Nationally ranked Wheaton puts a beatdown on Coe

CEDAR RAPIDS - You saw a NCAA Division III national championship contender Saturday afternoon at Clark Field. No, it wasn't the Coe Kohawks.

Wheaton College of suburban Chicago put on a display justifying its No. 7 ranking by D3football.com, dismantling the home team, 52-14, in the season opener for both teams.

The Thunder is Wheaton's nickname, and it fits.

'They're a better football team,” Coe Coach Steve Staker said, matter of factly. 'They're rated top 10 in the nation, we're not.”

That doesn't mean Staker didn't expect a better showing from his team. Coe forced a Wheaton punt on the initial possession of the game, took over and marched down the field for a touchdown and 7-0 lead.

Quarterback Josh Rekers completed six passes on the 69-yard drive, four to former Cedar Rapids Kennedy prep Trevor Heitland. Former West Delaware prep Sam Lahr bowled over from the 3 for the TD.

'The first drive they kind of came out (defensively) and did exactly what we thought they'd do,” Rekers said. 'I was just taking what they were giving me. Trevor was getting open. I was liking what I saw that first drive. Then they made some adjustments, and it took us awhile to kind of adjust to what they were doing. They're a good team.”

Coe wouldn't score again until the fourth quarter. By that time, the Kohawks were behind, 45-7.

Wheaton moved the football at will, especially through the air, scoring on five consecutive possessions to pull away. Quarterback Johnny Peltz has a lot of weapons and used them, completing 24 of 35 passes for 350 yards and four scores.

He also ran for a touchdown.

'They exploited a weakness,” Staker said. 'Our weakness is our secondary right now, and they exploited it. We've got to shore that up. They couldn't really run the ball on us when our normal guys were in there. But they went empty (backfield) formation a lot. They evidently took a look at what we've got in the secondary and exploited us.”

The Coe offense was scattershot after its first drive, unable to run effectively. Wheaton was thus able to put more defenders in pass coverage, with Rekers having to dump the ball underneath a lot.

He completed 27 of 38 for 227 yards and was intercepted twice. Elijah Phillips caught 11 passes for 117 yards and a TD.

And there was bad news on the injury front. Dan Kopp, the one and only tight end on the roster, suffered either a broken ankle or dislocated right ankle in a gruesome-looking injury on Coe's first drive and was stretchered off the field.

Linebacker Mark Atwater suffered what Staker thought was a stinger and missed a lot of the second half. He has had neck issues throughout his career.

Starting offensive lineman Zach Smith also was hurt. It was just a bad day overall for Coe, which plays Cornell for the 125th time next Saturday at Clark Field.

'I think this was a good game for us, for them to find out what it's like. How hard you have to play, how you have to bring it all the time,” Staker said. 'We can't get our dobbers down. Keep our heads up, learn from it. That's a good football team. We're not going to play anyone like that (the rest of the season), other than Wartburg.”

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