Wartburg smacks Coe, 31-21

Don't forget about Wartburg. Guess there's no way you can now.

The Knights have been overshadowed in the Iowa Conference much of this college football season by national top-10ers Coe and Central. But let the accolades flow for Wartburg after a convincing 31-21 win over Coe at Clark Field.

Wartburg (6-0) is in the driver's seat in the IIAC with its 4-0 record. Yes, the Knights still have to play Central, but even a loss and a potential three-way tie for the title favors them considering Coe and Central qualified for the NCAA Division III playoffs last season.

The league's tiebreaker for its automatic playoff bid is the team that has gone the longest without a postseason berth.

It's been almost all Wartburg in this Iowa Conference football biggie. The Knights scored on their first three possessions to grab a 14-point halftime edge. Here's the key stat of this one: Wartburg is 10 of 13 in third-down conversions.

Coe got a touchdown on a 55-yard pass from Brad Boyle to Kris Hopkins to open the second half, making it a 21-14 game. But Wartburg matched that score, driving all on the ground 49 yards after a good kickoff return and penalty. QB Dan Stiefel scored on a 1-yard sneak.

Coe got to the Wartburg 40 on its next possession, but Boyle was stopped short on a 4th-and-1 run attempt. The Knights drove deep into Coe territory again and got a 29-yard field goal from Marcus Williams to make it 31-14.

Boyle just drove his team down the field and scored on a 1-yard sneak with 6:34 to go, making it 31-21.

Wartburg has been able to do pretty much whatever it wants offensively, racking up 259 first-half yards and enjoying a time-of-possession advantage of nine minutes. The difference in this game has definitely been Wartburg's offensive line (particularly its center and guards). They have given Stiefel time to throw and opened holes for RBs Brandon Sims and Reese Thompson.

Stiefel has two touchdown passes to speedy wide receiver Levi Helbling, including an 8-yard beauty of a catch on a corner fade to close out the first-half scoring. Thompson also has a 2-yard TD run. Coe's Boyle scored his team's lone touchdown on a 1-yard QB sneak. He threw a big interception in the end zone in the final seconds of the first half.

Coe is ranked sixth in NCAA Division III by d3football.com and eighth by the American Football Coaches Association. Wartburg is 24th in the AFCA poll.

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