Coe gets a shot at one of D-III’s big boys

CEDAR RAPIDS — All things are not equal when it comes to the world of NCAA Division III football. Not even close.

The Coe Kohawks play a second-round playoff game Saturday at noon against St. Thomas (Minn.) in the Twin Cities. The Tommies are among the elite few in the sport.

That elite few has been a trio over the past 11 years. Only St. Thomas, Mount Union and Wisconsin-Whitewater have been in the D-III national championship game since 2005.

Mount Union and Whitewater have met in the finals nine times in that span, including seven years in a row from 2005 to 2011. Whitewater has six national titles since 2005, Mount Union the other five.

Everyone else in the country essentially has just been a frill.

'Why do they have an advantage?' Coe Coach Tyler Staker repeated, when asked that question this week. 'Mount Union has an advantage because it has a ton of history. They get a lot of transfers, some transfers from Ohio State or some of the other (D-I) schools in the state. Whitewater, being a state school, I think that's an advantage. You're paying state tuition instead of a private (school) tuition, so it's cheaper to go there. And they're the same thing, have a lot of Division I transfers.

'St. Thomas, it's one of the top five Catholic universities in the States. Like a Boston College. And they are bigger, enrollment wise, than Marquette. It's a huge Catholic institution, and it's in the Twin Cities, too. There's a lot of good high school football up there within about a 30-minute radius from their campus.'

The Iowa Conference, specifically Central, has been involved in the D-III national championship game three times. The Dutch beat Ithaca, 10-8, in 1974, only the second year there was a championship game.

Central was runner-up to Augustana (Ill.) in 1984 and Ithaca in 1988. The IIAC hasn't sniffed the finals in almost 30 years since.

Will it ever again?

Wartburg had Whitewater all but beat in the 2014 quarterfinals, taking a two-touchdown lead into the fourth quarter but eventually falling. Whitewater went on to win the championship that year.

Multiple things probably would have to go right for an IIAC team to get to the finals. You'd have to have a good team, stay injury free, play every playoff game at a very high level and catch some breaks along the way.

Just the way it is.

'Can Coe play in a national championship game? Yeah, it could,' Staker said, without hesitation. 'There are just a lot of things that factor into this.'

Despite all of the above information, 16th-ranked Coe (11-0) believes it can not only play with No. 3 St. Thomas (11-0), but beat it. The schools have played twice in the playoffs previously, each winning a game.

This St. Thomas team is huge up front on the offensive line (multiple 300-pounders), but Coe's front seven defensively has been very good this season. The Tommies lost last year's championship game to Mount Union, 49-35.

Mount Union had a 112-game regular-season win streak snapped two weeks ago but still qualified for the playoffs and won its first game last week.

'Absolutely. We know we can play with these guys if we play our best, force turnovers,' said Coe defensive back Andrew Johnson. 'Just do what we've been doing all season. We know they're a great program, have a good team year in and year out. But we know if we come out with our 'A' game, we've got a shot.'

'As Andrew said, we can definitely play with them,' said Coe defensive lineman Daniel Vega. 'We know we can. It's all about stopping the run. They're real run heavy. So if we can stop the run, I think we'll give ourselves more of a chance. We've got to get pressure on their quarterback, too.'

Coe forced nine turnovers and held on to beat Monmouth (Ill.) in last week's first round, 21-14. Running back Trevor Heitland rushed 50 times for a career-high 251 yards, but Staker knows his team must be more balanced in this game.

'We have to be able to attack their secondary,' he said. 'There are a lot of factors that go into that, attacking their secondary. You've got to have protection up front from our offensive line, and we've got to get separation from our receivers. They are a big blitz team. They'll blitz 82 percent of the snaps, 85 percent of the snaps. They just love to bring pressure. When teams bring pressure, they're a little more susceptible on the back end. So if we're able to protect, we'll have the chance to take some shots down the field.'

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