FB: American Rivers Conference

[Floyd in Iowa City]

Was anyone in attendance at the Luther/St. Olaf game?  Was it as close of a game as the score indicated?  The blurb on the Norse website didn't say that much, except that the Norse took a 1 point lead in the 4th quarter and the Oles scored on the ensuing possesion.  Was it back and forth like this all game? Or was there a late surge?

I was in Northfield.  Luther was very successful at the line of scrimmage in the 1st half on both sides of the ball, but the Ole Offense reversed it on the Norse Defense in the 2nd half as much of their offensive yardage and success came in the last two quarters.  Those Ole WRs are the best group that the Norse will see this year (Gant has been there forever, Schmiesing was drafted by the Twins in the 10th round, etc.), but most people knew how good they were going into the game.  The respect that the Norse gave the Ole receivers and passing game eventually opened up the Ole running game.

St. Olaf had 13 carries for 17 yards at the half and ended up with 32 carries for 133 yards, so you can see the success that they had in the 2nd half.  St Olaf converted a key 3rd and 15 pass (I had some question whether Gant came down in bounds, but I am biased) right before the final touchdown pass, so the game was close until Luther was in desperation mode in the last minute.  Luther was up 10-6 at the half, 10-9 at the end of the 3rd quarter, and 19-18 in the 4th quarter after Lamos scored with 6:25 left in the game.

Luther ran the ball very well and dominated the time of possession overall (38:14 to 21:46).  The passing game improved somewhat as the game went on, but there were a few drops late in the game that hurt whatever chance the Norse had of tying it up.  It was also annoying at times watching the snap exchange not be clean from the shotgun formations.   Sherden, Lamos, and Lower all ran the ball well.  Sherden was dinged a little in the 3rd quarter and did not play much after that.  He looked very good on kickoffs and running the ball.

Both teams left points out on the field.  St. Olaf returned 12 all-conference players from a team that has gone 8-2 the last two years.  I was impressed as usual with the St. Olaf Offense, but Luther will see tougher defenses in the next two games when they see the Dutchmen and the Knights.

Congrats to B.V. and Central for wins over solid to good MIAC programs.

[warthog]

Stormchaser:

I would first assume that Simpson is much better.  They have been gathering some decent talent.  The rest of the IIAC wasn't going to keep them down forever.

Floyd:

It sounds like the Norse won certain phases of the game, but not the scoreboard.  Those things happen on occasion.  The good news is they will probably win some ball games if they continue on the same course.  Lady luck shines on everybody eventually.

[sc_stormchaser]

Quote from Simpson press release -
"Reutzel was also called upon to punt late in the game when Bill Nelson (Sr., Carlisle, Iowa, Carlisle
H.S.) was forced out due to cramps. Reutzel's 24-yard punt was the second of his career, and went out-of-bounds deep into Concordia territory, forcing the Falcons to start at their own 8 with less than two minutes to go in the
game."

And kickers/punters wonder why everyone else makes fun of them. Game day: Sunny, 80 degrees and a nice breeze. Great day in Indianola. I didn't see any other players on either side go down with cramps.

[Floyd in Iowa City]

How did the Upper Iowa Defense or the Loras Offense look for anyone that went to the game on Saturday?

I thought Upper Iowa would move the ball and score points, but I was hoping the Duhawks could do that as well on the Peacock Defense.  How much are they missing McCarron?  Maybe I was hoping for too much as the Loras passing attack was average for much of last season.

[sportsknight]

sportsknight,

Has there been a decision made yet for this Saturday?  Are you going to be the play by play guy for the radio for the Hope/Central game.  Been listening to your Wednesday night shows.  Doing a good job IMHO.

Still up in the air.  As you might be aware, the regular PxP guy for Central football games has a baby due Monday.  Last I knew, if there's no baby by Thursday, he's staying in Iowa over the weekend and I'm headed to Holland.

I think we'll have McMartin on the Wednesday night show this week.  Thanks for listening.

[DutchFan2004]

Walston,


What happened Friday night in your opinion.  Did Dowling not show up or did the the kids from WD just pick it up another notch.  I was rooting for you. 


Looking at the IIAC stats and didn;t take time to read the play by play.  Did the first team give up all 4 TO's?  That is pretty unusual for the Knights to be -4 in a game that they won so easily.  That seemed to be the only bad point on paper for the first game. 

[Floyd in Iowa City]

Stormchaser:

I would first assume that Simpson is much better.  They have been gathering some decent talent.  The rest of the IIAC wasn't going to keep them down forever.

Floyd:

It sounds like the Norse won certain phases of the game, but not the scoreboard.  Those things happen on occasion.  The good news is they will probably win some ball games if they continue on the same course.  Lady luck shines on everybody eventually.

Thanks for the thought Warthog.  The problem for those of us that watched Norse games last year was that losses like Saturday happened all too often.  Some of it is luck and momentum obviously, but I am for Luther finding and developing more playmakers on defense and special teams.  The Norse did look better on special teams on Saturday (which helps everything), but the jury is out IMO whether the defense is going to be average or whether it will start looking more like the 2002-2004 units that forced lots of turnovers and limited first downs for the opposition.

There are some solid players on the Norse Defense, but I am not sure how many could be compared with recent Norse difference-makers like Jaeger, Romens, or McDonald.  I am not saying that Luther can't get back to being a 6-4 team with an average defense (they were 6-4 with an average defense in 2005) but it would make things easier.

[DutchFan2004]

Floyd,

you are so right about luck.  I know that we were lucky to come out a W last year at Luther.  I still don't understand how you had so many losses as good as your offense was.  I do think that your coach did make some poor choices in the game that lead to you losing.  Was it that kind of year last year?  Some times the breaks do not go your way.  Do you think this year the d will have to win some games for you? 

[dbljay21]

Floyd:
Thanks for the insights.  I heard from one of the coaches and from what he said and what you said it sounded like a very good game.  Its encouraging as a Norse fan to see the defense playing better than it has in recent years, but you are correct in your observations about not having a difference maker yet especially in the secondary.  Hendrickson seems like he has the potential to be a difference maker and the offense seems like it will be effective again considering the production the Norse will get out of the backfield with a healthy Sherden.  

[Walston Hoover]

'04- We couldn't do anything on offense Friday night. Toward the end of the 3rd quarter it felt like a blowout even though we were down 1. We were down by 8 with under a minute to play when they scored their last TD on a busted coverage on 4th and 10 from the +30 or so, so we were in it to the very end. Too many mistakes made, )wrong routes, missed assignments, wrong reads, lining up wrong, and the most noticeable-kicking off to start both halves,) to win, especially against a powerhouse like Valley. A lot of people seemed to think they were going to be down this year, but they looked just as good as always against us. Bad news is its a loss, good news is its pretty much all correctable. Its too bad we had to play Valley and work our kinks out the first game of the year, but they probably thought that last year about us.
As for Wartburg's TO's- IIRC, 2 were on fumbled snaps and one pick was dropped by the reciever and it bounced up in the air. I don't remember the other one.

[CaliRamRL6]

Cornell vs Northwestern game...

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&id=3003569&sportCat=ncf

[coocooforcoekohawk]

"Great post sportsknight. You're a class act to acknowledge the opposing team's fans. "
Know who said that back in January of '06?  Charlie, a Coe fan.  So before you go dismissing everyone that goes to, has gone to, or cheers for a certain school, maybe you should pull your head out first.

One minute you are holy crapping about taking it easy in here the next you are criticizing the validity of posters statements.

Then you make up a quote that Charlie may or may not have said.  Go find the actual quote before you use it to bolster your argument.  

As far as Suckow, my only thought was it was better to not have a cancer on the team, and I didn't think he was the best player Coe had anyway.

So you pull first.

[Pat Coleman]

Yay, Forde actually cites us? Impressive.

Link to the photos:
http://digg.com/football/Game_tying_extra_point_interrupted_in_weird_way

[DutchFan2004]

Well that is good news for your kids.  You can still win the conference and make the playoffs is the good news.  Will keep a watchful eye out in the Des Moines Register.  Hope they don't mix up the high school sports as they did the IIAC coverage.  Did any one else paper have the Simpson coverage under the Central-St Thomas score.  I thought they just transposed the stories till under the Simpson score they had more Simpson coverage.  The editor missed that one I guess.  See Pat I am learning who's fault it is after you teaching me.   

[Floyd in Iowa City]

Floyd:
Thanks for the insights.  I heard from one of the coaches and from what he said and what you said it sounded like a very good game.  Its encouraging as a Norse fan to see the defense playing better than it has in recent years, but you are correct in your observations about not having a difference maker yet especially in the secondary.  Hendrickson seems like he has the potential to be a difference maker and the offense seems like it will be effective again considering the production the Norse will get out of the backfield with a healthy Sherden.  

SS Trevor Theobald did have 10 tackles and a great INT where he ripped it away from an Ole who seemed to have made the reception.  From the sounds of things the sophomore is a very good athlete.  LC Mike Tangen is also a pretty good player even though he fumbled a punt return to set up a St. Olaf TD in the 1st quarter.  The secondary overall has a lot to prove to match up with Norse units from 2-4 years ago.