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In a first-round showdown between the Knights and Royals it was a King that stole the show — Wartburg’s Vince King.
Showing up in big games isn’t anything new to senior defensive lineman Vince King. He was a third team All-America selection in 2002 and has been on the IIAC all-conference first team defense for three years in a row. On Saturday, he showed the Bethel that his credentials are legit.
It took the Knights only five minutes, 51 seconds to jump to a 14-0 lead. After Wartburg scored on a 70-yard drive to open the game Bethel quarterback Scott Kirchoff and running back Phil Porta botched the handoff on their first play of the game and Wartburg’s Noah Junge returned the fumble 22 yards for the score. The Wartburg defense made an early statement and Vince King used the rest of the game to put an exclamation point on it.
"I think being up quickly in a game like that, it gives you momentum, and it also eases your mind," King told the Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier. "When you're up 14-0, you feel like you just have to keep them out of the end zone."
The Wartburg defense kept the Royals out of the end zone until the eight minute mark of the fourth quarter and no one contributed to this near shut out as much as King. At times, it appeared as though he sacked Kirchoff before the quarterback’s hands left the center’s rear. At 6-2, 231 lbs, King penetrated the Bethel offensive line as though he was invisible. On the afternoon he collected 14 tackles, 2½ sacks and had three tackles for loss. King was a major factor in keeping the Royals, who had averaged 227 rushing yards per game on the season, to a mere 29 yards on 29 carries.
"I play with intensity and fire the whole game," King said after the game. "We’re a very quick and athletic unit."
The victory earned Wartburg a trip to Salem, Ore., to face the Linfield Wildcats—a team that handed Wartburg its last defeat, 52-15, to end last season.
They say defense wins championships and if they are correct Vince King and the Wartburg Knights might be making another trip to Salem — Virginia.
Donnenwerth: Quarterback, Punter, Author
Simpson quarterback/punter Mike Donnenwerth used his arm and foot to rewrite the football record book. Donnenwerth reset the school records in the following categories;
Career passing yards: 7,361 (record was 6,183, Joe Blake, Jr., 1987-90)
Passing yards in a season: 3,461 (was 2,318, Donnenwerth, 2002)
TD passes in a career: 66 (was 43, Blake, Jr., 1987-90)
TD passes in a season: 32 (was 22, Donnenwerth, 2002)
TD passes in a game: 6 vs. Upper Iowa, Nov. 15 (was 5, Donnenwerth)
Total offense in a season: 3,491 (was 2,241, Donnenwerth, 2002)
Punting average in a season: 41.3 (was 39.4, Donnenwerth, 2002)
Get that monkey off your back
St. Norbert came into its first round match-up with Simpson as the only school currently in Division III to be winless after at least four playoff appearances. They left three hours, 19 minutes later with the first playoff win in school history.
After trailing 20-7 to end the third quarter the Green Knights clawed back to tie the game and force overtime. Knotted at 20-20, the two teams forged on into a second extra frame before T.J George’s 25-yard scamper ended it and advanced the Green Knights to the second round to face the St. John’s Johnnies.
The playoff victory was the first by an MWC team since Lawrence in 1981.
42 wins and four donuts
Of the 16 teams left in the Division III playoffs only the west bracket can boast four undefeated teams in Wartburg (11-0), Linfield (10-0), St. John’s (10-0) and St. Norbert’s (11-0).