—Messenger photo by Britt Kudla The Iowa Central football team holds up the Kinney Cup trophy after defeating Iowa Western 28-26 inside Dodger Stadium. For more photos, visit CU at messengernews.net

Jesse Montalto knew there was only one play left to be called to seal No. 14 Iowa Central’s victory over second-ranked Iowa Western here Saturday afternoon.

“I saw the flag go out and said that’s game,” Montalto said. “I called for victory right away. The kids deserved it. I’m so happy for them.”

The Reivers were flagged for a personal foul on punter Jacob Tokheim, taking away their chance for a final drive and giving the Tritons a 28-26 upset and the Kinney Cup in the process on a rainy day inside Dodger Stadium.

DJ Irons accounted for three touchdowns and Colin Swygman booted through two field goals, with the Iowa Central (1-1 overall, 1-0 in ICCAC) defense adding a safety.

“They brought it to us, but we brought more,” said Irons, an Eastern Kentucky transfer. “It was a tough, physical game. They are a good team, but we are better, and we proved that.”

In the season opener at Butler, the Tritons were unable to get on track. Montalto pushed his team to find their attitude this past week in practice heading into the rivalry game.

The Reivers were flagged for 11 penalties and over 100 yards, including a handful of personal foul mistakes that kept Iowa Central drives alive and resulted in improved field position.

“When we started watching film last Monday, everybody was focused up,” Irons said. “We knew we had to bounce back because the last game wasn’t our game. We didn’t have our swagger, but we got it back. I felt that energy from my team.”

Irons completed 13 of 20 passes for 158 yards, adding 44 more yards on the ground. He received medical attention several times on the sidelines but never missed a snap.

“I was hurting, but when Coach Montalto called victory formation and the game was over, it all felt good,” Irons said. “This was just a great bounce back as a team. Everybody stuck together and played the whole 60 minutes. We fought hard the whole game.”

Montalto echoed those thoughts in his post-game celebration speech with his players and Iowa Central president Dr. Dan Kinney, who scored a victory over his father, Dr. Dan Kinney, the president of Iowa Western.

“This is big for Dr. Kinney to get the Kinney Cup back,” said Montalto, who is now 1-5 all-time vs. Iowa Western. “He takes tremendous pride in it and anything we can do to give back to him and the school for all they have done for us is tremendous. Our kids fought tooth and nail and I am just extremely proud of them.

“I told them before the game that man for man, we had to be better than (Iowa Western. I had to be a better coach than Coach (Scott Strohmeier). Our kids came out and did that.”

Kurt Taylor, a Michigan transfer, gained 81 yards on the ground with Tanrious Achan hauling in five passes for 74 yards. On defense, Dijion Walls picked off two passes and Eugene Brown recorded eight tackles.

Rashad Witty, a sophomore who nearly helped the Tritons upset the Reivers last year, said the contest “felt like a true home game.”

“This is huge, not only for us as a team, but for the community — we all needed this,” he said. “It’s such a great feeling to see everyone in the stands cheering, as well as on the sideline. When adversity hit, we didn’t separate. It made us come closer and that’s what got us through with the win.”

Iowa Western (1-1, 0-1) has won each ICCAC title since 2011, but that is in serious jeopardy following this loss. Both the Reivers and Tritons still have league games against Ellsworth to be played out.

ZaQuandre White, a Florida State transfer, ran for 274 yards on 20 carries, with Brian Snead, an Ohio State transfer, adding 50 yards and two scores.

Cam Thomas, who previously was at Illinois, completed a 9-yard TD pass to Louisville transfer Corey Reed Jr. with just under three minutes to play, but the Iowa Central defense stopped the game-tying conversion attempt.

The Tritons return to action next Saturday when they host Coffeyville back at Dodger Stadium for a noon kickoff. The Red Ravens (0-1) played Fort Scott late last night. Iowa Western hosts No. 5 Hutchinson next week.

Prior to kickoff, Iowa Central honored Vinnie Harvey, a former football player and wrestler for the Tritons, who passed away last weekend. Harvey’s No. 44 jersey was on the sidelines and defensive coordinator Jeremy Conley, who coached Harvey, had his initials written on his socks.

ICCC IWCC

First Downs 16 28

Rushes-Yards 44-140 45-327

Passing 158 135

Comp-Att-Int 13-20-0 17-32-2

Total Offense 298 462

Punts-Avg. 6-35.2 4-30.8

Fumbles-Lost 0-0 0-0

Penalties-Yards 9-75 11-114

Iowa Central 12 6 3 7– 28

Iowa Western 10 7 0 9–26

Scoring Summary

Iowa Western — Chase Contreraz (44-yard field goal), 13:30 left in first.

Iowa Central — Colin Swygman (35-yard field goal), 11:38 left in first.

Iowa Central — Team safety, 10:00 left in first

Iowa Central — DJ Irons (7-yard run), 6:56 left in first. Swygman kick.

Iowa Western — Brian Snead (9-yard run), 5:34 left in first. Contreraz kick.

Iowa Western — Snead (3-yard run), 12:58 left in second. Contreraz kick.

Iowa Central — Irons (10-yard run), 2:57 left in second. Conversion failed.

Iowa Central — Swygman (37-yard field goal), 10:25 left in third.

Iowa Western — Contreraz (36-yard field goal), 10:52 left in fourth.

Iowa Central — Terrell Carey (22-yard pass from Irons), 7:24 left in fourth. Swygman kick.

Iowa Western — Corey Reed Jr. (9-yard pass from Cam Thomas), 2:54 left in fourth. Conversion failed.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing — Iowa Central: Kurt Taylor 11-81, DJ Irons 13-44, Jatoviay Hill 9-20, Grant Walker 7-3, Tanrious Achan 1-0, Rashad Witty 1-(minus-3). Iowa Western: ZaQuandre White 20-274, Brian Snead 21-50, Cam Thomas 3-14, Team 1-(minus-11).

Passing — Iowa Central: DJ Irons 13-20-0-158. Iowa Western: Cam Thomas 13-31-2-135, Shelton Applewhite Jr. 0-1-0-0.

Receiving — Iowa Central: Tanarious Achan 5-74, J.M. Young 4-40, Terrell Carey 1-22, Kurt Taylor 2-15, Jyvon Brown 1-7. Iowa Western: Zion Perry 6-52, Corey Reed Jr. 4-42, Deshon Stoudemire 5-34, Lou Dorsey 1-14, Zion Williams 1-(minus-7).