WAVERLY, Iowa—The No. 11/11 Wartburg football team (8-1 overall, 7-0 American Rivers) hosts Loras (2-7, 2-5) Saturday at 1 p.m.. The Knights have clinched the A-R-C Championship and will receive the trophy following the game. This marks the 20
th conference championship in program history and third-straight.
Standings
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The series
Wartburg owns the series lead at 32-9, which includes the last 18-straight meetings.
Wartburg
Dawson Rud leads the team on the ground with 783 yards and seven touchdowns. Five teammates join him above 100 yards with
Joey Anderson follows at 294,
Carter Markham at 182,
Ben Bryant at 171,
Leo Dodd at 159, and
Bricen White at 151.
Quarterback Markham has thrown for 1,261 yards and 13 TDs.
Carter Henry leads the receivers with 31 catches for 462 yards and five touchdowns.
Jagger Schmitt follows at 302 yards,
Drake George at 300,
Dylan Swanstrom at 269,
John McConohy at 234, and
Justis Bachman at 104.
Keenan Tyler leads the defense with 89 tackles.
Conner McDonald and
Christian Nunley both have 6.0 TFLs and McDonald leads the team with 3.5 sacks.
Cael O'Neill is 35-38 in PATs and has five field goals. He became the career leader in PATs in the game against Luther.
Career Record Watch
George is first in pass receptions (193), sixth in pass reception yards (2,280), and sixth in pass reception TDs (20).
Carter Henry is seventh in pass reception yards (1,938) and pass receptions (127), and ninth in receiving TDs (17).
O'Neill is first in PATs (160), second in field goals (27), and seventh in points (246).
Ben Bryant is first in punt return yards (1,005) and second in punt returns (81).
Parker Rochford is tied for first in interception return TDs (4), fourth in interceptions (17), and tied for seventh in pass breakups (26).
Nate Link is tied for seventh in fumble returns (2) and
Justin Grieff is seventh in quarterback hurries (9).
National Stat Rankings
The Knights are ranked in the top 50 in 17 various national rankings. They rank fourth in defensive touchdowns (4), seventh in rushing defense (49.2), 15
th in winning percentage (.889), 20
th in rushing offense (213.0), 21
st in blocked punts (2), 21
st in red zone defense (.632), 22
nd in turnover margin (1.11), 22
nd in turnovers gained (20), 24
th in passes intercepted (13), 25
th in punt return defense (2.60), 26
th in fourth down conversion percentage defense (.300), 33
rd in first downs offense (203), 36
th in scoring defense (15.3), 43
rd in completion percentage (.655), 48
th in third down conversion percentage (.451), 49
th in red zone offense (.857). and 50
th in total offense (412.1).
The Knights have four individual athletes who rank in the top 50 in various national rankings.
Keenan Tyler ranks 14th in solo tackles (5.8) and 25
th in total tackles (9.9).
Dawson Rud ranks 29
th in rush yards per carry (6.26).
Ben Bryant ranks 34
th in punt returns (8.6).
Thane Alexander ranks 35
th in interceptions per game (.4).
Against the A-R-C
Wartburg leads the conference in league games in fewest yards allowed/game (45.0), offensive efficiency (156.5), fewest interceptions (3), punt return average (9.6), and passes intercepted (13).
Dawson Rud is second in average rushing yards/game (104.6) and all-purpose yards (785), and third in rushing TDs (7). O'Neill is second in PATs (29) and Bryant is first in punt return yards (127) and punt return average (9.1).
Tyler is first in solo tackles (43), second in tackles (70) and tackles/game (10.0). Alexander is first in interceptions (4).
Loras
Justin Stephens leads the team on the ground with 374 yards and three scores. Quarterback Joey Helminiak has thrown for 1,375 yards for 13 TDs.
Three receivers all have 32 catches in Ian Broshous, Jaheem Haynes, and Jacob Tedrow. Broshous and Haynes each also have 385 receiving yards.
Henry Ivers and Owen Kelly both have 60 tackles to co-lead the defense.
