Coe hosts Monmouth in rare home playoff game

CEDAR RAPIDS — Coe discovered a winning formula.

The product is the 11th unbeaten season in program history. The Kohawks also won the Iowa Conference title for just the fifth time in school history.

Coe will host Monmouth (Ill.) College in the NCAA Division III football playoffs Saturday at Clark Field, beginning at noon. Even though it is just the third home postseason game for the 13th-ranked Kohawks (10-0), they are staying with this season's formula.

'We haven't deviated from what we do throughout the course of the week,' Coe first-year head coach and IIAC Coach of the Year Tyler Staker said. 'The way we practice, what we do each day, we are continuing to do that.'

The approach goes along with a season-long motto. Despite the cliche, the Kohawks have focused on the task at hand. They aren't consumed with the IIAC season or a possible second-round game. The unbeaten Midwest Conference champion and No. 21 Fighting Scots (10-0) are the only concern.

'Don't think about next week or last week. Just keep going 1-0,' Coe defensive back and IIAC Defensive Most Valuable Player Dylan Stepleton said. 'There is no doubt this game is bigger. We are trying to keep things business as usual.'

Coe dropped its first home playoff game in 2002. Staker said Seth Williams was the lone fifth-year senior on the team that hosted and lost a first-round playoff game in 2012. The Kohawks find themselves traveling down the same road, attempting to record the school's first 11-win season.

'It's been pretty crazy,' Stepleton said. 'It's wild. Coming in freshman year right after those guys went 10-0 and looking up to those guys and how big they were. Now, we're kind of those guys.

'It's crazy to think how fast it's gone and just trying to win a home playoff game also.'

Luck or coincidence didn't deliver the Kohawks to this point. Staker recalled the team's first meeting and his message that they had potential to be conference champions and be in this position. They stuck together and took it to heart.

'It's one thing to believe it and another to go out and do it each week,' Staker said. 'I'm proud of our guys. They've gone out and earned it each week.'

The routine leading to the game remains the same. Coe won't be changing its game plan on Saturday. IIAC Offensive Player of the Year Trevor Heitland has rushed for 1,619 yards with 18 touchdowns. He led the nation in all-purpose yardage, averaging 217.60 per game. He joined Fred Jackson and Carey Bender as Coe running backs to surpass 1,500 yards in a season.

Gavin Glenn has managed the Kohawk offense well, throwing for 2,244 yards and 24 TDs. Demetrius Harper leads Coe with 563 receiving yards. Heitland adds 438 on 33 catches. Glenn has led two last-minute game-winning drives, beating Wartburg and Central in consecutive weeks.

The Kohawks are 14th nationally, averaging 42.4 points per game.

'There are always going to be a few wrinkles here or there,' Staker said. 'Things that we see on film and some tendencies we like and want to exploit. That's not different from any other week.'

Monmouth counters with the country's best defense in points allowed. The Fighting Scots average 48.9 points a game, ranking fourth in the nation. Both teams own wins over Wartburg and Cornel. Staker said the teams are almost mirror images of one another, boasting strong offensive and defensive fronts and a rush-first attack.

'Their offense is tearing it up and their defense is only allowing eight points per game,' Staker said. 'We understand who we are playing and that we have a good opponent coming in here. They are excited for that opportunity.'

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