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WAVERLY - Wartburg College, seeded third in the St. Thomas bracket of the 2010 NCAA Division III national playoffs, hosts sixth-seeded Bethel University of Minneapolis, Minn. Saturday, Nov. 20. Kickoff is 1 p.m.
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GENERAL NOTES: This is the third NCAA Division III playoff game contested in Walston-Hoover Stadium. The Knights won the first two, upending Lake Forest College of Illinois 45-0 in 2002 and Bethel 21-7 in 2003. … It’s the Orange and Black’s fifth national playoff berth this decade. Coach Rick Willis’ program is 4-4 in the previous four appearances including a run to the national quarterfinals in 2008. … The Knights, 10-0 and Iowa Conference champions, enter the game with a No. 10 American Football Coaches Association national ranking and are the third seed in the St. Thomas section of the national bracket. …. Bethel, the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference runners-up, is ranked No. 14. … The Royals, coached by Steve Johnson, are making their sixth national playoff appearance in 11 years. They reached the national semifinals in 2007.
KNIGHTS NOTES: Willis’ squad takes an 11-game win streak into Saturday. They’ve won six in a row at home. … The unbeaten and untied regular season finished last weekend with a 27-14 victory at Simpson and was the program’s third all-time and first since 2003. … Wartburg’s offense couldn’t be much more balanced. The Knights have rushed for 1,909 yards and thrown for 1,908 yards. The sophomore trio of Reese Thompson, Brandon Sims, and Connor Dahlstrom are each above 200 yards this season with Thompson leading the way with 815, Sims second at 604 and Dahlstrom third at 279. Through the air, junior quarterback Danny Stiefel has reeled off 10 straight 100-yard passing games, continuing an impressive theme for the Orange and Black of having triple digits in the last 42 straight. Five Knights’ receivers have 100-or-yards in receptions. Junior Levi Helbling leads the pack with 730 and nine touchdowns, and senior Jason Roskam is close behind with 509 yards. … On defense, it’s an opportunistic bunch with 20 interceptions, nine fumble recoveries and four blocked kicks. The “D”, ranked among the top 50 on five national statistical categories, also has 38 sacks and 70 tackles for losses. Senior linebacker Blake Suckow tops the tackle charts with 92.5 including 11 for losses which ranks 19th in the country. The defensive back tandem of sophomore Garrett McGrane and senior Andrew Creary are two-three. McGrane and junior defensive back Josh VanDenHul have six picks each, and VanDenHul shares the fumble recovery lead with junior defensive lineman Matt Tschetter (two). Tschetter is the sack master with nine, which ranks among the top 25 in the nation, while fellow junior defensive lineman Logan Hansen has five. … On special teams, junior punter Robby Salmon is third-best in Division III averaging 42.5 yards per kick. Senior place-kicker Devin White has been strong as well, averaging 57.8 yards per kickoff and is perfect in field goals (one-for-one) and extra points (three-for-three). Junior place-kicker Marcus Williams has also contributed 34 extra points successfully and hit five-of-seven field goals. VanDenHul averages 24.2 yards on kickoff returns and better than five yards on punt returns.
ROYALS NOTES: Johnson’s squad is led offensively by senior running back Logan Flannery. He averages over 137 yards per game and has 1,379 yards and 14 rushing touchdowns. Flannery’s numbers are among the top 10 in Division III. Junior quarterback Josh Aakre has been solid as well throwing for 1, 136 yards and nine touchdowns. The receiving trio of freshman Mitch Hallstrom, junior Alex Wright and sophomore Jay Hilbrands are one-through-three in receptions. Hallstrom tops the list with 31 receptions, 330 yards and three touchdowns. … On defense, the Royals have accumulated 25 sacks and 17 interceptions. The upperclassmen linebacker duo of Billy Morgan and Ross Petterson top the tackle charts with 70 and 50.5, respectively. Senior defensive end Peter Sontag and freshman defensive lineman Trevor Pearson are one-two in sacks with Sontag having six and Pearson having five. Junior defensive back David Vavra and senior defensive back Brendan Flaherty have combined for nine interceptions. The Bethel “D” surrenders the fifth-fewest rushing yards, sixth-fewest total yards and eighth-fewest points per game in Division III
TO THE WINNER: A second-round game Saturday, Nov. 27, awaits Saturday’s winner. The victor will face either second-seeded Wheaton College of Illinois or seventh-seeded Coe.
