The sixth-ranked Iowa Central football team took care of business here Saturday inside Dodger Stadium, besting Southern-Shreveport 52-0.
Playing for the first time since winning the 2019 Graphic Edge Bowl, the Tritons completely dominated the Jags, recording over 300 yards of total offense with seven sacks and six turnovers.
"It felt good," Iowa Central Jesse Montalto said. "It's been a long time and we needed to hit somebody else, play somebody else, so it was great to come out with the win.
"Obviously we have plenty to work on before our next game, but now we have film that we can show the kids and break down as coaches."
Byron Jarrett Jr. threw two touchdown passes and ran in another, Brady Pope accounted for two scores and Colin Swygman - the hero of the bowl game - was 7-for-7 on extra points and made a 31-yard field goal.
Jarrett threw for 108 yards, completing 8 of 15 passes, with Pope going 7 of 13 for 133. Jadon Washington ran for 68 yards and scored a touchdown.
"I thought both Byron and Brady looked good," Montalto said. "It's been even longer for those guys to see live game action, so they had to knock the rust off. Once we kind of settled in, we were able to do some good things."
Madison Ridgeway caught five passes for 63 yards with touchdowns from both Jarrett and Pope. Desna Washington also caught a touchdown.
On defense, Deonte Bryant had three sacks with Noah Epley, Tristin Waugh, Bryant Barrier and Malik Occiur also getting into the backfield. Wesley Bazzle, Barrier, Mitch Bawek, Occiur and Julian Beach all recovered a fumble while Dishon Hall picked off a pass.
"We have a lot of really good athletes on the defensive side and they stepped up and made big plays," Montalto said. "Again, though, now we have a game under our belts that we can use to get better.
"Teams make their biggest improvements from Week 1 to Week 2, and we'll have to do that (going up against Iowa Western) next Saturday."
Iowa Western, ranked second in the first poll, came up short at home vs. No. 10 Snow, 31-30.
-By Dana Becker
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing - Iowa Central: Jadon Washington 21-68, Daylen Boddie 9-20, Zach Marker 1-7, Alex Gully 6-6, Isaac Cechota 2-6, Aniik McKenzie 1-4, Brady Pope 1-3, Jaace Weidemann 3-(minus-2), Byron Jarrett 9-(minus-8). Southern-Shreveport: Dedrick Talbert 11-47, Eric London 17-39, Dandre Fowler 1-2, Cleveland Farmer 4-(minus-33), Willie Taylor-Green 5-(minus-53).
Passing - Iowa Central: Brady Pope 7-13-0-133, Byron Jarrett 8-15-0-108, Zach Marker 0-2-0-0. Southern-Shreveport: Cleveland Farmer 3-8-1-52, Willie Taylor-Green 4-14-0-22.
Receiving - Iowa Central: Madison Ridgeway 5-63, Mark Masters 1-41, Jalen Harris 2-39, Desna Washington 1-31, Chance Gibbons 2-25, Cal Weidemann 1-20, Jadon Washington 1-19, Daylen Boddie 1-5. Southern-Shreveport: Tristan Sweeney 2-35, Khyrie Poole 2-20, Davidyione Bias 1-16, Eric London 2-2.