Reivers roll Rangers in NJCAA Semifinal

The Reivers got out to a quick 16-0 start by the midway point of the second quarter and never let Northwest Mississippi get any closer than 10 points from that point forward.

“We had to get a quick start,” Reivers coach Scott Strohmeier said. “When you’re on the road, getting up on them is crucial, and make them try to come back from behind. So once we got up, we felt good about making their offense a little more one-dimensional.

“The big thing I think is this is one of the most complete games we’ve played in all phases. Things didn’t always go as we wanted, but I thought we really controlled the game for the most part.”

After a 19-yard field goal from Sam Wilber, the Reiver extended their lead to two possessions after a 35-yard pass from quarterback James Graham to reciever LJ Fitzpatrick to take a 9-0 lead late in the first quarter.

Midway through the second quarter, Graham threw his second touchdown pass from three yards out to CJ Horton to take a 16-0 lead. The Rangers finally got on the board with just under seven minutes left in the quarter with a 25-yard field goal, but Wilber got those three points back after a trick play where Micah Davis completed a 27-yard pass to Fitzpatrick to set up the field goal.

“That was a big kick from Sam,” Strohmeier said. “I was hoping to get a touchdown, but a false start held us back, so we still got three, and it was really key to get points there. We had a trick play that we’ve been running for a few weeks and it felt like a good time to do it and we got the ball down there and got some big points right before the half.”

The Rangers would pull within 10 points midway through the third quarter and threatened to close the gap even more after stopping the Reiver offense on the following drive. The Reiver’s defense came up clutch with a 40- yard pick-six from Will Lee that put Iowa Western up 26-9 with 35 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

The Rangers would kick a field goal on their next drive to bring the game back to a two-possession contest, but Graham ran in a touchdown from a yard out with two minutes left to play to put the game away and clinch Iowa Western a spot in the national championship game.

Iowa Western will face a familiar foe in the championship game. That foe is none other than No. 1 Hutchinson.

“It’s hard to get here,” Strohmeier said. “We just wanted the shot by getting into the playoffs, we got our chance and now…