FB: American Rivers Conference

[Schipper Strong]

Klompen calls all year for Ketchum to start at QB. He finally gets the start against UD and it's 28-7 Dutch at halftime. Argh.

I have indeed and I am so glad they left him in for the whole game. If it was me, he would have been starting from the time Hawkins graduated. Really bad move letting Cooper Downs start Ketchum's sophomore season. I think they hoped to keep him from transferring back to SJU, but he didn't stay anyway and he wasn't that good. I hate that the coaches didn't give Ketchum  a chance until about 3 minutes left in the game against Coe.

Congratulations to UD for being the only conference team to score a TD against Central's starting defense in regulation and they did it too often. UD was the best conference offense we played this year. No surprise with Maiuri at the helm. I knew you got a good one from us.

I was not feeling good last night or today. I had a really hard time staying awake for the game once I finally got chills under control. Way too many unsportsmanlike penalties. Both coaches need to get that under control.

Good game today other than that.

[Fannosaurus Rex]

Congratulations to the University of Dubuque Marching Spartan Band for a splendid half-time show and to who ever runs the web cast audio-visual for actually letting me see and hear it.

[DBQ1965]

Coe
Wartburg
Central
UD

Wilmington
Westminster
Chapman
ETBU

[doolittledog]

Dubuque beats Nebraska Wesleyan 52-7
This was a road game, so a limited roster made the trip.
12 Spartans rushed the ball, with the most getting 4 rushing attempts
11 Spartans caught a pass, with the most getting 6 receptions, and 5 different receivers scoring a TD
4 different QB's played in the game for UD. 

[Schipper Strong]

Can't believe I have watched my last in person Central football game of the season already. There are so many great players that had their final home game yesterday. I will miss seeing them play, hearing their names over the speaker and watching their emotions after a huge play. It all brings me back to why I love D3 sports. I love seeing kids play just because they love the game. My heart breaks that this team will miss out on the playoffs because of two very narrow losses. I understand it. I do. It doesn't mean I won't think Central is capable of beating teams that do make the playoffs. I'm sure a few WIAC teams feel the same way every year.

As to the game yesterday the first quarter was a bit stressful, shall we say. 🤣 I kept thinking where was this Loras team all year? What happened to the Central team I know and love? I was not expecting to be behind 7-0 at the end of the first. Then it was 3 quarters of totally normal Central after that. I found out later that Central was starting all seniors/5th year players. So to Loras, you won the battle against the seniors. I do not minimize that at all. Most starters were seniors/5th year players anyway and you looked really good against them. It reassures me that after those guys are gone we will still have some great players left that made the difference between the first quarter and the other 3.

[sportsknight]

Wartburg tailgate set up just outside the stadium if anyone wants to come by! https://x.com/jessegavin1/status/1855272122374897818?s=46&t=EZ8tfztoO0_nVyh3500AZQ

[doolittledog]

Final score
Wartburg 24-14 over Dubuque

[sportsknight]

Final score
Wartburg 24-14 over Dubuque

Really bizarre game, when you consider all the sloppy play in the first half (penalties and turnovers) juxtaposed against a scoreless second half. But sometimes you're going to have one like that. Knights took care of business and will lift a trophy if they do the same next week.

[DriftlessDuhawk]

Duhawks win = happy Driftless Duhawk.

It was a good team win against a program that Loras has felt it is better than. Unfortunately, they have lost a few of those types of games this year, so by no means am I taking it for granted.

Not only did they get a win on senior day in their last game in the Bowl this season but the young guys played well. A few of the young guys who have been plugged into the defense this season started to play well and really popped. Following a pick on the first play Helminiak played a really good game and was able to put some nice balls downfield and make smart decisions on when to run with it. This season has been certainly disappointing but it is nice to see that the team has not quit and that maybe there is some talent in the younger classes.

Now they get a shot at the king with nothing to lose. Who knows!

[Schipper Strong]

Now they get a shot at the king with nothing to lose. Who knows!

Go all out and get the win! WB has been up and down this season, as has Central. You don't know which you will get, so hard play could bring surprising results.

[DriftlessDuhawk]

Go all out and get the win! WB has been up and down this season, as has Central. You don't know which you will get, so hard play could bring surprising results.

I wouldn't say I am overly optimistic about the Duhawks chances next weekend but hey that's why they play the games. Wartburg has been the cream of the crop in the conference for a number of years so any chance you get to line up with the best it is an opportunity to show what you have!

[DriftlessDuhawk]

With regards to the looming playoffs, I think it is going to be very interesting to see how ARC teams schedule teams in the nonconference moving forward. Logan Hansen has long been ringing the bell that NPI simply favors win percentage (for this season and next) over scheduling good teams. I wonder if a team like Wartburg looks at their nonconference scheduling of St. Johns as a detriment due to that loss having potentially disastrous effects on their NPI number (yes I know they have locked up the conference AQ and thus it doesn't matter but if they did not it would). But for other teams in the conference (UD playing UWP and Aurora/Loras playing Hope) what good do these games do if these teams ever dream of getting into the tournament? I know Coe plays Cornell due to the history of that game but it is actually going to be the reason they get into the playoff field this year. Had they played a stronger opponent and lost it most likely would have kept them on the outside looking in.

I would like to think that following the next season the NPI dials would be reset but there are a number of conferences that are going to benefit from the current set-up and I would imagine they would push back against this idea. In the meantime, that sound you hear is Luther's phone ringing off the hook from every team in the country looking to take a trip to play in Decorah on the blue turf...

[Pat Coleman]

Luther isn't going to get you a win score of 64, most likely, however.

[doolittledog]

Luther isn't going to get you a win score of 64, most likely, however.

[img]https://dumbanddumber.fandom.com/wiki/Lloyd_Christmas?file=Lloyd_Christmas.Image.jpeg[img]

So you're telling me there's a chance

[DriftlessDuhawk]

Luther isn't going to get you a win score of 64, most likely, however.

I understand this. But if the idea is "what is the best route to try and go 10-0 or 9-1" playing them makes the most sense no? Because we are seeing that a 9-1 team is going to get in over a 8-2 team 99% of the time.