In a highly-anticipated Top-10 showdown Saturday at Dodger Stadium, it was Iowa Western getting the key plays to down Iowa Central, 34-20.
The ninth-ranked Reivers relied heavily on freshman Nate Glantz, who threw for 379 yards and a pair of touchdowns, including a tie-breaking 66-yard strike in the fourth to Kyre Williams.
For the No. 5 Tritons (1-1 overall, 0-1 in ICCAC), Aniik McKenzie returned the opening kickoff of the second half back 95 yards for a score, Brady Pope hit Savion Johnson for a touchdown and Colin Swygman connected on a pair of field goals.
"As the head coach, I've got to have our team better prepared and ready to execute," Iowa Central head coach Jesse Montalto said. "That's on me. We didn't get into a rhythm on offense. Our defense played great, especially there in the first half, but we could never get on track on offense."
Pope threw for 146 yards with Johnson catching five passes for 58 and Madison Ridgeway hauling in seven for 48. Jadon Washington ran for 80 yards.
Glantz finished 29-for-40, hitting Michael Love five times for 128 yards, Donovan Moorer five times for 97 and Matt Byrnes six times for 55. He also ran for a team-high 46 yards.
Garret Ollendieck had an interception and a sack on defense for Iowa Central, with Kenny Edwards also recording a sack. Julian Beach and Malik Occiur recovered fumbles.
"We've got to get back after it this week in practice," Montalto said. "We knew Iowa Western wasn't Southern-Shreveport (who Iowa Central topped in the opening week, 52-0). We came out flat and that's something you can't do against (the Reivers)."
Down 13-3 at the half, McKenzie showed off his speed by darting past several Iowa Western (1-1, 1-0) players to the end zone. Pope hit Johnson later in the quarter, giving the Tritons a 17-13 lead.
Swygman tied the contest back up at 20-all with a 24-yard field goal in the fourth, but the Reivers scored on a long pass from Glantz to Kyre Williams and an interception returned in the final seconds.
Iowa Central returns to action on Saturday, hosting the Grand View JV.
-By Dana Becker