WAVERLY, Iowa—The 10th-ranked Wartburg football team (3-0 overall, 1-0 IIAC) concludes its three-game homestand and hosts Iowa Conference opponent, Coe (1-2, 1-0) Saturday at 1 p.m.
At Home:
The Orange and Black are 44-9 in the Walston-Hoover Stadium era since it opened in 2001.
The Series in the Walston-Hoover Era:
Wartburg owns the series lead since 2001, when Walston-Hoover Stadium opened, at 7-3 and is 3-2 on its home turf.
Follow the Knights:
Click here to listen to the game which will be broadcasted on The Winner AM 1470, KWAR (89.9 FM) and kwayradio.com. Mark Simpson, Terry Goetzinger and Matt Ray will have the call. Pre-game show begins a half-hour before kickoff each week.
Click here to watch the live video stream.
Cick here to watch the live stats.
A Look Back at Last Week:
Then-13th-ranked Wartburg increased its streak of IIAC opening wins to six with its 27-7 win over Buena Vista last Saturday. With the victory, the Knights moved to 9-3 in conference openers in the Walston-Hoover Stadium era (since 2001).
Junior Garrett McGrane (Fairbank) got things started with his 45-yard interception return to give the Orange and Black the early lead just a minute and a half into the game.
After BV went three and out in its next possession, Wartburg doubled its lead on a 19-yard touchdown reception by sophomore Alce Smith (Plainfield, Ill.).
Sophomore Reese Thompson (Van Horne) scored the final two touchdowns for the Knights as he would punch the ball in from one yard out in the third quarter and two yards out in the fourth quarter.
The Orange and Black’s defense blocked a 21-yard field goal attempt on BV’s first possession in the third quarter.
Thompson led the team on the ground with 22 carries for 74 yards and junior Connor Dahlstrom (Eldridge) had 11 carries for 40 yards.
Senior quarterback Dan Stiefel (Sterling Heights, Mich.) was 16 of 30 through the air for 205 yards. This moved the streak to 45 consecutive games that a Knights playcaller has thrown for triple digits.
Smith led the receivers group with six catches for 98 yards and one touchdown. Sophomore Logan Ruffridge (Cedar Rapids) also had six receptions for 55 yards.
Junior linebacker Jason Shupp (Cedar Rapids) and McGrane co-led the defense with seven solo blocks on the day. Shupp was also credited with seven tackle assists to have a team–best 10.5 tackles in the game.
Classmate Riley Anderson (Dubuque) was credited for a team-best five pass breakups.
Where Wartburg Ranks in NCAA National Statistic Rankings:
The No. 10 Wartburg football team ranks in the Top 100 in ten NCAA Statistical Categories. The Knights are ranked 14th in sacks allowed with .33 sacks per drop back and their net punting ranks 29th, with an average of 36.26 yards per punt. With their 2.67 sacks the team ranks tied for 42nd in the country. The Orange and Black are 53rd in pass offense (246.33 yds/game), 62nd in defensive pass efficiency (104.08) and are 63rd in turnovers per game (.67). Wartburg is 73rd in scoring defense (surrendering only 18.67 points per game) and 79th in scoring offense (29.33 points per contest).
The Knights are 80th in total offense with and 374.33 and are tied for 84th in passing efficiency with 134.08.
Individual leaders for the Orange and Black include Dan Steifel who is 54th and 74th in total offense (252 yds/game) and passing efficiency (135.62), respectively. Garrett McGrane is tied for 35th with .67 interceptions per game. Robbie Salmon is ranked 9th in punting averaging 42.89 yards per punt. Marcus Williams also ranks in the kicking game as he is tied for 74th making 67% of his field goal attempts. Matt Tschetter ranks tied for 90th in tackles for loss as he is averaging 1.5 per game.
A Look at Coe:
Coe defeated Simpson 34-26 for its first win of the year last Saturday.
The Kohawks finished with 380 yards of offense on 56 plays. Both teams scored on all eight appearances in the red zone, but Simpson was held to two field goals while the Kohawks had four touchdowns.
Carvin Thompson finished with a career-high 107 yards on 15 carries. Brad Boyle tied a career-high with his sixth three rushing touchdown day. He also had 85 yards on the ground on 16 carries. Through the air, Boyle was 13-of-17 for 168 yards. Nick Ratchford had a team-high five receptions for 65 yards. Jared Kuehner and Keaton Juergens added three receptions each, with Kuehner having 46 yards and Juergens finishing with a career-high 38.
In the Polls:
The Orange and Black moved up in the d3football.com Top 25 poll for the third-straight week as they received the No. 10 spot in the week two poll released Sept. 18.
