WAVERLY, Iowa—The No. 12/12 Wartburg football team (10-0 overall) will host No. 7/7 UW-LaCrosse (9-1) in an NCAA Playoff First-round game Saturday, Nov. 19 at noon at Walston-Hoover Stadium.
The Knights won the American Rivers Conference Championship for the automatic bid. The Eagles claimed share of the WIAC title and received an at-large bid.
Tickets
$8 adults
$5 seniors/students/children (3-18)
Free: Children under 3
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The Series
UWL owns the all-time series lead at 1-0, though the only meeting was in 1993. This game was in the NCAA Playoffs.
Wartburg
This marks the 15
th appearance in the NCAA Playoffs for the Knights. The Orange and Black last hosted in 2017.
The Knights broke an 80-year old school record three weeks ago with their fifth shutout of the season. The previous mark was four set in 1942.
Senior
Hunter Clasen leads the team with 1,061 yards on the ground and 15 touchdowns. He is the 18th member of the 1,000 rushing yards club. Senior
Nile McLaughlin (Eldridge) has thrown for 2,216 yards and 21 touchdowns.
Drake George leads the receivers with 461 yards, and
Thomas Butters (Kalona) leads the group with five TD catches.
Ben Bryant, who set the season record for punt return yards last year, leads the team with 17 punt returns for 295 yards. He also has 359 rushing yards for five touchdowns, and 146 receiving yards for two touchdowns.
Senior
Owen Grover leads the defense with 70 tackles, and junior
Nate Link (Eldridge) follows with 58 tackles.
Senior
Jordan Downing leads the team with 13.5 TFLs, and 9.0 sacks.
Career Record Watch
Ben Bryant is fifth in average yards/punt return (15.0), fourth in punt return yards (644) and tied for fifth in punt return TDs (1).
Clasen is 10th in rushing TDs (25) and
Cael O'Neill is tied for eighth in field goals (12).
Antonio Santillan is tied for fifth in interception return TDs (1), tied for sixth in assisted tackles (131), and eighth in total tackles (260). Downing is eighth in sacks (17) and ninth in yards from TFLs (151).
Season Record Watch
O'Neill is tied for third in field goals (11), and tied for sixth in PATs (46).
Bryant is third in punt return yards (295) and fifth in average yards/punt return (17.40).
Downing is tied for sixth in fumbles forced (2), and seventh in yards from sacks (71).
As a team, Wartburg is tied for first in punt return TDs (3), third in rushing TDs (35), punt return yards (469) and yards from sacks (270), tied for fourth in field goals (11) and sacks (37), fifth in points (455), sixth in PATs (52) and yards from TFLS (400), and seventh in total TDs (61).
UW-LaCrosse
The nine regular-season wins for UWL are the most since 2003.
Joey Stutzman has surpassed 1,000 rushing yards with 1,098 to date. Quarterback Cade Garcia has thrown for 1,440 yards for 21 TDs.
His top receiver has been Matthijs Enters with 404 yards and five TDs.
Ryan Daines leads the defense with 53 tackles. Jack Kelly has a team-best 15.0 TFLs.
