Week 4 Iowa Small College Grades are In. The SGI professors had a light in class week as Nik Rule (Heart of America Commissioner) and the GPAC decided to send every Iowa NAIA out of state on the road this weekend.
So, SGI had no in person evaluations to be able to make this weekend. But we were still able to catch games on streams and have virtual classes.
SGI Star Student of the Week
UNI A+ as they hosted #3 Illinois State and won 28-21. Kudos to the purple guys in Cedar Falls and Todd Stepsis. You talk about a bounce back being in Kinnick playing the Big Ten the week before in a buy game and getting shut out. UNI has over 70 former Iowa Hich School Players on their roster. That’s cool and get out and support these IA guys if you can.
Grand View A: The Vikings amazing 73 regular season win streak was halted last week. They got a long road trip this week to MidAmerican Nazarene and convincingly won 35-13. The did not quiet cover the Massey line allowing a late back door (our entire SGI picked them to cover) Ghost would have been a perfect 6-0 on the weekend without the backdoor cover.
Morningside A: Coach Steve Ryan is a HOF Coach so he and the Mustangs never look beyond next weeks game, but that doesn’t mean SGI can’t look ahead. This Mustangs look like a certified SGI Natty Contender and routed Mt. Marty on the road 42-7.
Dordt A: Speaking of Natty Contenders the Boys in Black in Sioux Center look Playoff ready. Joel Pennings Defenders rolled into Concordia and rolled them 51-21 convincingly.
Drake A: Being FCS Non-Scholarship is not an easy road taking tough buy games at FCS Scholarship schools like Montana and UNI with a brand new coaching staff and basically a whole new team. The Bulldogs have been kings of the Pioneer League and went down to North Carolina and in their first conference game put it on Davidson 51-32. The PFL is on notice once again this fall to be vary wary of Drake.
Grinnell A-: The fighting Pioneers in Grinnell are a fun team to watch and root for. They let Beloit have it this weekend 28-7. If you can get into Grinnell you have a life filled with A’s so it’s a classroom grade their players have seen often.
U of Dubuque A: The Spartans scored two TD’s late in the 4th Quarter to pull out a thrilling win on the bluff against a solid McMurry FB team. Great work by Coach Mauiri and the Blue fellas on the Bluff, as they fought thru adversity for the W.
Luther A: Luther beat Cornell 26-13 on the road with a punishing ground game by the Norse of 309 yards. The Norse put together a strong game plan heading into the conference season. Coach Joe Troches team had a very solid win in Mt. Vernon.
William Penn B-: The Statesmen got down 17-0 in a game they were favored on the road in Missouri. In the Show Me state they showed what they are made of and pulled out a hard fought 23-17 victory. Just Win Baby @CoachBenavidez and the boys had another victorious ride back to Osky.
Northwestern College B-: The Red Raider had a long bus ride to Hastings NE and put up a solid 33-26 victory. A close to 2 to 1 yard advantage means the score was closer than it probably should have been. Consistency is still being searched for in Orange City, but a solid win is always a good grade.
Cornell C-: Cornell has a record number of first year players so it will take time but we like what legendary Iowa HS Hall of Fame Coach Curt Ritchie is building in Mt. Vernon as he was a late hire in 2025 and this is his first recruiting class for the Rams
Mt. Mercy C-: It’s year one of the Football program so as Bill Murray would say it’s “Baby Steps” this year. Mt. Mercy had a great first half and were leading a game they were not supposed to at halftime but the Mustangs ran out of gas and fell 33-21 on the road to Mo. Baptist.
Waldorf C-: David Calloway’s Warriors have a build from the ground up situation in Tree Town. There is no mythical NAIA portal that can help a first year HC in NAIA who was hired late in the cycle to retool a roster in a few months. It’s going to take time, and in year one the roster size is up considerably. It starts with fighting for 60 minutes and Waldorf did just that in a 35-7 loss.
Graceland D+: In a game that was expected to be tight the Yellow Jackets fell on the road to Willam Woods 41-34. Phil Stabacks team had had some frustratingly tight one score losses this year and are working hard to break thru in the always brutally tough Heart of America Conference (HOA).
St. Ambrose D+: Speaking of the Brutally tough HOA getting sent to Benedictine (a top 5 pick to win the Natty every year) is a tall task. The Bees got shutout on Saturday 34-0. A Tall order for sure but a shutout stings.
Simpson D+: Taking a road trip to Texas to play in Frisco at the Star (Practice Facility of the Dallas Cowboys) is cool and fun. Getting a tough 52-28 loss is not as the Storm had a rough day in Texas.
Upper Iowa D+: The Peacocks lost another heartbreaker 34-32 on the road. Their third road loss in September by a combined 5 points is rough on psyche. The Cocks are good but just not clicking on all cylinders yet. There is still time to turn it round in the GLVC which looks completely wide open, but these so close misses have to turn into W’s. That get the season going in the right direction win needs to start this week at home in Fayette.
As Always, we appreciate your comments and support.
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