No. 22 Football Travels to Face Rams

WAVERLY, Iowa—The No. 22 Wartburg football team (3-1 overall 1-1 IIAC) travels to Mount Vernon to face Iowa Conference opponent, Cornell (2-1, 0-1) Saturday at 1 p.m.

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 and live stats.

The series:
The Knights own a 17-2 edge in the all-time series, dating back to a 48-34 Wartburg win in 1982. Wartburg has taken the last nine meetings from the Rams, reaching the 30-point mark eight times during the streak.
Cornell's last win over the Knights was in 2001, a 26-13 triumph in Mount Vernon.

A Look Back at Last Week:
Coe defeated then-10^th ranked Wartburg last week after being down 17-0 at halftime.
Senior Dan Stiefel (Sterling Heights, Mich.) set a new career-best with his 24 pass completions on the game. His previous career mark stood at 18 which he accomplished twice.

The Orange and Black were the first to strike as sophomore Reese Thompson (Van Horne) punched one in just over two minutes into the game.

Senior Levi Helbling (Malvern) doubled Wartburg’s lead seven minutes later on a five-yard pass from Stiefel.

Classmate Marcus Williams (Council Bluffs) made the score 17-0 in the Knights’ favor with his 21-yard field goal.

Wartburg’s defense held Coe’s Brad Boyle to 44 yards and four-for-nine in the first half.

Coe scored on its first drive of the second half as Gage Mohs caught a 27-yard touchdown pass from Brad Boyle to make the score 17-7 just over two minutes into the quarter.

Williams missed a 31-yard field goal attempt on Wartburg’s next drive.

On their ensuing drive, the Kohawks would come within three points as Boyle capitalized on a quarterback sneak from one-yard out.

Boyle would score his second touchdown of the game in the fourth quarter which gave Coe the 21-17 lead just under two minutes into the frame.

Wartburg answered back on its next drive as Helbling caught a 29-yard pass from Stiefel to re-gain the lead at 24-21.

Thompson led the Orange and Black on the ground with his 25 carries for 120 yards which marked his fourth 100-yard game in his career.

Helbling led all receivers with his six receptions for 98 yards.

Stiefel threw for 329 yards and was 24-of-45 to bring the streak to 46 consecutive games that a Knights playcaller has thrown for triple digits.

Juniors Jason Shupp (Cedar Rapids) and Garrett McGrane (Fairbank) led the defense with 12 and 11.5 tackles, respectively.

Where Wartburg Ranks in NCAA Stat Categories:
As a team, the Knights are currently ranked in the top 100 in 8 categories: net punting (27^th), passing offense (38^th), total offense (71^st), turnover margin (78^th), sacks per game (81^st), scoring defense (86^th), scoring offense (93^rd) and passing efficiency (99^th).

Individually, five players rank in seven different categories. Dan Steifel is 43^rd total offense (268 yds/game) and 92^nd in passing efficiency (130.39 passer rating.) Jason Shupp is ranked tied for 7^th in tackles a game with 13.67 per, and tied for 87^th in tackles for a loss with 1.5 a game. Garrett McGrane ranks tied for 20^th with interceptions per game averaging .75, interceptions a game. In the kicking game, both Robby Salmon and Marcus Williams are ranked. Robby ranks 8^th in punting with an average punt of 42.79 yards, while Marcus ranks tied for 72^nd in field goal percentage making 75% of his attempts.

A Look at Cornell:
Cornell suffered its first loss of the season last week against Buena Vista, 44-10, last week.

Cornell fell behind 14-0 last week, but climbed back into the game with a pair of long scoring drives in the second quarter. Quarterback Juan Flores led the Rams on an 11-play, 80-yard drive, capped by a 15-yard touchdown pass to junior tight end Chris Lopez. Cornell struck again just before intermission, getting a 23-yard field goal from Anthony Bridges that pulled the Rams to within 14-10.

Buena Vista quickly regained control in the second half. The Beavers returned the opening kickoff of the third quarter for a touchdown and would go on to score 30 unanswered points in the final half.

In the Polls:
Wartburg received the No. 22 ranking in the d3football.com's Top 25 poll for Week Four, released Sept. 25. The Knights also received votes in the AFCA poll.

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