Reivers Head to Fourth Straight Title Game

via www.goreivers.com

Council Bluffs, Iowa - Playing deep into December is becoming a tradition in Reiver Country.

For the fourth straight season, IWCC Football has earned its way into the NJCAA Division 1 National Championship Game, this time in Canyon, Texas on the campus of West Texas A&M.

NJCAA #1 Iowa Western overcame an inauspicious beginning to top #4 Northwest Mississippi, 42-21, on a chilly Friday night at Titan Stadium in The Bluffs.

On paper, it was the rushing game of the MACCC Champion Rangers against the Reivers' vaunted passing attack, but as the saying goes, that's why you play the game.

Northwest went to work right away defensively, forcing Iowa Western into a punting situation on their first series and promptly took over on a Reiver mistake. Punter Jonah Dupont couldn't field the snap, resulting in a 30-yard loss, setting the Rangers up inside the Reivers' red zone, 17 yards away from paydirt in the north endzone. 

After a pair of plays with no movement, Rangers' tight end Joshua Humes caught a pass down the middle just over the goal line from Zach Wilke for an early 7-0 lead for the visitors. It was Humes' first scoring reception of the season and had the Visitors' sideline rocking as the Ranger fans that made the long trek were joined by both the Ranger spirit squad and band in celebration.

On the ensuing kickoff, Iowa Western's Jazan Williams had the ball stripped away with Northwest recovering at the Reivers' 32-yard line with a chance to go up two scores early in the game.

Fortunately for the Reivers, the 'Darkside' defense came ready to play.

A tackle for loss on first down by defensive back Lucas Struck kept the Rangers behind the chains and they settled for a 44-yard field goal attempt by Hayden Wolfe, but the attempt never got off.

Holder Jack Wright couldn't get a handle on the snap and cut his losses by covering the football before Wolfe could take a swing at the kick.

Iowa Western went to work on the ground, with running back Daniel Swinney shouldering the load. Swinney grabbed 45 yards on four carries before Trevor Burnett entered, rushing twice and catching a pair of passes from quarterback Hunter Dekkers, the last for a 4-yard, game-tying score.

IWCC forced another quick three-and-out from Northwest before marching for another score. Swinney gained another 38 yards on the ground before Dekkers found Titus Myers in the back of the end zone for the score and a 14-7 Reivers lead.

Dekkers was the most talked about Reiver leading into the semi-final match-up, and the most talked about Ranger? Running back D'mariun Perteet. The sophomore accounted for better than 50% of the Rangers' scoring this season and nearly 70% of the team's rushing yards. 

With NMCC down 14-7, Perteet showed off his explosiveness, blasting down the visitor sideline for a 50-yard gain to start the Rangers' possession. 

Reivers' defensive back Tim Roberson kept IWCC in the lead briefly by chasing down Perteet at the home team's 18-yard line, but Northwest scored one play later when Humes scored his second touchdown of the night when Wilke found him wide-open out of the backfield. Jackson Uselton remained perfect on the year when his point after evened the game at 14 with just 31 seconds remaining in the 1st quarter.

Iowa Western turned the ball over on downs to start the 2nd quarter and Northwest missed a 43-yard field goal before the teams traded punts.

The Reivers kicked it away again after the Rangers forced another three and out, but return man M.J. Johnson muffed Dupont's kick and long snapper Justin Lutz recovered the ball to give the Reivers the ball inside the NMCC red zone.

It was all Daniel Swinney on the drive, as he carried three times for 18 yards and his first score, sliding off the back of offensive lineman Chance Holloman into the endzone.

The first score of the 2nd quarter took over 12 minutes to put on the board; the second wouldn't take long.

Wilke and Perteet teamed up to move Northwest Mississippi 63 yards in just six plays. Perteet racked up 33 yards on four carries and Wilke tossed his third touchdown of the night to K.D. Gibson knotted the game at 21 with only 1:22 remaining.

With NMCC set to start the second half with the ball, Head Coach Scott Strohmeier's squad went to work with three timeouts on the scoreboard and 1:15 left in the half.

Dekkers completed three straight passes to move the Reivers to the Northwest 33-yard line and another to move the offense just outside the 20 after an incompletion.

Fresh Walters' reception put the Reivers at the four and Jaivyn Moore capped the drive with a four-yard reception with only five seconds remaining on the clock, giving IWCC an important seven-point lead into halftime.

'We wanted to establish the run game and Daniel's (Swinney) running very well," said Coach Strohmeier at the break, "that score there is big, we have to go make some stops, because that's a really good football team over there."

Not only did the Reivers come up with stops, but the Rangers' 'D' flexed their muscle as well in the 3rd quarter.  Each team came up empty on their first three possessions, which included a Reiver forced fumble by Ahmad Johnson and a Ranger interception by Fredd Adams.

The biggest play of the quarter came on IWCC's final drive when Fresh Walters took a reverse toss 26 yards to the house to give the Reivers an important two-score lead at 35-21.

Northwest Mississippi drove into Reiver territory on four completions from Wilke, but that's where the drive stopped. Three straight incomplete passes followed by the second sack of the day from the 'Darkside' when Cameron Done brought the QB down for a five-yard loss on 4th down.

The Reivers promptly rolled down the field via the star of the day, their ground game. A nine-play drive erased nearly six minutes off the clock, as IWCC racked up another 48 yards rushing on eight carries, capped off with a 10-yard run by Daniel Swinney to give the Reivers their final 42-21 lead.

On the day Swinney racked up 224 yards with a pair of scores. His effort, the fourth most in program history for a single game, moved him into the Top 10 for all-time career rushing yards. 

Hunter Dekkers was efficient as he continued to climb the single-season and all-time passing yards mark. His three touchdown passes give him 30 on the season, while his 65.08% completion mark is good for third all-time. He is 88 yards shy of tying Jake Waters's single-season passing yards mark of 3,501.

"Couldn't be prouder of our guys," said Strohmeier after the game, "We just beat another really good team and to execute the game plan the way they did on this big of a stage says just so much about the focus of our team. They've stuck with the message through the season, bought into the adjustments we've instituted and we're playing our best football at the right time."

The win gave the Reivers their 10th straight victory while ending the Rangers' double-digit win streak.

Iowa Western awaits the winner of the other semi-final match-up between #2 Georgia Military and #3 Hutchinson, which will be played in Milledgeville, Georgia on Sunday afternoon.

Iowa Western will face a rematch from one of the season's first two games. Overall, it will be the 15th time in program history that IWCC has faced the same team twice in the same year. They hold a record of 24-4 overall with a playoff record of 4-2 (2-0 NJCAA Playoffs).

The 2024 NJCAA D1 National Championship game will take place on Wednesday, December 18th in Canyon, Texas on the campus of West Texas A&M. The game will kickoff shortly after 7:00PM CST with the Reiver Sports Network calling the game on 89.7 The River or at 897TheRiver.com. ESPNU will broadcast the video of the game from Bain-Schaeffer Buffalo Stadium. Those fans attending the game can access them here, with four different levels of tickets available for purchase.