The American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) had a huge non-Conference Weekend slate of games the final week before conference season starts next week.
The A-R-C football programs have raised the level of the conference the past decade. The A-R-C has had two teams reach the NCAA Division III playoffs the last two years for the first time ever.
Division III is much different than DII, FCS, and FBS college football with 28 conference champions across the US qualifying with automatic bids, with only 12 at large spots for other teams. (NCAA Division III has 240 teams, DII 161, and FCS 129)
The A-R-C is also surrounded by the MIAC (Minnesota) and WIAC (Wisconsin US schools) who have been superpower DIII Football conferences for decades and rightfully annually earn at-large berths.
Wartburg’s continued rise and NCAA Playoff performance making the semi-finals in both 2022 and 2023 has raised the A-R-C profile, and as they say a rising tide raises all boats. Coe College, and Central College have raised their programs significantly and are living in the same top 40 DIII Programs neighborhood as the Knights. (Currently Wartburg is #15, Coe is #27, and Central #29 in the Hansen ratings)
The Spartans from Dubuque and the Simpson Storm are strong programs in a strong conference and are currently in the 4-5 range and trying to climb spots. Loras, Buena Vista, and Nebraska Wesleyan University are trying to build their programs up in the conference. *Luther is leaving the A-R-C in 2026 to join the Midwest Conference.
The A-R-C conference is rightfully considered a super-power football conference that wants to make placing 2 teams in the playoffs now a yearly occurrence. So, when they get non-conference opportunities, all the teams excelling is very good for the conference.
This week was big one for the A-R-C.
#9 Wartburg went to UW-Stout and shut out the Blue Devils 16-0
UW-Stout plays in the highest ranked DIII Conference (WIAC) and was preseason #6 in the conference. Now that may not sound like a strong team, but if they played in other conferences near them like the Midwest Conference they would likely win that title and have many lopsided wins.
This shut out by the Knights was a defensive stranglehold. The Knights dominated the game only allowing 135 yards to a team the week before defeated A-R-C’s University of Dubuque 38-35.
The Knights the first two weeks have given up 7 total points to Monmouth (#54 in the Hansen ratings and strong program) and the still highly rated #31 UW- Stout Blue Devils. The 2-0 start for the Knights shows they are a top national program again this fall as expected. I’ve been able to catch both of their games on their feed, and they were very Stout against UW-Stout to use a pun.
The Knights look like the conference favorites and national title hopefuls as predicted.
Central hosted #19 Randolph Macon and pitched a 10-0 Shut Out Win
The Dutch took a page out of the Wartburg Knights playbook and pitched a defensive gem on Saturday. They held the visiting Yellow Jackets to 226 of total offense on a very hot day in Pella.
In the 2-0 start to the season Central has allowed only 17 points and, in watching them the Dutch look strong up front on the D-Line and in the second level. We will be talking a lot about the Dutch this fall and they look like the contender they were predicted to be to Wartburg for the conference crown.
Coe went to #13 UW-River Falls and lost in a shootout 59-47
The Falcons are #9 in the Hansen Ratings for a reason. They have the preseason first team All American QB Kaleb Blaha who is in my opinion the best player who has ever played for River Falls.
When you watch Blaha play, he is a Michael Vick, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson type player at the DIII level.
This game was wild as Coe College had 643 yards and UWRF had 733 yards of offense. Blaha was incredible 30-38 passing for 355 yards (2TDs) and ran 27 times for 245 yards (4TDs). That folks, is the definition of a one-man wrecking crew.
UWRF is a national title contender with Blaha under center. The WIAC has an amazing 5 teams ranked in the top 10 of the Hansen Ratings (with Stout being ranked sixth at 31), so if you can fight your way through that gauntlet and earn one of their two or three playoff spots you have a real shot at the big trophy.
Coe in their first two games have lit up the scoreboard. They had a lot of talent to replace from their last two years when they made the NCAA DIII playoffs both years, but they look like that top 3 A-R-C program as predicted.
University of Dubuque hosted UW-Platteville and lost 56-27
The Spartans played UW Stout on the road in week one and lost a close game by 3 and then this week played the nearby national power UW- Platteville Pioneers. The “Battle of the Bridge” game against the #3 Hansen rated Pioneers is always huge challenge as they are legitimate National title contenders.
Kudos to the Spartans for the tough non-conference scheduling, which should be beneficial when the conference schedule starts next weekend.
The Spartans were preseason picked to finish fourth in the conference and are a strong program. They look like a squad have a shot at contending in 2025 with Warburg, Central, and Coe for the crown.
Simpson College went north and pounded Crown 45-7
The Storm have put up some points in their 1-1 start and took out their frustrations after losing by 1 in overtime in week one to Augustana, IL. The Storm were picked 5th preseason in the A-R-C.
Freshmen QB Jayden Thorsen had put up some eye popping numbers in his first 2 weeks with 72% completion rate and 7 TDs with no interceptions. The Storm are on a track to have a good season in Indianola.
Loras traveled to Benedictine and lost a close one 2013
The DuHawks played Benedictine on the road (who defeated Buena Vista in week one 35-0) and made progress after their week one loss to Hope College.
The DuHawks play a big game to kick off the conference season next week against in city rival University of Dubuque next week.
Buena Vista got a win in Storm Lake against Wisconsin Lutheran 17-6
It was great to see the Beavers get a win at home against Wisconsin Lutheran and get on the right track for 2025.
Luther College lost to Martin Luther University on the road 34-0
It has been a tough start for the Norse in Decorah this fall in their last year in the A-R-C before moving to the Midwest conference next year.
The non-conference went well for the top three A-R-C preseason teams to position the A-R-C for having two NCAA DIII playoff teams this fall. That of course is not a certainty, but Central, Wartburg, and Coe all have a good chance of making the playoffs if they finish second in the conference standings.
For UD, Simpson, Loras, Nebraska Wesleyan, Buena Vista, and Luther they will have to win the A-R-C to earn the Auto bid spot.
The Conference Office team has to be pleased with the non-conference performance this fall for the teams. Now the conference season battle starts… Good luck to all the teams in the wars to come.
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