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| The Wartburg defense, including defensive lineman Jordan Downing, have not given up a point in the past two games. Wartburg athletics photo |
By Joe Sager
D3sports.com
Wartburg’s approach is to stack days onto each other, improving with each one.
It’s resulted in a growing stack of wins, too.
The Knights are off to a 3-0 start and outscored their opponents, 123-7. They haven’t given up a point in their last eight quarters of play.
“We want to take things day by day, not look too far ahead and just focus on the present,” Wartburg senior quarterback Nile McLaughlin said. “Just staying in the present and taking it week by week and, whatever happens, happens has been big for us. We have to continue to do our thing. We have to focus on the one team we’re playing this week and take care of that and move onto the next.”
The squad’s strong start gives Wartburg hope it can claim its first outright American Rivers Conference title since 2018. However, the Knights know there’s a long road they have to travel before they can consider that.
“We’re just focused us following our process, doing our jobs and trusting everyone else on the field,” Wartburg senior defensive lineman Jordan Downing said. “We think that’s going to be the recipe for success this season.”
So far, so good. The team breezed past its first three opponents – Monmouth (34-7), UW-Stout (27-0) and Luther (62-0) – putting up plenty of points in the process.
“First and foremost, you have to applaud the defense,” McLaughlin said. “It’s been unreal what they have been able to do. They have done a really good job helping us get good field position.”
Wartburg’s defense has been tough to crack, so far. Downing, one of the team’s seven returning starters at linebacker and on the line, lauds the group’s selflessness.
“It’s evident when we flip on the tape on Sundays. When someone makes a play, everyone is going crazy for everyone’s success. At the most basic level, how close of a team we are is really a key to our success,” he said. “On the defensive side of the ball, we return everybody in our front seven from a year ago, but the four guys in the secondary have stepped up, too. We’re an extremely confident group. We know we don’t have to do anything out of the ordinary; we just do our jobs and different guys will make plays on Saturdays.
“Just going out and competing together is great. We just love playing football with each other. That’s what sets us apart a little bit.”
Team chemistry is at an all-time high for the Knights.
“We have a strong group leadership group. We have 11 fifth-year seniors. Because of the COVID year, we get to have that opportunity this fall,” Wartburg second-year coach Chris Winter said. “Those guys really bought into bringing the team together and making sure every guy understood his role is important. When you have 138-140 guys, that’s hard to do, at times, and some guys don’t see the value of their roles. This group is just buying into what we’re doing and the leaders are really reinforcing it.
“We are just taking everything a day at a time and not getting too far ahead of ourselves. Our players are asking themselves what they can do today to get better and we keep stacking days on days doing that. I think that’s been a big part of our approach.”
With an experienced and talented defense leading the way, the offense has had a chance to build with McLaughlin in his first year running it as the starter.
“We still have a lot to work on. But, I think things are going better than they were,” McLaughlin said. “We just continue to get better each day. It’s nice to have my teammates around me I trust. Just thinking about that gives me more confidence, too.”
The team’s offensive line has clicked, which has given McLaughlin additional time with the ball.
“Our offensive line was our player of the week last week. Those guys have really come together,” Winter said. “There’s not really one dominant guy in that group, but they are just on the same page. They are together and you can see it. They all believe and trust in each other. They are meshing well. That’s been big for us.”
The Knights have leaned on versatile running backs Hunter Clasen, Ben Bryant and Bricen White, among others, to carry the load.
“The biggest thing with our offense, the backfield is so versatile. Nile’s done a great job running the show and we have three or four guys who can do a lot of things in the backfield. We can split some out, bring them back and empty out the backfield,” Winter said.
McLaughlin has taken advantage of targeting his running backs in the passing game.
“We have some unbelievable running backs that are multidimensional that can get out in the passing game. It’s nice to have that in the backfield with me,” he said. “One of the things we really pride ourselves on is being balanced. If things are going well in one area, you can ride that more, but we are not a one-dimensional offense. We have both a strong pass and run game.”
Receivers Carter Henry and Drake George are heating up, too.
“Those guys are starting to blossom and we’re finding ways to get the ball in some different guys’ hands,” Winter said. “Our next step is to be able to stretch the field a little more, vertically. (Offensive coordinator) coach (Matt) Wheeler has been here since 2010 and the program has rewritten almost all of its offensive records since then. He understands how to use the people he has to their strengths.”
The Knights hope the progress continues throughout ARC play. They head to Dubuque on Saturday.
“We’re getting into the part of our schedule within our league where all the teams know each other well. It’s going to be a challenge,” Winter said. “This week will be a really big test to take a step forward. We have to improve every week to have a chance to be one of those teams competing in late November. We’re just doing it at one day at a time.”
