FB: American Rivers Conference

[The Show]

A little insight on last week's BV/Simpson game.  Field position was the Beaver's problem in the first half. I think both teams' average starting field position was the BV 30 yard line.  BV doesn't currently have the offense built to make consistent 70 yard drives. Simpson's problem is the running game or lack thereof.  It's been that way for the past couple of years, but maybe the style of offense is to blame.  The only questionable call I had was that Simpson decided to play with the wind after halftime instead of having it in their favor for the 4th quarter.  Maybe they were thinking they'd build a bigger lead with the wind early and take BV out of it, I don't know. BV had the confidence and the wind in the 4th. #12 was having problems handling the punts (more than likely due to the wind) and his fumble finally gave BV the ball deep in Simpson territory.  BV also looked good on their final game-winning drive.  And it always helps to have a good kicker!

Maybe Niemann could pick up McCarney on his staff for next season.  More than likely he won't have to be wooed away from ISU! 

[The Show]

Yeah, I'd take both of those spreads...


Congrats to Chris Kemmerer on being named to the D3football.com's Team of the Week for the second week in a row!

Wartburg LB, Sodoma, also made the squad this week.

[Walston Hoover]

Seeing Sodoma on the team of the week made me think of a talking point. With him being the younger brother of a current Knight. I was thinking of a few other brothers that have donned the Orange and Black.
The Rochfords, My father-in-law and his brother. Stoffels, My Bro and me, Now the Sodomas. Would have been nice to get Vinny King's brother but he's doing alright right now. Also would have been nice to have Dallas Pagel's brother.
Maybe we can score the younger Batiste and Duchman as well as it sounds like they are having good years.
I know The Show Brothers at BV. I think Younger Jacobson is starting at BV as well.
Huismans and Sangers at Central
I think Luther has another Jaeger now.
What other Brother combos have started in the conf?

[SpeedKills84]

Picks for the week :

Coe over Simpson     37-10

Central over Dubuque    17-13

Wartburg over Loras    21-13

Luther over BV           41-20

[sportsknight]

Just off the top of my head I can think of the Jacksons at Coe and the Kac's at Central.  Also I think John Jaeger's little brother might be playing at Luther now, but I'm not sure on that.

On to the picks...
Coe @ Simpson:  Storm just don't have the look of even a mediocre team this year.  I don't think they'll lose twice on Saturday, just once.  Coe 34, Simpson 13

Dubuque @ Central:  I'm putting the Dutch on Upset Alert this week.  This could be a very interesting game.  Central offense hasn't lit the world on fire this year, but their defense has been stout.  Biggest matchup in this game might be Central's punter vs. Walner Belleus.  If it's in Dubuque, I think Sparty might pull it out.  In Pella, I'll take the Dutchies.  Central 21, Dubuque 14

Luther @ BV:  Luther might be the best 1-5 team in the country, but their efforts just haven't translated to wins quite yet.  I think they finally break through for a Lakeside "W" on Saturday.  Luther 28, BV 10

Loras @ Wartburg:   The Knights have been less than impressive on Homecoming lately.  Going back to the loss to Coe in 2002, Wartburg's won their last 3 Homecoming contests by an average of about 7 points per game.  Does the trend continue against the Duhawks Saturday?  Probably.  Loras is a very similar team to Central right now:  Good defense (Central's is probably better) and decent-enough-to-get-it-done offense (Loras' is probably better).  Knights defense has been playing very well this year, but is a little banged up right now.  I think this one will be an old country kind of football game - very physical and low-scoring.  Enough of the Wartburg upperclassmen remember Loras coming into Waverly and winning two years ago to make sure history doesn't repeat itself.  Wartburg 24, Loras 21

[The Show]

Even better is that I think the majority of the BV brother combos played the same position. And we had about 20 Smith's on the team around my time, but none of them seemed (or claimed) to be related.

Craig and Chris Rowedder (RB)
Joel and Nick Barrett (DL)
Josh, Justin, & Jarred Wiig (WR)
Bryan and Todd Schwartz (LB)
Bryan and Seth Diediker (WR and DL)
Jon and Andy Jacobson (C and DB)

I'm sure I'm missing one or two somewhere or any before 1999-2000...

[The Show]

Picks:

BV by 3
Central by 14
Wartburg by 17
Coe by 24

[K-Mack]

Too all the guys who offered help on Page 202, thanks ... It got me so ready to go to Iowa that I almost forgot I was heading to Whitewater first this weekend.

Charlie, definitely e-mail me about the accomodations, any help would be great. My flight leaves Sunday morning so I'll barely be there long enough to wrinkle the sheets.

I'll be back on the board in the coming week to discuss the trip more, but you guys pretty much nailed it. I figured it only made sense to do the Wartburg-Coe game second, because of competitiveness and because I'd be flying out of (and therefore staying in) Cedar Rapids.

If I move quickly, I think I can make it from one spot to the other in just over the time it takes for halftime ... but I don't know if parking is far from the stadium or unavailable on game day, in which case it could be a hike. And I should travel light. The one advantage I guess is if the Kohawks and Knights throw a lot of incomplete passes in their first half while the Rams and the Dutch stick to the ground game.

Most likely will be writing about atmosphere and how exactly one sees two games that start at the same time, but you never know what will come up. I'm sure something on the field will be worth writing about as well.

[K-Mack]

Kohawk fans prepare to be disappointed. This conference doesn't believe in  honoring coaches who win year in and year out.
Willis only won the honor once in his 8 or 9 years even with 4 titles. Even losing the title to a 6-4 coach 1 year and rolling through the conference in 2003 with arguably one of the best teams in this conf in the last 10 years.
For some reason the coaches in this conference don't like it when guys win year-in and year-out.

I don't know, I kind of like the 'did the most with least' theory on coach of the year voting, with the guy who won the most games as a second option if no one really played above expectations.

Of course there's more to coaching, especially in D3, than game day ... many a coach has struggled to win after the players some other guy recruited graduated, but don't you think there could be other explanations for Simpson?

As far as the brothers, I'm pretty sure there's a family connections thread on the General Football board.

[Charlie Kohawk]

What other Brother combos have started in the conf?

Don't forget the Pfantz brothers at Coe. Zach and Brant have graduated, but I hear there's a third on his way.

K-Mack, check your e-mail.

[tribute]

Another OT game.  Another game where we got out gained again.  The radio announcer was soooooo right.  That block in the back was a huge blunder.  The block did not even need to be thrown.  It would have made no difference.  It was the correct call but the kid from Luther should have not thrown it.  The Norse did a good job mixing it up all day.  In the end the Dutch D stopped them when they needed to.

The only thing I was surprised about was after the blocked punt the Norse went for it on 4th down.  I guess Luther's coach didn't have confidence in the kicker. 

Dutchfan were you at the Game? I just watched video that my family (all luther alums) sent me, and I have watched the blocked punt over and over. There are no appearant blocks on the play let alone blocks in the back. The only contact after the block is the central punter takling a Norse as he tries to pick up the ball. If you saw something different let me know. just curious

I just state this because it may have not been the correct call. Regardless, the call was made and Human Error is part of the game. The call had no bearing on the outcome, because both teams had opportunies to make plays down the stretch and the Dutch made one more play.

As for this week, Luther gets a win. It has been far too long since the Norse beat BV, time to stop the streaks.

[Crimson and Bold]

Picks for the week:

Coe over Simpson by 21 - After dropping the Homecoming game to Loras, Coe's back on track now that the defense has a little more confidence from keeping Belleus and a high powered Spartan offense out of their hair.  It was a little too close for comfort, but 23 points isn't too bad. 

Luther over BV by 14.  - If the Norse don't win this one, they'll probably pack it in and will be a hard sell for the rest of the year. 

Wartburg over Loras by 9 - It's too tough to come into Waverly and spoil Homecoming.  Coe's tried it before and only been successful when they had Freddy Jackson.  I think Wartburg's too tough and deals Loras their first set back and sets in motion the Duhawks' fall from grace.

Central over UD by 14 - The UD offense is the real deal and deserves all the hype; their defense on the other hand is not.  Since Central has struggled to score high points all year, this is the week that they're able to get on track.  Good luck to UD, but I think they'll come up short just like last weekend.

*I will say this, if Central doesn't come to play, then UD will nip them.  They stuck around for 4 quarters against Coe last week and caused every single kohawk fan at the game a great deal of anxiety.  Take your heart pills dutch fans, you'll need them.

[DutchFan2004]

Tribute,

I don't have the tape but I think the call was on one of the defenders blocking the punter in the back to recover the blocked punt.  Thats all I saw.  They gave him a shove in the back if memory serves which they didn't need to do as he wasn't going to get the ball or even tackle the kid.  I may be wrong but thats what I thought they called. 

[DutchFan2004]

Crimson & Bold,

After last year and the way the Spartans played us for three quarters I don't think that we expect anything less than a game from them.  As I have said all year here there are no gimme games in the IIAC.  If a team does not show up and give their best effort they will not win.  The Conference as a whole has gotten better.  I really think that even Luther, BV, Simpson, and Cornell are capable of beating any team in the IIAC on that given day. 

[sc_stormchaser]

dutchfan1- I certainly wouldn't say that Niemann was "wooed" away from UNI. If I remember correctly, he had been the D-coordinator under Dunbar at UNI - Farley came in and the next year Niemann was the DB coach. After that season, he was named head coach at SC. It would seem that he probably was searching pretty hard for a new gig. But that's life as a college football coach.

SC had a long time Offensive Coordinator under Williams by the name of Wharton. Although I played defense while I was at SC, he was highly respected from both O and D players. And from my standpoint, he was a hell of a recruiter. I was told that he interviewed for the job, but they went with Niemann.