WAVERLY - No. 17/22 Wartburg football heads to Holland, Mich. for a NCAA Playoff first round game at Hope College this Saturday, Nov. 23. Kickoff is scheduled for noon (eastern time). 

WARTBURG COLLEGE (9-1, 7-1 A-R-C) AT HOPE COLLEGE (9-1, 7-0 MIAA)
Date: Nov. 23, 2019
Time: 12 p.m. (ET) 
Site: Holland, Mich. // Ray & Sue Smith Stadium
Series: Hope leads 1-0
Radio: KWAY Country AM 1470 FM 96.3 // Matt Ray (Play by Play), Terry Goetzinger (Color)

TICKETS

• General Admission: $8 Students w/ ID, and Youth: $5
• Tickets can be ordered in advance with a credit card by calling the Hope College Ticket Office at 616.395.7890 or PURCHASING ONLINE 
•  A will call booth will be set up at Ray & Sue Smith Stadium.
• For any ticketing needs, contact the ticket office at 616.395.7890 or tickets@hope.edu.

FIELD INFORMATION
Ray & Sue Smith stadium is located at 313 Fairbanks Avenue. The stadium can accommodate 5,300 fans and a Pro Turf play surface was installed in 2012.
**Sunflower seeds and gum are not allowed on the turf field.

FAN ARRIVAL

• Parking for fans is available in our main lot or on the local streets. The stadium lot is small and fills up quickly on game day. There is additional parking on the surrounding streets or at 222 Fairbanks Ave. (DeVos Fieldhouse) with a shuttle service to the stadium.

THE SERIES
Saturday's game marks just the second meeting between Wartburg and Hope. The two teams met back in 1985, with the Flying Dutchmen prevailing 35-0 in Waverly.

NCAA PLAYOFF HISTORY
Wartburg owns a 10-13 all-time record during NCAA postseason competition. Most recently, the Knights fell in the first round at Bethel University last season. Four times, the Knights have reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament (1994, 2008, 2014, 2017). 

LAST TIME OUT
Wartburg closed out the regular season with a 48-7 victory over Loras College last Saturday to clinch a share of the conference title. 

Wartburg jumped out to a 27 lead in the first quarter with two scores each from JoJo McNair and Noah Dodd. Kolin Schulte tallied two receiving touchdowns to break a school record previously set by Ryan Rausch in 1999 and Riley Brockway in 2017 - who each recorded 15. 

The Wartburg defense forced two fumbles and two interceptions. Antonio Santillan led all tacklers with 13 and recovered both fumbles. Santillan and Ben Weepie forced fumbles while McNair and Eli Barrett registered the interceptions. Jason Fisher totaled a career-high 3.5 sacks.

IN THE POLLS
Wartburg is ranked among the top 25 in a pair of Division III rankings for the 10th week in a row, closing out the regular season ranked No. 17 in the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) top 25 rankings and No. 22 in D3football.com's rankings.

TRIO NAMED ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT
The 2019 College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District Football Teams were released Thursday, Nov. 14, with three members of the Wartburg football team selected to the NCAA Division III District 8 team; Luke Grzech, Will Hasken, and Kolin Schulte.  

DEPPE AND SANTILLAN EARN WEEKLY AWARDS
The American Rivers Conference announced its weekly performers of the week Monday, Nov. 18, with Wartburg Football's Nick Deppe earning Special Teams Player of the Week and Antonio Santillan receiving Defensive Player of the Week accolades. 

Junior punter Nick Deppe of Plainfield, Ill., totaled four punts good for 185 yards, averaging 46.2 yards per punt and two inside the 20-yard line, including a career-long 69 yard punt that stands as the longest this season in the conference. Deppe also finished the regular season ranking third among A-R-C punters with 12 punts inside the 20. 

Sophomore linebacker Antonio Santillan of Davenport led all tacklers against Loras with 13 (12 solo), along with two fumble recoveries as he forced one. He also added a sack and a pass breakup. Santillan is the conference leader with five interceptions and ranks eighth with 84 tackles.

2019 A-R-C CHAMPIONS
Wartburg and Central College were crowned co-champions of the American Rivers Conference in 2019, both with 7-1 conference records. It stands as the third-straight conference title for Wartburg and 17th overall. 

WARTBURG

• Wartburg finished the regular season with the top A-R-C scoring offense with an average of 46.5 points per game, along with 67 total touchdowns. 
• The Knights led the A-R-C with 30 rushing touchdowns, paced by a collective effort. Seven Knights have tallied at least two rushing scores, led by Bennett Goettsch, who is tied for fourth in the conference with eight while ranking fifth with 619 rushing yards. Dodd has seven rushing TD's, followed by four each from Mason Carter and Connor Bailey.
• Senior wide receiver Kolin Schulte broke a Wartburg single-season record with his 16th receiving touchdown versus Loras, which ranks seventh nationally. 
  • Schulte ranks second in the conference with 14 receiving touchdowns and fourth with 917 yards and 101.8 per game. He leads the Knights with 986 all-purpose yards (all receiving) while scoring in all but two games this season.
• Senior quarterback Noah Dodd has played the majority of time under center, tallying 21 touchdowns and 1,776 yards through the air. An efficient passer, he ranks 12th in Division III with a 68 percent completion percentage (135-of-196). 
• Defensively, junior defensive back Eli Barrett leads the Knights with 84 tackles and finished the regular season as the conference leader with 54 solo tackles. 
  • Sophomore linebacker Antonio Santillan has 83 total tackles and led the A-R-C with five interceptions. 
  • Senior defensive lineman Jason Fisher is the conference leader with six sacks. 

HOPE

• Hope College competes in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association and won the league title with a 7-0 MIAA record.
• The Flying Dutchmen went 9-1 overall and are making their first NCAA postseason appearance since 2006.
• Hope received votes in the latest AFCA and D3football.com rankings and rank third nationally in turnover margin (2.1) and third down conversion percentage (0.578). 
• Hope's Mason Opple and Mason Dekker headlined the MIAA's postseason awards, earning Offensive and Defensive MVP awards, respectively. 
  • Opple, a senior quarterback, completed 107-of-168 passes for 1,496 yards and 16 touchdowns without throwing an interception. 
  • Dekker played middle linebacker for the MIAA's No. 1 scoring defense that allowed 16.9 points per game. The Flying Dutchmen gave up seven or fewer points four times, including three times against MIAA opponents.