FOOTBALL FRIDAY: Reivers come in 0-2, out of poll

Iowa Western will come into Saturday night's game against Fort Scott Community College at Frary Field in an unusual position for its program -- 0-2.

This is unusual because in the eight-year history of Iowa Western football, the Reivers have lost just 14 games. That includes the two they've lost this season. This will be the first week they've not been ranked in the NJCAA poll since the final one of the 2009 season, which was the program's inaugural season.

To be entirely fair to the Reivers, though, both their losses have come to teams that are still ranked. As the No. 6 team in the pre-season poll, they went to Grand Junction, Colo., to face then-No. 12 Arizona Western on Aug. 27. They lost 25-19 in overtime. The box score on the NJCAA website, however, is incomplete -- with no Iowa Western stats at all -- so how or why it turned out the way it did is impossible to discern.

Last week, the Reivers traveled to then-No. 16 Hutchinson and allowed three safeties in a 21-12 loss. They also rushed for just 13 yards on 41 carries and turned the ball over 5 times.

Quarterback A.J. Bush (6' 4", Soph., Alpharetta, Ga.) completed 15 of 33 passes for 211 yards and a touchdown but also threw two interceptions. D'Anfernee McGriff (6' 3", 235, Tallahassee, Fla.) caught 8 passes for 110 yards.

Iowa Western's defense held Hutchinson to 355 yards of total offense, 119 passing and 136 rushing. The Reivers allowed 2.9 yards per rush and allowed to Blue Dragon quarterbacks to complete just 12 of 36 passes -- 3.3 yards per pass play -- yet still lost.

Strong safety Mykelti Williams (6' 1", 2-5, Indianapolis) was in on 11 tackles, 8 solo.

Because of the lack of statistics from Iowa Western's opener, any season totals would not be sufficient to make a comparison. But for Fort Scott, the stats are complete for the season and they show how the Greyhounds have improved over last season.

Fort Scott is fourth in total offense, averaging 371.5 yards per game. The Greyhounds are only sixth in rushing (159.5 yards/game), which is unusual in the sense that past teams have been devoted to the run. But with freshman quarterback Nathan Rourke leading the conference in passing with 424 yards, the 'Hounds are third in yards per game (212 ypg). Rourke is also the most accurate passer in the conference, completing 61.5 percent of his attempts.

Chris Claybrooks is third in the conference in receptions with 11 and fifth in yards with 121. Ke'Von Love is tied for fourth in receptions (10) and is sixth in yards (111). There's a 36-yard difference between Love and the No. 6 receiver.

Linebacker Logan Edwards is tied for No. 1 in the conference in solo tackles with 13. Linebacker Dominic Cizauskas is third with 12 solos this season. Despite their efforts, though, the Greyhounds are ranked last in the Jayhawk Conference in total defense, allowing 476 yards per game. The 'Hounds are fifth against the pass (200.5 ypg) but eighth against the run (275.5 ypg). They've also made the second-fewest tackles per game (64.5). Only Garden City -- which is 2-0 -- is worse, making only 50 tackles per game.

But with the inefficiency of Iowa Western's offense so far, the Greyhound defense has a chance to get things worked out and have its best night of the season.

The game kicks off at 7 p.m. Saturday night. Every FSCC home game this season will be played under the lights.