FB: American Rivers Conference

[doolittledog]

We had a great time at Chalmers Field in Dubuque today. 

Spartans dominated on both sides of the ball.  527 yards of offense for UD, with the UD defense only allowing 103 yards.

It was nice to have a game in hand so the seniors could come off the field to a standing ovation.  Also nice to see the bench cleared...4 QB's got in the game for UD.

I think at this point, it looks like Loras is just kind of going through the motions.  Wartburg could probably look good next week fielding a team of warthog, wartnight, NewKnightDad, Walston Hoover, media guy, outside the crate, and footballdaddy 

I know it has to be tough for the Duhawk players.  A long losing streak and the school axing your head coach during the season.  Keep your head up, life is full of learning experiences.  How you deal with adversity will help you in your adult life. 

[Walston Hoover]

Awesome day in Waverly tailgating and playing some pickup football in the fieldhouse with all our kids. Game sucked but the Knights came out on top. Defenses ruled the day and lots of special teams miscues on both sides. Was glad Willis went for the FG to ultimately win the game. Ball was on the turf a ton. I love the D3 atmosphere. Can hear everything. Tight knit with all the fans and everyone on field talking after game. That was a happy Knights crew. VBall team just won IIAC tourney title. Great Day to be a Knight

[Old Dutch]

A win is a win.  Knights knock off the Dutch 16-14.

Probably not the best game either team has ever played, but the outcome was in doubt until the final play.

The fans love it that way, but I'd guess it gives ulcers to both coaching staffs.

Didn't play well? That should be called the "which team wants it less" bowl. Both of those teams today get beat by DBQ, Simpson, Coe, Simpson, and probably BV. That was an ugly game by both, but in the end Central wanted it a little less than warty.

(And I can't speak for other fans, but I hate games with so many mistakes...I was expecting a lot more from both)

I agree, I know these teams could be the best defenses in the league but 23 TFLs and 6 sacks between them? Really, either the offensive lines were sleepwalking or the coordinators were using a kindergartners scribbles as a play list.  Anyway, it is what it is, a typical tight Dutch vs Knights day.  The bright side is that the Dutch should be close and has a chance for a win at home vs Coe next week if they hold them to under 20. Probably have to depend on the special teams to win it for them. 

[notlongago]

Now that I've had time to think about it, I can say I am not liking the Ferentz-esq calls Coach McMartin made yesterday. 4th & 9 at the end of the game on the 39 yd line and you punt the football away? Central is making a habit of playing unnessaryily close games the past few season, and that needs to be headed off, but that won't happen with coaching decisions like that...

[D3Dutchman]

This year's Dutch seniors won't have made the playoffs in their career.  Have to go back quite a ways to find that long of a drought. 

[Fannosaurus Rex]

I had a lot of trouble with the video stream Saturday, but I'm still pretty sure that play calling wasn't Central's biggest problem in that game.

The thing that gets me, not just Saturday, but all season, is the number of third and double digit first downs they have given up.  If there is a statistic for those, I wouldn't be surprised if Central doesn't lead the NCAA.

And just to keep things positive, I will be looking for The Dutch to clean up the mistakes they made against the Warts and squeak out a win in a low scoring close one in the season closer at home against the Kohawks.

[doolittledog]

This year's Dutch seniors won't have made the playoffs in their career.  Have to go back quite a ways to find that long of a drought.

If my eyes aren't playing tricks on me after looking at the Iowa Conference webpage.  I believe this will be the 1st senior class at Central since 1973 to leave without a conference title during their 4 years.  Not sure if that also means playoffs, as few teams made the playoffs back in the day. 

That is one heck of a 40 year run.  I would be more proud of that, then the 50+ years without a losing season streak that most people talk about.   

[Klompen]

Congratulations to the Knights for the win on Saturday and very likely the sole conference championship.  I was very hopeful with Central's two frst qtr TDs and 3 blocked kicks/punts.  It looked like we really came to play.  But turnovers lead to 2 easy touchdowns for the Knights (and one for Central following the blocked punt); then when we really needed a block, we couldn't get it, credit the Knights for working out the kinks.  I hate leading for three qtrs and losing.  We just could not get it done when it counted and Wartburg did.  We were so close to a share of first place, I could taste it, but at least it seemed to me a well officiated game without a sense of ifs and buts that influenced the outcome.  A defensive slugfest for sure.  Too many Central mistakes on offense.  I thought that the defense did a better job on the 3rd and long and 4th down attempts.  Of course it didn't take much to improve on some of our prior games, we didn't get all the stops, but it seemed improved to me.

Was that the 3rd string qb for WB?  If so, why?  He was an outstanding running threat, if the others are better, it could have been really ugly for us.  While the offense has struggled much of the year, that had to be Eisler's worst game of the season, probably due to the Knight's defense and possibly aided by the qb rotation.  Though it probably caught WB off guard for the early scores by the Dutch.  I was surprised many Central fans around me did not realize that was happening.

Sad to lose so many extremely close games and have a fairly comfortable margin in all the wins.  Here is to finishing strong at home this Saturday.  Oh and it was total psychological warfare that all the Central players with unpaid student accounts got a pay up or else e-mail from the Wartburg grad working in student accounts the day before the game.   

[notlongago]

Congratulations to the Knights for the win on Saturday and very likely the sole conference championship.  I was very hopeful with Central's two frst qtr TDs and 3 blocked kicks/punts.  It looked like we really came to play.  But turnovers lead to 2 easy touchdowns for the Knights (and one for Central following the blocked punt); then when we really needed a block, we couldn't get it, credit the Knights for working out the kinks.  I hate leading for three qtrs and losing.  We just could not get it done when it counted and Wartburg did.  We were so close to a share of first place, I could taste it, but at least it seemed to me a well officiated game without a sense of ifs and buts that influenced the outcome.  A defensive slugfest for sure.  Too many Central mistakes on offense.  I thought that the defense did a better job on the 3rd and long and 4th down attempts.  Of course it didn't take much to improve on some of our prior games, we didn't get all the stops, but it seemed improved to me.

Was that the 3rd string qb for WB?  If so, why?  He was an outstanding running threat, if the others are better, it could have been really ugly for us.  While the offense has struggled much of the year, that had to be Eisler's worst game of the season, probably due to the Knight's defense and possibly aided by the qb rotation.  Though it probably caught WB off guard for the early scores by the Dutch.  I was surprised many Central fans around me did not realize that was happening.

Sad to lose so many extremely close games and have a fairly comfortable margin in all the wins.  Here is to finishing strong at home this Saturday.  Oh and it was total psychological warfare that all the Central players with unpaid student accounts got a pay up or else e-mail from the Wartburg grad working in student accounts the day before the game.   

That was the worst job central has done on 3&long all season... Not sure what you were seeing.

[Old Dutch]

This year's Dutch seniors won't have made the playoffs in their career.  Have to go back quite a ways to find that long of a drought.

If my eyes aren't playing tricks on me after looking at the Iowa Conference webpage.  I believe this will be the 1st senior class at Central since 1973 to leave without a conference title during their 4 years.  Not sure if that also means playoffs, as few teams made the playoffs back in the day. 

That is one heck of a 40 year run.  I would be more proud of that, then the 50+ years without a losing season streak that most people talk about.   

Since the playoffs started in '73 and the Dutch won the title in '74, every Central class  in the playoff era has experienced at least one playoff year. 

[bluenote]

If my eyes aren't playing tricks on me after looking at the Iowa Conference webpage.  I believe this will be the 1st senior class at Central since 1973 to leave without a conference title during their 4 years.  Not sure if that also means playoffs, as few teams made the playoffs back in the day. 

That is one heck of a 40 year run.  I would be more proud of that, then the 50+ years without a losing season streak that most people talk about.   

Ya that's a cool record too!

....BTW....gave all you "old Timers" on the board here + K!!!   

[NewKnightDad]

Congratulations to the Knights for the win on Saturday and very likely the sole conference championship.  I was very hopeful with Central's two frst qtr TDs and 3 blocked kicks/punts.  It looked like we really came to play.  But turnovers lead to 2 easy touchdowns for the Knights (and one for Central following the blocked punt); then when we really needed a block, we couldn't get it, credit the Knights for working out the kinks.  I hate leading for three qtrs and losing.  We just could not get it done when it counted and Wartburg did.  We were so close to a share of first place, I could taste it, but at least it seemed to me a well officiated game without a sense of ifs and buts that influenced the outcome.  A defensive slugfest for sure.  Too many Central mistakes on offense.  I thought that the defense did a better job on the 3rd and long and 4th down attempts.  Of course it didn't take much to improve on some of our prior games, we didn't get all the stops, but it seemed improved to me.

Was that the 3rd string qb for WB?  If so, why?  He was an outstanding running threat, if the others are better, it could have been really ugly for us.  While the offense has struggled much of the year, that had to be Eisler's worst game of the season, probably due to the Knight's defense and possibly aided by the qb rotation.  Though it probably caught WB off guard for the early scores by the Dutch.  I was surprised many Central fans around me did not realize that was happening.

Sad to lose so many extremely close games and have a fairly comfortable margin in all the wins.  Here is to finishing strong at home this Saturday.  Oh and it was total psychological warfare that all the Central players with unpaid student accounts got a pay up or else e-mail from the Wartburg grad working in student accounts the day before the game.   

No, that was Schrader who missed last week against Coe because of an injury from the Dubuque game.  I can't tell you if he is our 1st or 2nd string QB since Wartburg has been rotating him and Jacobsmeyer all season.  I guess Jacobsmeyer did play some as a wideout on Saturday, but the elbow and shoulder injury kept him from playing QB..

I can't believe our running back was held to -11 yards of rushing for the game according to the CR Gazette.  Schrader had over 100 yards but the Central defense must have been killing our o-line on Saturday.

[Walston Hoover]

Wartburg had at least one, maybe more, OL not playing due to illness. Against Central's aggressive 3-4, that is most certainly not the recipe for success. We went through the same thing with our HS team but elected to play the sick guy OL. It almost cost us.

[Walston Hoover]

Can someone tell me what has happened at Loras. I remember the days when it was automatic they would be 5-5, maybe a good year 6-4. Never great but you always had to prepare for them. Now I think we could ask Corso for plays on Saturday

[Fannosaurus Rex]

On an IIAC related note, congrats to Cornell for knocking off the ninth best team in the region (Illinois College per the first regional rankings last week) in over-time Saturday.