Surprising Luther travels far to get some of its football players

DECORAH — Talk to about any college football coach in Iowa, and they'll tell you one thing. This state is over-recruited.

Iowa has a lower population but two and four-year college programs abound. That's from Morningside and Iowa Western Community College along the Missouri River to Saint Ambrose, Dubuque and Loras along the Mississippi.

There just aren't enough players to sustain everyone.

So schools like Luther are going outside the state. Way outside the state.

The Norse have guys from Iowa and neighboring Wisconsin and Minnesota. Those are Luther staples.

Then there are places like Florida, California, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada and Oregon represented. A lot of those outsiders, if you will, have played key roles in the best start to a season since 2005.

'The big thing is you look at recruiting in Iowa and Minnesota, which are our two biggest states, (and) it has been a challenge,' said fifth-year head coach Aaron Hafner. 'There are so many small schools that are going after these same kids. We have some different academic standards here than a lot of other schools in our conference. The cost is a little bit more and things like that, so that's probably hurt us in recruiting efforts. So we're just expanding.'

Luther's quarterback, Ian Kuykendall, is from Riverview, Fla., leading rusher Anthony Hollingshed from Apollo Beach, Fla., and leading receiver Justin Montgomery from Carrolton, Texas. Montgomery is a transfer from Texas Tech, where he did not play football.

Yassine Quazzani (Tampa, Fla.) also is integral in Luther's option attack offensively. Leading tackler Dante Joseph, a defensive back, is from Layton, Utah.

'At the end of the day, we're just looking for kids that fit our culture and fit our system,' Hafner said. 'We are different on offense, and our coaching staff has connections all over the country, so we utilize those connections and try and find kids. We try and spend a lot of time with them, go down and home visit and do those sorts of things. Make sure they are going to be a good fit for what we are trying to get accomplished here. Kids are kids, no matter where they are from.'

Luther is 3-1 overall and 2-0 in the Iowa Conference going into its homecoming game Saturday afternoon against Nebraska Wesleyan. The Norse stunned many two weeks ago with a last-minute, 21-17 win over nationally-ranked Dubuque, then set a school record with 608 yards of offense last week in a 36-14 win at Buena Vista.

Kuykendall rushed for 172 yards and two touchdowns and threw for 178 yards and another score.

'I think the big thing is our guys are just really playing hard. That's a big part of it,' Hafner said. 'We have a veteran group that has really bought into everything that we've done. We have 24 seniors on our roster, and a lot of those guys are contributors to our football team. They have put a lot of time and effort into the last four years.'

Luther was picked seventh in the Iowa Conference in a preseason poll of league coaches.

'Anytime you have experience in your program, and not just experience from a a game standpoint, but maturity and things like that ...,' Hafner said. 'I think that has kind of hurt us in years past overall. But we're finally kind of seeing that develop in our football program.'

l Comments: (319) 398-8259; jeff.johnson@thegazette.com