Our coverage of Iowa Small Colleges and Universities (NAIA, DIII, DII and FCS) football in the Peach began this week in earnest. We had a handful of games to cover in week one, so this week it was fun to kick off the full season for almost all the teams we cover.
The biggest game was #1 Grandview vs. #2 Benedictine (KS) on Saturday in Des Moines at Mediacom Stadium (great new facility built and opened last year and located adjacent to where Drake plays basketball). The GV Vikings defeated the Ravens 24-27 in a game that lived up to the billing. Grand View was opportunistic with 3 key takeaways in a great game where Benedictine outgained the Vikings (436 to 303 yards).
It is likely that we will see the Benedictine Ravens again (they won in week one at home in a last-second win when they beat the Morningside Mustangs) in the NAIA playoffs against an Iowa team or two.
Our first week SGI – Pick’em podcast (Spotify and YouTube) was fun to records and we are excited to have our next show on Tuesday.
For the Games we picked: (Away team listed first)
Coe (+36) defeated Cornell 62-6 to win the Bremner Cup
Millikin (+1) defeated Luther 33-3
Hope College (+33) defeated Loras 62-0
Central (-12.5) defeated Illinois Wesleyan 28 -17
University of Dubuque (-32) lost to UW-Stout 38-35 in a fantastic game
Monmouth (-23) lost to Wartburg 21-7
Morningside (-38.5) defeated Briar Cliff 58 -17 in the “Battle for the Saddle”
Benedictine (-9.5) lost to Grandview 27 – 24
For fun we picked the Hawks – Clones, so five of the guys were disappointed in that outcome.
So, after week one – JD leads the early going. We all missed the Central Game as the 11 point win was just short of the number. We were also all wrong on Luther in their battle with the Millikin Big Blue on the blue turf in Decorah (sorry for cursing the Norse for the chalk pick).
Hope College (top 25 nationally) came into the Rock Bowl in Des Moines and took away all “Hope” and turned the Rock Bowl into a quarry.
The Spartans for Dubuque went up to UW-Stout and played the highly regarded Blue Devils in a thrilling back and forth game 38-35. I caught alot of that game on the stream UD fought hard and came up just short.
Central has a big INT in the 4th quarter when I was watching to stretch out a close game to a two score game in their debut.
Morningside had 700+ yards as they bounced back from their last-second loss to Benedictine (KS) to show they are top national title contender once again.
Wartburg was stout defensively in a game against always solid Monmouth IL at home.
Other Statewide Games at NAIA, DIII, DII and FCS (Drake)
William Penn defeated Central Methodist (MO) 38-6 to go 2-0 on the season
Nationally ranked Dordt in their debut, wiped out Dakota Wesleyan (SD) 66-7
Grinnell fell to Macalester 20-15 at home
Buena Vista lost to Benedictine (IL) 35-0 on the road
Graceland was firing on all cylinders in their demolition of William Woods 71-28
Clarke lost a close game on the road 28-24 to Missouri Valley (MO)
St. Ambrose lost a close game to Missouri Baptist 38-35 in St. Louis.
Drake, Upper Iowa, Waldorf, and Northwestern College all had week two off after opening their seasons in week one.
As always, we appreciate you reading our work and the support.
