FB: American Rivers Conference

[IdahoSoccer]

DuHawks basically scheduled an off week this week. Easy win and the boys will keep rolling.  Staying at the top in IIAC

[Old Dutch]

I would have to agree with F. Rex in being nervous for the Dutch today.  If we were picking most likely to be upset I'd say they are the possibility. With some inconsistencies in play so far and too many turnovers, the Dutch could give games away all year. Coe is too good to let this slump continue and Wartburg will take care of business at home.  Of course I think the other likely upset could be in the battle for Dubuque.  Although to Idahoans, thats apparently not an upset.

Here's hoping they've righted that ship and respect Luther enough to take care of business in Pella.

Go Dutch

[IdahoSoccer]

Upset? I guess you guys would say it was an upset last year when the DuHawks rickety rolled the spartans as well huh? Keep that key to the city on the old private institution's side.  Internet comes and goes out here in Idaho though so I might need updates

[AZDutchman]

I would have to believe that the inconsistencies will be fewer and far between as the year goes on. Everything will start clicking, as with every team. I don't think that this will be the game to worry about. If I were to go with a prediction, I would only say that the game wasn't as close as the final score will show. 
What a great day for a game. 54 degrees now / high 62. 

Go Dutch!

[Mrs.Doolittle]

DUTCHFAN1.... where are you???

KOWHWKCRAZY.... hello?

AZDUTCHMAN, DUTCHFAN2004... KLOMPEN..... did I offend you?

Make some pics.... doesn't matter if you missed a week or two!

[AZDutchman]

You're Incredible! Thanks for the reminder.

[dutchfan1]

DUTCHFAN1.... where are you???

KOWHWKCRAZY.... hello?

AZDUTCHMAN, DUTCHFAN2004... KLOMPEN..... did I offend you?

Make some pics.... doesn't matter if you missed a week or two!

Damn work -- my priorities are all out of whack! My picks are in before the bell....

[AZDutchman]

Welcome to the Nate Snead Show!

Unfortunately when a team turns towards the quarterback keeper, that means the other parts of the offense is in trouble.
High school teams utilize the keeper a lot, but this is college.
Be careful next week Dutch. If UD decides to focus on containing Snead, this may be a problem.
This could be a large turning point to the season.

Congratulations to the Victory for today! 

[Fannosaurus Rex]

Upset? I guess you guys would say it was an upset last year when the DuHawks rickety rolled the spartans as well huh? Keep that key to the city on the old private institution's side.  Internet comes and goes out here in Idaho though so I might need updates

I won't start worrying about UD until I see how they do against the mighty DuHawks.  In the mean time, I'll just enjoy the win against The Norse.

[Klompen]

Shoot, I have been forgettig to do my picks since I don't get enough time to post often anymore.  I will have to think of that earlier, though I have now missed two full weeks.  Oh well, it isn't like I was doing that well anyway. 

Congratulations to the Dutch on their win today.  I have to say that I was a bit worried at half time with the score tied at 9-9 and a young man in a wheel chair coming from the direction of the Luther locker room after the half.  I was afraid young and courageous Chris Norton was going to give Luther all the inspiration they needed to take it to us the second half.  Maybe that was just what the Central coaches were telling the Dutch. 

Glad to say that the Central team that played the second half looked like a totally different team.  They were focused and driven and answered a lot of questions I still had lingering in my mind.  That second half team was like the old Central teams.  Early in the 4th they went into shut-it-down mode, playing only the same exact running play every single down, something Skip used to do to avoid running up the score (usually on Penn), they could not be stopped.  I continue to be very impressed with Josh Osborn, he is going to be one fantastic player for the Dutch if they just give him more PT. 

Central special teams played very well today with perfect PAT kicking and some nice punts keeping the Norse around the 10 yard line for many of their starts.  Central had some incredible punt and kick returns today giving us good field position for almost every posession. 

Finally, Chris Norton, keep up the good fight.  Good to see you at the game today and best of luck for your continued progress.

[doolittledog]

41-16 Dubuque over Loras

Ah, the sweet smell of victory.

Good night.

[Willie University]

I'd respond to the lorass jokers but their team spoke for them..all talk and no action 

On a more positive note, what a great first IIAC win for the Spartans! Chalmer's Field was rocking this evening and a lot of exciting football! Tied at half but the spartans came out 2nd half and you could FEEL the enthusiasm and TEAM effort to get it done. I also hate giving props to just a few players because it really was a team effort. From the trenches to special teams, the entire team won that game. There were some special moments and some special players made some big plays.

If anyone watched the game live tonight, you got a glimpse of Willie U in the stands jumping up and down 

Now that the key to the city is where it belongs, time to buckle down and prepare for the dutch. The spartans haven't beat the dutch since the 80's if my memory serves me right. No time to celebrate, time to get to work...

Congrats to the other winners as well and hopefully no major injuries

Willie U

[warthog]

While the IIAC had no final scores that could be called upsets this weekend, it appears all the games were close at half-time.  Perhaps we are seeing more parity from top to bottom.  If so, this could make for some interesting games for the remainder of the 2011 season.

I was impressed by the BV quarterback #19 (Bobby Brown).  He hung in there all day despite getting racked time and time again.  BV needs to make some o-line adjustments or that kid will end up on the sidelines in a cast or sling before the season is over.  If he can get some protection, the Beavers will win some IIAC games.  BV used eight different receivers and they have a good running back who can keep the defenses honest by not allowing opponents to over load on d-backs or use an all-out pass rush on every down.  Protection is the key.  Without it teams that have good d-lines, like UD, will dish out all sorts of pain and suffering when they play BV.

Passing and rushing yardage statistics by BV and Wartburg were very similar.  One big difference was the punting game.  Wartburg's Solomon and long snapper Denner had a good day, while the BV kick game had a bad snap resulting in a huge loss (30 yards) and one that appears to have been partially blocked.  The kicks that did get off netted the Beavers 126 fewer yards than the Knights. (WC-7 punts / BV-5 punts)  If you consider the Beaver offense had to gain 156 extra yards just to make up for the kicking difference, you can see how valuable a good punter and long snapper were in the final outcome of the contest.

[Old Dutch]

Good point Warthog.  I'm always surprised to find IIAC teams with what appears to be one of the good athletes filling in for a kicker.  Champions put balanced emphasis on all 3 phases of the game.  Same happened in Pella, although not that badly.  At one point in the game the field position swing was mentioned by Dutch Radio as about 35 yards in one exchange of punts.  Props also to having return men and blockers who make up some of that advantage as well.

ALso a shout out to the Stretch Internet team.  It appears the whole conference is using their services now.  Their feed is high quality and at the end of the games yesterday I tuned in to Coe-Simpson and watched them and the Dutch side by side with very little buffering.

Looking forward to a big game next week, might try to take in the Chalmers Field hospitality, but hoping the Dutch turn into rude guests and spoil the UD magic.

Go Dutch

[badgerwarhawk]

Congrats Spartans.