Messenger photo by Britt Kudla E’Quan Dorris of Iowa Central scores a touchdown against Coffeyville on Saturday. For more photos, please visit CU.messengernews.net

It was a tale of two halves and too many miscues that kept Iowa Central from breaking into the win column on Saturday inside Dodger Stadium.

The Tritons (0-8 overall) jumped on the board first against Coffeyville (2-6), but the Red Ravens put together a string of 31 straight in a 45-21 road victory.

“I was proud of our resilience,” said Iowa Central head coach Kevin Twait. “I have to give our guys credit, when we were down 31-7, we could have easily turned our heads and it could have been 70-7.

“But we kept playing. We came up empty a couple of times and had some goofy stuff happen that didn’t go our way.”

Iowa Central gave up 280 yards of offense in the first half as the Red Ravens controlled the time of clock in the opening 30 minutes.

Mistakes were again crucial to Iowa Central’s troubles, as the Tritons turned the ball over four times and committed nine penalties for 105 yards.

E’Quan Dorris put the Tritons on the board in the first quarter, scoring his first touchdown of the season on a 17-yard scamper to get started.

Coffeyville scored on its next four offensive possessions, though, as well as returning a fumble for a score. The Ravens had all 31 of their first-half points in a span of 11 minutes and 18 seconds.

The Tritons closed out the first half with quarterback B.J. Phillips hitting Carlton Todd for a 61-yard scoring strike.

Iowa Central had much better ball control in the second half, marching down the field on a 12-play, 80-yard drive capped by a one-yard scoring dive from Roman Edwards.

“We made great adjustments in the second half,” Twait said. “We forced a turnover and our offense started to control the tempo better.”

Manson Northwest Webster graduate Tim Butcher had a huge defensive effort for the Tritons as well. Butcher recorded eight tackles, two sacks and recovered a fumble.

“Tim played a heck of a game,” Twait said. “He made some big plays for us and came up with the ball on the fumble.

“(Michael) Slater, (Jacob) Giese, (Jackson) Martens and Butcher made some big plays up front. Brandon Hickerson-Rooks, who is a national recruit had an outstanding game.”

Hickerson-Rooks had three sacks on the day, twice ending Red Raven drives in the process.

Phillips and Todd put the Tritons in prime position again in the fourth quarter, hooking up for a 57-yard pass to the Coffeyville 12-yard line, but Jerimiah Baltrip picked off his second pass of the game to turn Iowa Central away.

The Red Ravens tacked on two touchdowns in the final 2:24 of action.

Phillips finished the contest 10 of 21 for 206 yards. Todd had two grabs for 118 yards.

“Phillips and Todd had some big-time plays,” Twait said. “Phillips is a dual threat that helps keep the defense on their toes.”

The Tritons travel to Council Bluffs to face top-ranked Iowa Western next Saturday. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m.

Coffeyville 14 17 0 14–45

Iowa Central7 7 7 0– 21

Scoring Summary

Iowa Central — E ‘Quan Dorris (17-yard run), 3:32 left first quarter. Jose Fuentes kick.

Coffeyville — Juwan Ruffin (15-yard run), 1:29 left first. Triston Bailey kick.

Coffeyville — Vernon Dasher (27-yard fumble return), :25 left first. Bailey kick.

Coffeyville — Bailey (31-yard field goal). 11:42 left second.

Coffeyville — Alan Worsham (1-yard run), 9:12 left second. Bailey kick.

Coffeyville — Dashawn Massey (2-yard run), 5:52 left. Bailey kick.

Iowa Central — Carlton Todd (61-yard pass from B.J. Phillips), 3:36 left second. Fuentes kick.

Iowa Central — Roman Edwards (1-yard run), 8:27 left third. Fuentes kick.

Coffeyville — Justin Henderson (2-yard run), 2:24 left fourth. Bailey kick.

Coffeyville — Wynton Ruth (34-yard run), :49 left fourth. Bailey kick.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Iowa Central: B.J. Phillips 21-58, E’Quan Dorris 6-44, Roman Edwards 9-15, Austin McBeth 1-3, Carter Downer 1-2; Coffeyville: Justin Henderson 13-107, Dashawn Massey 3-46, Wynton Ruth 3-43, Darius Hopkins 4-16, Ryan Williams 4-7, Alan Worsham 1-1, Mo Hasan 11(minus-2).

PASSING — Iowa Central: B.J. Phillips 10-21-2 206, Taylor Holston 0-0-0-0; Coffeyville: Hasan 17-25-0-233, Aloyous Jackson 2-3-0-9.

RECEIVING — Iowa Central: Carlton Todd 2-118, E’Quan Edwards 2-44, Jaden Foster 1-26, Kobe Clark-Williams 2-21, Chris McLeod 1-10, Ryan Martinez 1-5, E’Quan Dorris 1-2; Coffeyville: Dominic Stampley 4-129, Kendrick Jones 5-61, Ronald La Blanc 4-24, Juwan Ruffin 2-17, Maricio Chio 1-11, Errol Breaux 1-10, Darius Hopkins 1-2, Andre Cobb 1-(minus-2).