FB: American Rivers Conference

[Walston Hoover]

My thoughts on the game-Wartburg set the tone for the rest of the game at the end of the first half and dominated the rest of the way, only letting Loras run 3 plays with the wind in the 3rd quarter. With the exception of 2 big passes in the second half, the Wartburg defense absolutely dominated. Loras with -1 yards rushing on 30 carries. I too was upset with the officiating keeping the teams from getting into a rhythm. Wartburg was given their timeout back, just like Loras was at the end of the first half on the "he was down when the ball came out" at the goalline. Loras coaches came running in to call the timeout and the official on their side granted it to them, however with the ball needing to be reset it stopped anyway. They gave Loras back the timeout and without that I don't even think there would be a field goal attempt.
3 of the 5 Loras possessions of the second half were 3-and out and 1 was an interception on the first play. Knights defense didn't hardly have to play at all.
Loras had 4th and 17
4th and 14, and 4th and 18, and were faced with a 3rd and 22 on their first of 2 consecutive long pass plays for the final score.
Another officiating question-Loras's punter goes down after the Knights rusher is thrown into him. Holding on Loras, but wait, the punter is down and the trainers come out. Loras has to punt again but the punter should have to sit out a play. Didn't matter a whole lot as the next punt was blocked.
Loras ran a total of 17 plays in the second half. Wartburg's first drive of the second half was 17 plays.
Again, Wartburg had a problem punching the ball in in the redzone. Once this team learns how to finish they could be pretty good. I think this team gets better every week, and they should. A lot of very young guys playing right now and a first-year head coach. Going to need to take another large step forward next week.

[DutchFan2004]

I am going to throw this out for you to chew on.  Why does the MVP have to be a back.  If you look at last year I think the case was made for Suckow had so many all purpose yards.  If you look at those then there are others in this race.  I do think that Charlie Kohawk is correct in saying its way to early.  A huge showdown is this week in the Coe Wartburg game.  I think it will eliminate some contenders.  That will be a huge game.  A loss by either team and it ends the seson for them.  (as far as conference championships go and the playoffs)  It will be a great game I am sure.  Good Luck to both teams.  

[KoHawk01]

Thought I'd throw in some of my early award choices ........

Offensive Player of the Year - Ashton Northern - One of the best backs in the conference, I def. feel he needs to get more touches.  This ones tough though with the likes of Hammes and Schurring, can go either way .... Maybe I'm a little partial 

Defensive Player of the Year - This was the toughest one in my eyes .... I have to go with a split decision here.  I have Brock Hall of Loras and Andrew Lehn of Central.  I think most would agree these are two of the best LB's in the conference, Hall is more of an athletic type while Lehn is more of a run stopper.

Special Teams Player of the Year - Walner Belleus - Everytime the kid touches the ball he's a threat to take it all the way .... Thats scary

Coach of the Year - Osterberger of Loras - No one gave Loras a chance, they're still very much in the race.

[Walston Hoover]

Osterberger got the COY award a few years ago at 6-4 after starting off 4-1 or 5-0 ( I don't remember) Lets wait until the end of the year to give it to him this year.
BV has won 3 in a row over the 3 worst teams in the conference, but its amazing what a little confidence will do.
You can't talk about COY right now without mentioning Raeburn, McMartin, and the newest addition to the Big 3, Koehler. I think at 8-2 or even 9-1, Koehler gets the award this year unless Loras wins the conference.

[The Show]

Something tells me that BV may be a little motivated this week.

Just a hunch that Loras' title hopes end this week.

[DutchFan2004]

Walston,

I think you are correct if Wartburg goes 9-1 Koehler should get COY.


The Show,

You may be right about BV there is some motivation with this game.  However don't you think that the same motivation applys with Loras?  Loras will want to come out and show that the coach made the right decision to come to Loras. 

[The Show]

There is some motivation for both sides, but I think the majority of it resides in Storm Lake.

[warthog]

They probably didn't give out a most valuable player award when Mike Eichied was kicking for Upper Iowa, but has a punter/kicker ever been considered for the award?

My vote at this time of the season would be for the punter at Central.  His kicking skill was the most important factor in Central's win over Wartburg.  Without his leg you could well be looking at an undefeated Wartburg team.

[lorbec47]

Many of the posters in here have already talked about the Wartburg/Loras game. Couldn't agree more with almost every point. Bottom line, if Loras can convert a score at the end of the 1/2, they probably win the game. But, Wartburg made the plays and stole the momentum. The Knights did earn it. I was impressed with the total amount of team speed on defense. They controlled the game. Not real sure why Wartburg passed late on 2nd and 2, but I was happy about it. However, another big play by the Knight defense won the ball game.

There will be plenty of motivation at Loras when BV comes to town Saturday, don't worry about that Show. Again, all the hype and anger and all that crap will only take you so far. 60 minutes is a long game. Should make for an interesting game considering the coaching move however.

[Walston Hoover]

Warthog-your earlier comment about a different homecoming crowd was dead-on. I was sitting in my usual seat, but this weekend I was sorrounded by President Ohle and the board of Regents. I did get to have a nice conversation with Buzz Levick though. President Ohle is hardcore, and I didn't let the rest of my sorrounding effect my gameplan, but plenty of people around me who are usually very outspoken were plenty reserved.
Regarding the BV/Loras game. I think BV can hang with them for a half, most likely the first one, but after that might be a good time to drum up the "traiter" bit.

[KoHawk01]

I agree with everyone here in saying its to early to speculate on the honors, but why not speculate??    I agree though that Koehler is up there for the award along with a few others,  Good luck to all this coming weekend!

[Dsquared]

Random...

I think that Adam Shada is the Big 10 player of the year   Any comments otherwise?  Oh wait... he was the MVP for Indiana this past weekend. 

What's Adam Shada's favorite food?  TOAST
How does he like it?  BURNED

At least the team from Ames wasn't the biggest laugher of the weekend.  Oh trust me... I know they are pathetic.  Adam Shada just played worse.  Welcome to our nightmare, Hawk fans... any way you can re-sign Walner Belleus?

[Floyd in Iowa City]

Luther does not have the kicking and punting game of other teams in the league this year, and it showed once again on Saturday.  B.V. made a great kick in OT after the Luther Defense forced the Beaver Offense to lose yardage.  Luther has missed kicks to end regulation the last two weeks that other kickers have made, and it happened in OT as well. 

It is amazing how many different ways the team has lost games this year.

This has been the most wide-open offensive year of the Hefty era in terms of how much they throw the ball.  That makes sense when you consider that WR Kyle Pearson is your best offensive football player and that there are 3 other solid receivers behind him.  However, wide open offense (much like Joe Tiller and Purdue) can lead to tons of yardage and sometimes tons of frustration as it pertains to red zone offense and close losses. 

Luther does not have a proven game breaker RB like Mike Jefferson or Tyler Sherden, but I am tired of that excuse for why this team struggles in the red zone.  They are 3rd in the league in rushing and Bass is very solid in the open field while Lamos has been a very punishing runner who hits the hole well when it is there.  The OL may be inconsistent as a run-blocking unit, but like Purdue, they spend perhaps too much time pass blocking.  There is a mentality that goes with running the ball that is more than just having a guy like Sherden.

Kyle Pearson has played great football all season for the Norse.  It is great to see a WR putting up numbers, blocking well, and punishing DBs along the sidelines like he did on Saturday.  It is too bad that the team and coaches have not been able to use his talents to help win more football games this year.

[DutchFan2004]

Floyd,

I think some of the blame has to go to Coach hefty.  He had two opportunities to kick short field goals against Central in regualtion and chose not to kick.  He elected instead to go for touchdowns.  I don't know how far his kick against BV was but I do know that there were two they passed on and he could have made against the Dutch.  I think that is worth putting into the mix.  Maybe he doesn't have the strongest leg but I think the coach has to put his kicker in some potentially good situations too.  Not all do or die.  It's not fair to the kicker or the team. 

[Alfredeneumann]

D-squared - The fumes from CR MUST be effecting you brain. The Shada toast line...very creative.

FYI the # of the semi that ran over the clowns D Saturday was #28.


PS I'll take the Knights on Sat.