By DAREN DUNN
Hutch Post
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa — No. 1 Hutchinson versus No. 4 Iowa Western was everything a die-hard football fan could hope for — and then some.
Fans had their eyes set on the Nov. 12 matchup from the beginning of the season when the Reivers opened as No. 2 and the Dragons No. 3.
By week two of the season, voters split the No. 2 ranking between Hutchinson and Iowa Western. A week later, Hutchinson was given the outright No. 2 spot and Iowa Western — still undefeated — dropped to No. 3.
When preseason No. 1 NMMI lost in week 6, fans knew Saturday's matchup could be No. 1 versus No. 2 to close the regular season.
Hutchinson ran the table and entered Saturday's contest undefeated, meanwhile, the Reivers dropped a night contest to Coffeyville last Saturday 23-7.
Monday's rankings saw Iowa Western drop to No. 4, meaning the Reivers needed a victory to ensure its playoff hopes. A loss would not necessarily mean a drop outside of the top four, but a win would certainly mean playoff hopes would be alive for a one-loss team.
With 8:34 remaining Saturday, Iowa Western opened up a 28-17 advantage after trailing the Dragons by three at the break.
The Reivers took the first drive of the game and scored six after a 7-play, 74-yard drive that took just 3:08 off the clock.
Bishop Carroll alum Aiden Niedens drove the Reivers down the field against the nation's second-best defense (allowing 10.1 ppg) and capped the drive himself with a 14-yard TD run.
Hutchinson's offense was up for the task against the nation's best defense in Iowa Western (allowing just 9.6 ppg).
On a critical third down, Dylan Laible hit Malik Benson on a quick inside slant. Benson darted through the defense for a 67-yard answer.
Tied at 7, the Dragon defense forced the Reivers off the field after five plays and 12 yards. Oddly, Niedens did not return to the offensive backfield. Instead, James Graham entered as the Iowa Western signal caller.
This was not completely unordinary for the Reivers, as the two quarterbacks were expected to split time. However, Niedens would not return to action the rest of the day.
This became evident when Graham took a hard hit just before halftime and had to be helped off the field. Third-string QB Andre Goodman took the next offensive snap.
Niedens suffered an undisclosed injury on the first play of the first drive. He powered through the pain and delivered seven points for his team, but never returned to the contest.
After the Dragon D did its job on Iowa Western's second drive, Laible hit Marcello Bussey for 39 yards down the field to the Reiver 16.
The drive stalled from there as Hutchinson settled for a 44-yard Cole Segraves field goal.
The Reivers answered the very next play with a 90-yard kickoff return by running back Jaden Koger.
Koger had the hot hand (or feet as it were) as he ran for 122 yards on the day, the first Reiver RB to run for more than 100 yards in a game this season.
Iowa Western entered the day with the most rushing attempts per game in the nation, but the 25th-most yards per carry.
The Reivers ran for 258 on the afternoon, against a team surrendering just 73.
After the Reiver special teams touchdown, Hutchinson averted disaster — twice. On the ensuing return, Jalik Thomas was stripped of the ball. It never hit the ground as Jaimelle Claytor snagged the ball out of the air and saved the possession.
In a moment of deja vu, Jaheim Simmons fumbled his carry around the left end. The ball popped free, but was snagged out of the air by fellow running back Dylan Kedzior. The drive was a three-and-out that lost six yards, but set the stage for the final 50 minutes.
After the teams exchanged punts on the next two possessions, Hutchinson's defense forced Iowa Western off the field on a 4th and 2 at the Dragon 12. The Reivers came away empty-handed after covering 51 yards in 10 plays.
Hutchinson's special teams unit put the Dragon D in poor position when Trevor Whiteman had to fall on a fourth-down snap, that squirted between his legs, for a 17-yard loss.
Iowa Western started at the Hutchinson 27, but mustered just three yards against the stingy Dragon D. The Reivers settled for a 41-yard field goal attempt from Sam Wilber. The kick sailed wide left and Hutchinson took over on offense.
That defensive stop immediately led to Dragon points on a Dylan-to-Dylan connection. Laible sent Kedzior in motion to the left side of the formation. Iowa Western showed zone, but failed to send a defender with Kedzior's 4.3 forty-yard-dash speed.
Laible put some touch on the ball and made sure he didn't overthrow the wide-open Kedzior. The former wide receiver from NEO slowed up to catch the pass and ran for the 76-yard score.
That touchdown put Hutchinson up 17-14 with 1:04 left before halftime.
The momentum that had swung like a pendulum to that point, seemed to be favoring the No. 1 Dragons, perhaps for good. This was especially evident when Graham was replaced after a hard hit just before the half.
His return was uncertain when both teams headed for the locker room.
All the momentum Hutchinson built just before the half, seemed to be completely gone when Iowa Western took a 21-17 lead early in the third quarter, and stretched that lead to 28-17 early in the fourth.
The third-quarter score came on a Graham strike to wide receiver LJ Fitzpatrick. The 61-yard bomb looked nearly identical to the Kedzior reception down the seam in the second quarter.
Iowa Western used six plays to cover 54 yards in the fourth quarter to take an 11-point advantage. The drive was capped with a Koger 4-yard run.
With 8:42 left, Hutchinson desperately needed a big play. Running back Dylan Kedzior put on his superhero cape again and came to the rescue. Behind a wall of blockers, Kedzior skipped out of a would-be-tackler's arms and ran 70 yards to the house.
Hutchinson lined up for two, in hopes of making the 28-23 score a field-goal contest.
Laible had two receivers open on the untimed down, but the ball whizzed by Treymon Echols just as his eyes focused back on his quarterback.
Fast forward to the good part: 2:42 remaining.
For the second time in as many Reiver possessions, the Dragons showed punt block.
Rewind for just a second. Three weeks ago in Garden City, JJ Hamilton-Jordan rushed to block a punt on 4th and 4 before the half. He ran into the punter and gave the Broncbusters a first down. That first down led to Garden City's only score of the game.
Hamilton-Jordan lined up on the edge against the Reivers Saturday and looked ready to bolt — and bolt he did.
Hamilton-Jordan blocked the punt and Johnny-On-The-Spot, Jaimelle Claytor (who saved the Dragons on a fumble recovery earlier in the game), picked up the blocked punt and headed down the sideline.
Behind a convoy of blockers, Claytor scored the go-ahead TD on a block-six. With the 29-28 advantage, Hutchinson lined up for two again.
Once more, the Dragons were unsuccessful as Laible could not connect with Malik Benson on an inside slant.
Iowa Western got the ball back with 2:37 on the clock and two timeouts.
Facing 4th and 11 with 1:49 remaining, the comeback seemed all-but complete. The Reivers took a timeout and came out with an incredible catch that gained exactly 11 yards.
Micah Davis made a one-handed grab as he fell to the ground, right on the line-to-gain.
With new life, Iowa Western continued in hurry-up mode.
A 3rd and 1 completion to Aisea Tokei seemed to be just what the Reivers dialed up. One problem: Tokei's forward momentum was stopped in-bounds, before the wide receiver voluntarily stepped out-of-bounds.
Officials kept the clock moving and Iowa Western's offense scrambled back to the line-of-scrimmage. Graham quickly spiked the ball to kill the moving clock.
Discombobulated, the Reivers were forced to take their final timeout of the game.
Facing 2nd and 7 from the Hutchinson 40, Graham slipped free from would-be-tackler Rodney Green Jr. Just as Graham regained his balance from the hit and looked poised to regain his footing, the quarterback fell to the ground for Hutchinson's second sack.
Out of timeouts and with the clock running, every Reiver had to hustle back to the Reiver 46 to spike the ball. Since the clock was running, Iowa Western had to get every player set as the clock ticked under 10 seconds left to avoid a 10-second runoff (an offensive penalty while the clock is running under two minutes results in a runoff).
Graham got everyone set and spiked the ball on third down with two seconds showing on the board.
On the final play of the game, Graham heaved the ball as far as he possibly could. The ball came down out-of-bounds and between two Dragon defenders.
FINAL: Hutchinson 29 Iowa Western 28
Hutchinson has secured a home playoff game Dec. 3.
Hutchinson's opponent will be the No. 4 team in the nation when the final poll comes out.
The final poll will be interesting since No. 2 Northwest Mississippi lost for the first time this season in a 36-28 decision to No. 12 East Mississippi.
No. 3 Trinity Valley lost to No. 15 Kilgore 38-10.
Hutchinson was the only top-four team to win Saturday.
The top four teams in the final poll will enter the four-team playoff. The No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the nation will host the No. 3 and No. 4 teams (No. 1 vs. No. 4 and No. 2 vs. No. 3).
The playoff winners will meet Dec. 14 in Little Rock, Arkansas, to play for the national championship.
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