FB: American Rivers Conference

[doolittledog]

Dubuque with the 15-14 win over Coe in Cedar Rapids. Up 14-13 late, Coe called for holding in their end zone giving UD a safety and the win. Close game between two evenly matched teams. Fun to watch.

[Schipper Strong]

Wow DD what a way to win. I've never seen that happen or that call. Congratulations to the Spartans on the win!

I thought Central was heading into the easier half of the season with BV, Simpson and Luther still to play. I thought they would come out with something to prove and some urgency. Hard for this Central fan to say, but they looked like what they are—a team that has played well but had all their goals knocked out from under them. Conference championship gone. Undefeated regular season gone. Playoffs gone. I know it sucks to lose 2 games by a total of 10 points with scores at 1 and 21 seconds left in the game. I was rocking grumpy fan this week myself. But I am not on the team.

With the exception of Reece Miller, we looked pretty lackluster. I don't expect that from Central ever. We were playing without some kids due to injuries, but I don't think that played into it. I hope one of the QBs steps up and says "I really want this starting job" soon. That is such a leadership position and someone needs to claim it as theirs. Right now I'm cheering on the two freshmen.

Reece Miller? He had a great game with 3 interceptions, one was a pick six. Good job!

[doolittledog]

This Wartburg team looks like they might have what it takes to make a deep playoff run. I still hope Coe beats the Knights and Dubuque wins out so they can share the confidence title , but this looks like a strong Wartburg team. 

[Outside the Crate]

Yes, Wartburg is a really strong team: I think they're better than their # 16 ranking.  And, you should hear the coaches talk privately about the character of the team; they think this is a very special group.  They seem a bit awestruck about them.
     On another subject, a huge Wartburg Homecoming crowd enjoyed a mash-up of Nebraska Wesleyan, 65-0.  I was with them.  But, these horribly lop-sided scores are not good for anyone -- and understand that Wartburg's coaches played players way deep in the roster beginning in the third quarter.  For the sake of the ARC, Luther has got to get better!  Nebraska Wesleyan has got to get better!  Etc.

[MediaGuy]

Yes, Wartburg is a really strong team: I think they're better than their # 16 ranking.  And, you should hear the coaches talk privately about the character of the team; they think this is a very special group.  They seem a bit awestruck about them.
     On another subject, a huge Wartburg Homecoming crowd enjoyed a mash-up of Nebraska Wesleyan, 65-0.  I was with them.  But, these horribly lop-sided scores are not good for anyone -- and understand that Wartburg's coaches played players way deep in the roster beginning in the third quarter.  For the sake of the ARC, Luther has got to get better!  Nebraska Wesleyan has got to get better!  Etc.

I would love to see the conference as a whole get better, but there are a few big stumbling blocks that are hard to overcome.
1.  Participation numbers for Iowa high school football is down compared to the last 10 years or so, and year-round wrestling is also stealing numbers from some teams...at least in Eastern Iowa.
2. I did a population comparison a few years ago and Iowa had the most "small college" football teams per capita so there are less players to choose from for each team in the ARC and the state.
3. 3 of the top 4 NAIA programs are in Iowa, Morningside (1), Grandview (2), Northwestern (4). That means there are less opportunities for the less competitive teams to recruit a stud to build a team around.

I've always felt like the ARC has been at a disadvantage because of the over-saturation of small college football teams available.  The Minnesota has bigger population, Wisconsin has state school tuition, and teams like Linfield don't have the recruiting competition that the ARC has.  A kid growing up in or near Cedar Rapids who wants to play small college football close enough that his family can go to games has 8-10 schools within a 4 hr drive to choose from.  The same kid in Portland Oregon or northern California has 5 to choose from.  Whenever we've been sent West in the playoffs I wonder how Wartburg or Central would play with a few of those NAIA kids on the roster who are winning national titles at Morningside or Grand View.

[Outside the Crate]

I don't disagree with you, MediaGuy.  One thing also worth mentioning is the challenge of recruiting.  Some people love to do it, and do it well.  Others are a bit more like the faculty in the English Department:  "Bring me students (athletes), and I'll teach them."
    I also want to say that perhaps you underestimate Luther and Nebraska Wesleyan.  They are both really first-rate institutions, and I see no reason for them to be in the situation they are in with regard to football performance apart from lack of effective leadership.

[Schipper Strong]

Central has been affected by these issues certainly. Grandview was a huge drain I think for both Central and Simpson. Central has definitely developed new recruiting areas out of state because of these issues.

[MediaGuy]

I don't disagree with you, MediaGuy.  One thing also worth mentioning is the challenge of recruiting.  Some people love to do it, and do it well.  Others are a bit more like the faculty in the English Department:  "Bring me students (athletes), and I'll teach them."
    I also want to say that perhaps you underestimate Luther and Nebraska Wesleyan.  They are both really first-rate institutions, and I see no reason for them to be in the situation they are in with regard to football performance apart from lack of effective leadership.

I totally agree, Luther under Coach Haefner was getting pretty good and we're playing .500 ball towards the end of his tenure.  When NWU came into the league they were pretty good and the first 2 times we went to Lincoln we struggled to beat them.  I think the league has the potential to be a great with 2 teams going deep into the playoffs on a regular basis, but it's going to take the lower tier teams getting better and challenging the status quo.  In the late 90's, it was Wartburg and Central ahead of the pack by a noticeable margin, but you couldn't count on more than 1 win in the postseason.  Then teams like Coe under Raeburn and Dubuque and Simpson started to challenge for the league title and Wartburg and Central had to step it up to win.  Then we had Coe, Dubuque, Wartburg and Central make deep runs in the playoffs and we've had more quarterfinal appearances in the 2010's than we had in a long time.  My point being, that it's better when we have more games won by 10 or less points than games won by 28+ points in conference games.  It's nice to develop depth when you're winning by 35 but that doesn't win you games deep in the playoffs, developing poise and character by winning 3 or 4 1 score games in conference play does.
I've said for years that I hope every team in the league goes 9-1...I know that's not possible, but I say that meaning I hope Wartburg beats everyone, but I'm rooting for every team to be good each year.  That's why I think the MIAC really shot itself in the foot by kicking St Thomas.  Thats one less playoff caliber team your champion has to beat in the regular season and by contrast look at the WIAC. They could have a 4-3 Conference champ and I'd still bet on them to be in the quarterfinals every year.

[Schipper Strong]

MediaGuy you are entirely correct. It is better when the conference improves from top to bottom. The old Iowa Conference used to be rated higher on the list of conferences than it is now. It has been sliding for a few years during which the bottom half of the conference has slid significantly. Dubuque is the outlier as a team that moved from bottom half to top half. Although they have been in the top half for quite awhile now. Geography puts us in that kill zone for DIII football with MN, WI, and IL all within 500 miles.

I give credit to teams like UD who are scheduling top teams for non-conference games. This might be the year that shows if scheduling top teams kills playoff chances for teams that don't win the conference championship with all the early top 5 or 10 team playing each other. It could be fun to play some of those regional top teams if you didn't have to worry that it would eliminate pool c consideration if you lose.

[doolittledog]

Wartburg  5-0  7-0
Dubuque  4-1  4-3
Loras.....  4-1  4-3
Coe.......  3-1  4-2
Central..  2-2  4-2
Luther...  1-3  1-5
BVU......  1-4  2-5
NWU.....  0-4  1-5
Simpson  0-4  0-6

10/22
Simpson @ Central  1pm
Coe @ Loras  1pm
Luther @ Dubuque  2pm (Homecoming)
BVU @ NWU  4:30pm
Wartburg  Bye week

[doolittledog]

On the topic of the conference, there will always be some bottom feeder teams, they just change over time.  In the 90's it was Dubuque, Upper Iowa, and William Penn.  The Peacocks and Statesmen walked away and Dubuque got better.  After the turn of the century Cornell went from the mid pack to basement dweller before they left the conference.  The conference has seen some teams spend some time in the basement and work their way back to mid pack and sometimes back down again.  BVU, Luther, Loras, and Simpson have all done that.  NWU is down there now. Someone has to be a 2 win team.   

I think one factor in a somewhat playoff drought for the conference recently and therefore a downturn in the conference ranking is more colleges in Iowa offering football.  Since 2000 Iowa has added Briar Cliff, Clarke, Dordt, Grand View, and Waldorf moved from a 2 year school to 4 year.  That is a lot of roster spots that once likely would have landed on IIAC/ARC rosters.  Additionally, there are fewer high school aged kids in the state, as well as fewer kids also playing football.  I think it's harder to build a deep roster these days. 

I also wonder how things like attendance will play out over the next few years with rosters across the conference bringing in more kids from out of state.  Dubuque attendance always suffered when so much of their roster was from Florida and Michigan under the past coaching staff.  When this current staff came in and there were more kids from Illinois/Iowa/Wisconsin we saw attendance bump up (winning also helped).  Last year and this year there is a noticeable drop in attendance at UD.  Whether that is a post Covid negative impact or the result of a bigger portion of the roster coming from AZ/CA/FL/TX and therefore less family members in the stands I don't know.   

[Outside the Crate]

Parents will attend games and bring the grandparents if the distances aren't too great.  That's why Wartburg, with its large Iowa contingent on its roster, has such a strong following.  I attend most of the away games and it's not unusual for Wartburg to have a large group of fans, in numbers sometimes rivaling the home team's. 
     Back to the challenges.  One of the challenges when one recruits out-of-state students is retention. As one coach said to me, "I can recruit an athlete from Texas with better skills than one from Iowa, but there's a pretty good chance I'll lose him after a year or two.  By the time that happens the back-up from Iowa has dropped football."

[jaybird44]

Hello American Rivers Conference fans!  I have enjoyed calling games involving ARC teams in several sports, while handling most of the play-by-play duties at WashU.  I would like to invite you to join the quest that I have embraced since 2018. 

I am also preparing to do a 33-hour run/walk next weekend, October 29-30 for Rett syndrome awareness and research funding.

Rett Gets Rocked 2022 will feature my solo attempt to reach 100 miles, and a 24-hour Rett Relay involving WashU students and other campus folks.  I will be on the indoor track in the Sumers Recreation Center, and the relay will be mainly outdoors at Francis Olympic Field.  Our aim is to raise $10,000 or more, to be split between the International Rett Syndrome Foundation (IRSF) and the Rett Spectrum Clinic in the WashU School of Medicine at St. Louis Children's Hospital.

This is my fifth year for a Rett Gets Rocked ultramarathon...over the previous four years, more than $20,000 have been raised.

Rett syndrome is a neurological disorder caused by a gene mutation in the brain.  It doesn't manifest itself until a child is just learning how to walk and talk, around 6-18 months old.  When it does, those basic abilities get taken away.  Many children end up in wheelchairs for the rest of their lives, and can't talk or even do sign language to communicate.  And, since it's a spectrum disorder, there are other things that are typical with Rett syndrome...frequent seizures, severe scoliosis, eating and drinking difficulties that require the insertion of a g-tube for nourishment, among other difficulties.  And, Rett doesn't care about one's family medical history, socioeconomic status or ethnic background.  It is an equal opportunity destroyer of lives and families.

There's no cure yet, but preclinical studies within the last year at UT-Southwestern in gene replacement therapy have resulted in reversing Rett in mice.  And, the FDA is giving a drug called Trofinetide a Priority Review, after clinical trials were very successful in reducing the severity and frequency of seizures, and restoring some of the function of the arms and legs.  On March 12, the FDA will make a final determination about Trofinetide and whether it becomes the first prescription drug specifically to treat Rett syndrome.

So, there is hope.  That propels me forward in my lunatic fringe interest in ultramarathon running.  You can join the fight for a cure without logging a mile.  The donation link to my IRSF Rett Racers donation page is https://rettracers.funraise.org/fundraiser/jay-murry.
Feel free to forward it to interested parties!

Many thanks for your time and consideration!  All the best to you in the American Rivers Conference!

Jay Murry
WashU Play-By-Play Announcer
Event Director, Rett Gets Rocked 2022

[Schipper Strong]

This week's picks:
Central all over Simpson in more convincing style than last week. Lots of new players playing last week due to injuries and more this week. They will improve their play and cut down on penalties. The big question is will one player at QB distinguish themselves from the pack.
Loras will outplay Coe at home and come away with a win.
Luther may be better than last year, but not enough to ruin Dubuque's homecoming.
BVU will outlast NWU in a potentially high scoring game.
Wartburg finds a way to return to yielding only 2 pts against the bye.

[doolittledog]

Checked in to our VRBO in Dubuque and meeting up with friends now. Looks like we'll have good weather and a great time this weekend. Hope everyone else on here has an enjoyable weekend.