Fire The Cannons! Turnovers Light Fuse As Reivers Beat Stripes Off Badgers

Ephraim, Utah

Down 9–0 early in the second quarter, Iowa Western detonated a 34-point avalanche and then let the 'Dark Side' defense and special teams slam the door in a 40–15 victory Saturday night, putting a damper on Snow College's homecoming festivities. 

The Badgers drew first blood with a 38-yard Joseph Brandt field goal after a Reivers' fumble, then extended the lead when Tayson Reid jumped a route and returned an interception 50 yards for a touchdown to make it 9–0.

Iowa Western answered just three minutes in to the second quarter and never stopped. Malachi Marshall capped an 81-yard march by zipping an 18-yard touchdown to Jaivyn Moore, and on Snow's next series Dax Noles picked off a pass and took it 24 yards for a score.

Much like Snow benefited from turnovers to open the game, Iowa Western returned the favor in the second. Asa Locks intercepted Snow QB Jack Thow for a third time and the Reivers kept the pressure on as Marshall uncorked a 53-yard touchdown to Jimmy Trilla just six plays later.

A three-and-out gave the ball back to Coach Strohmeier's offense and Marshall wasted little time, finding Tre Brown for a 35-yard strike on another six play drive.

It appeared that would be all, but Noles grabbed his third interception of the day with some help from Jerome Baker and the Reivers rolled 49 yards in, you guessed it, six plays with D'Angelo Barkue plunging in from a yard out for the final points of a wild first half.

The second half unfolded with rain and dropping temperatures moving in, but by then the Reivers had full control. The final score of the day came when Sam Kueter's strip sack of Badgers' backup quarterback Tu'i-Taniela Fonau resulted in a five-yard scoop and score for the redshirt-freshman. 

The victory moves Iowa Western to 5–1 (1–0 ICCAC) and 8–2 all-time versus Snow (3-3), including a perfect 3–0 mark in Ephraim. It also figures to be the last regular-season meeting between the teams for a while as the Badgers are set to join the SWJCFC next season after six years as an independent. 

Marshall finished an efficient 13-of-19 for 248 yards and three touchdowns, while Corey Washington paced the receiving corp with 71 yards on three receptions. Daniel Swinney churned out 105 yards on 16 carries as Iowa Western totaled 181 rushing yards and 429 yards of total offense.

While the offensive explosion was impressive, the 'Dark Side' owned the night: five sacks for 38 yards, 12 tackles for loss, and four interceptions. Noles was everywhere — with his first three interceptions of the season and a pick-six added to 17 total tackles and a tackle for loss. Jerome Baker matched the volume with 17 tackles and 2.0 sacks, while Jeremy Lewis and Mike Phillips added sacks and Kueter delivered the strip-sack, 5-yard fumble-return touchdown. Iowa Western limited Snow to 35 passing yards and 4-of-15 on third down; and less than 200 rushing yards on the day.

Jake Kracl averaged 50.0 yards on four punts with three downed inside the 20 and Iowa Western returners netted 72 return yards. Gus Bashore went 4-for-5 on PATs. 

Next up, a much deserved bye week after spending four of the first six games on the road and one to come against Independence on the 26th, a rare Sunday regular season game. 

The Reivers are 2-0 in Sunday match-ups outside of the postseason and 11-2 all-time. Iowa Western also owns an 8-0 all-time advantage versus Independence. While recent games have been more competitive, the Reivers have beaten the Pirates, on average, by a score of 40-10.

All the action can be heard, free of charge, on the Reiver Sports Network with Jake Ryan, Russ Nelsen, Josh Odson and Tony Boone on the call. The game can also be found on Iowa Western's 100,000-watt FM radio station, 89.7 The River.  The RSN Countdown to Kickoff begins at 10:30 AM from Emmot Field at Shulthis Stadium with kickoff set for 11:00 AM.

Shulthis Stadium sits within view of Riverside Park and the Ralph Mitchell Zoo which was the homeplace of the rhesus macaque, Miss Able, the monkey who was chosen by NASA, alongside spider monkey Miss Baker, to test out space travel and become the first animals launched into space. The Stadium is also home to the site of the first night baseball game, and home field where Mickey Mantle began his professional baseball career.

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