Domeyer, Wartburg wearing down opponents

WAVERLY - It's likely no Iowa Conference running back was as excited as Wartburg's Brandon Domeyer when camp started up in August.

That's because Domeyer had four returning starters blocking for him on the offensive line, including preseason All-American left tackle Chris Brinkmeier.

After a slow start to the season, the experienced line and Domeyer's power running style have worn down opponents as Wartburg has moved to No. 5 in the NCAA Division III rankings with an 8-0 record heading into Saturday's contest at Simpson (3-5).

'We have a very physical and very athletic offensive line, so all of the credit goes to them,” Domeyer said. 'They've allowed me and the other running backs and (quarterback Logan) Schrader to do what we need to do to win.”

Domeyer, a junior from Manchester, averaged 3.25 yards per carry in the Knights' first two games. He's up to 6.11 per carry in the last six.

The former West Delaware running back averaged 4.2 yards per attempt last season with 918 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns in 12 games. He's at 666 yards and 11 touchdowns so far this year.

'Our running game starts with our offensive line and we have an experienced group that functions well together, that plays with the type of physicalness that we want to play with at Wartburg,” head coach Rick Willis said. 'We've been getting good play from our backs as well. Those guys have really been coming along nicely as the season has progressed.”

The running game opens up Wartburg's passing attack and vice versa. Logan Schrader has completed 62.6 percent of his attempts for 1,986 yards and 19 TDs.

The offense ranks 37th in the nation at the 458.3 yards per game, and the defense isn't too shabby either, ranked 15th.

Put it altogether and you get a dominant team that hasn't won a game by less than 17 points a year after five of their six IIAC wins were decided by 10 points or less.

Wartburg can clinch the league's automatic NCAA playoff bid with a win Saturday and its second straight outright conference title with a win Nov. 15 against Loras (1-7).

'We're definitely still focused on Simpson and all of our attention is on them right now, but it's definitely something that's in the back of our mind,” Domeyer said of the 32-team playoffs that Wartburg reached the second round of in 2013. 'We want to get into the playoffs and make a big run.”

The biggest games on Wartburg's regular season schedule have passed - a 31-14 win over then-No. 7 Bethel in Week 2 and 43-24 triumph over Buena Vista last week that broke a tie atop the IIAC standings - but that doesn't make the last two weeks any more difficult to stay focused on.

'That's still where our mindset is, trying to control our own destiny, trying to win an outright Iowa Conference championship, trying to have only the fourth untied, undefeated season in the history of Wartburg College,” Willis said.

'Those things are all important to us and at stake here in these last couple weeks before we ever get into the playoff discussion.”