers watched Donovan Smith carve up the squad on their second. Smith hit Tyrique Carter 10 yards downfield for his third straight completion and Carter did the rest. The 29-yard score and ensuing extra point put the SC up 7-0.

Iowa Western's first turnover happened on the following drive on a fumble recovery by Stockton Bramell and Snow appeared to be driving for another score, but on the 10th play of the drive and first of the second quarter, Kemari Copeland scooped up Smith's dropped snap and the Reivers took over.

Snow took the momentum right back on the next play however, as the Reivers went to the trick play bag, a flea flicker from Watson was intercepted by SC's Bramwell to give the football back to the Badgers. Two offensive drives later sandwiched around a Max Bartachek field goal, Snow scored again. Jared Wilson outraced his coverage for a 29-yard strike from Smith to build the lead to 13-3 for the home team and a vocal home crowd was eating it up.  

The good news? Josh Pierre-Louis blocked the point after to keep the Badger lead at 10 with four minutes remaining in the opening half.  

IWCC couldn't counter right away, but the defense, finding their groove, forced three straight incompletions to give the ball back to the offense with just over a minute remaining.

Pierre-Louis had everyone holding their breath on the return, initially bobbling the punt before turning in a spectacular 27-yard return to set the Reivers up just shy of midfield.

Hunter Watson, in another gutsy performance, went to work. The QB completed three straight passes to set up a 2nd and three at the Snow 20-yard line. Watson scrambled out of trouble and ran to the near side where it appeared he had space to run for a first down. Instead, he slung a pass to running back Bryant Williams and the sophomore out of Burlington, Iowa did the rest.

The 20-yard touchdown and extra point had the Reivers trailing by just three into halftime and the momentum had clearly shifted to the visiting sideline.

Snow received the second-half kick looking to add to the lead, but the 'Darkside' had played around long enough. A pair of tackles for loss, including a two-yard TFL for Joe Hjelle on 3rd and 1 for the Badgers gave the ball to the Reivers' on a punt by Snow.  

Pierre-Louis's return only went for two yards, but a 15-yard face mask penalty pushed Watson and the Reivers' 'O' into Snow territory for their first drive of the half.

The Reivers couldn't get much going against the Badgers' stout defense, but another personal foul penalty gave IWCC just enough to try a long field goal from Max Bartachek. Bartachek easily made the 40-yard attempt to tie the game at 13 to electrify the Reivers' sideline and the Reiver fans that had made the trip and packed the visiting stands.

Another three-and-out and another 15-yard penalty to start the Reivers' offensive possession, this time assessed against Snow's Head Coach Zak Ereksen, had IWCC with a 1st and 10 at the Badger 35-yard line.  Watson combined with Latrell Bonner for a catch at the pylon to give the Reivers their first lead. Bartachek's PAT made it 20-13 with 10:06 left to play in the third quarter.

The 'Darkside' forced back-to-back punts without a first down on the next two drives, including three quarterback sacks as Smith continued to feel pressure that he had been lucky enough not to deal with in the first half.

Snow's defense locked up as well and the fourth quarter began with the Badgers still chasing seven after 17 unanswered points by the Reivers.

Iowa Western forced a pair of punts on the first two fourth-quarter drives by Snow, but couldn't crack the scoreboard on the offense themselves.  

Snow took over at their 46 with 6:21 remaining in the ballgame, it would be the last offensive drive of the game for the home team.

Smith completed his first four passes of the drive, including a six-yard completion on 4th and 2 to keep the drive alive.

Hjelle appeared to have ended the good vibes with a quarterback sack, but a defensive holding gave the Badgers a first and 10 at the Reivers' 20-yard line.

The sack shook Smith however and he threw incomplete on 1st and 10.  

A rush by DJ Overstreet on a jet sweep netted the Badgers six yards, but Smith couldn't connect on third or fourth down as the Reivers forced the turnover on downs with just 57 seconds remaining on the clock.

The second-half performance by the 'Darkside' was remarkable, shutting out Snow on their home field. The Reivers were credited with four quarterback sacks and 10 tackles for loss on the day, but the overall bounce back by the squad couldn't be quantified other than on the final scoreboard.

"It was just a complete effort from all sides," said Head Coach Scott Strohmeier after the win, "I told them at halftime that we've got 30 minutes of football to play and we've come an awful long way to not finish this game the way we're capable."

Snow ran 28 more offensive plays than Iowa Western, outgaining the Reivers by 70 yards. Watson and the offense gutted out another performance where everyone contributed, including Bonner's first touchdown as a Reiver.

IWCC is now 6-2 all-time versus Snow and has handed Ereksen's Badgers their only two home losses of his tenure in Ephraim.

With four games remaining on the regular season schedule, IWCC has three ranked teams, including the current numbers one and three teams, on the slate. The outlier is Coffeyville, a team that was number seven in the NJCAA preseason poll. 

Next up, after a much-needed bye week, is Butler.  The Grizzlies and Reivers series is very similar to the series with Snow for IWCC.  BUCO is always a formidable opponent for Coach Strohmeier and his staff, even more so with the game in El Dorado. The Reivers' only two losses to the Grizzlies have been at BG Products stadium and Butler is battle-tested this season.  They'll have faced the number one and three teams in the nation by the time Iowa Western comes calling on the 21st of October.

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 6:30 PM on the radio side with the video stream starting just before kickoff at 7:00 PM Central from El Dorado, Kansas.

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