Photo by Paul DeCoursey: Quarterback Zach Marker of Iowa Central scrambles for extra yardage against College of DuPage on Sunday inside Dodger Stadium.

It was a different feel to Homecoming week for seventh-ranked (NJCAA Div. II) Iowa Central, but in the end, the Tritons capped off the festivities with an efficient rout of College of DuPage.

With a band competition inside Dodger Stadium on Saturday, the Tritons (3-1 overall) took Sunday’s time slot and throttled the NJCAA Div. III defending national champions and nation’s top-ranked squad at that level, 53-3.

“It was a little weird playing on a Sunday,” said ICCC head coach Jesse Montalto. “It seems like our pep rally was a long time ago, but there were no distractions and we had our walk through (Saturday instead).

“We cleaned some things up, but we still have a lot of work we need to do.”

Iowa Central racked up 635 yards of total offense, passing for 374 and running for 261 more.

Montalto got efficient performances from quarterbacks Zach Marker and Justin Silverstein. Marker played the entire first half, while Silverstein played the third quarter and stretches of the fourth.

The duo combined to go 20-for-23 for 333 yards and six touchdown passes.

“Those two (Marker and Silverstein) are our leaders,” Montalto said. “They are guys who know how to run our offense. They command a presence.”

Marker led a two-play drive to open the game capped off by a 51-yard strike to Cal Weidemann for the first score. Marker also connected on a beautiful touch pass by hitting Desna Washington from 23 yards out.

On Iowa Central’s final possession of the half, Marker hit Weidemann from four yards out to give the Tritons a 29-0 lead before a 22-yard DuPage field goal.

Walter Wilbon had a 21-yard TD run on a one-play possession after the Tritons stopped the Chaparrals in the red zone.

Marker finished the game 12-for-15 for 194 yards and three touchdown passes.

“I felt we had good energy against a team that played well against Ellsworth,” Montalto said. “We still have some things I would like to see us get better at though, especially in the red zone.”

The Tritons marched down field to begin the second half, and Silverstein capped a six-play 64-yard drive with a 15-yard strike to Jamarien Wheeler. Silverstein hit Wheeler again from eight yards out for the pair’s second touchdown. George Sims got in on the scoring with a 14-yard catch from Silverstein.

Silverstein was a perfect 8-for-8 throwing for 139 yards and three scores.

Weidemann caught four balls for 85 yards and Wheeler had three catches for 63. Sims and Washington finished with 55 yards receiving each.

Walter Wilbon (73 yards), Jadon Washington (62) and Marker (60) were the leading rushers for the Tritons.

Kongolo Mwenemkamba (21 yards) and Liam Wahe (35 yards) had field goals for Iowa Central.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Tritons held the Chaparrals to 73 yards passing. Mames Williams and Diego Cortes recovered fumbles.

The Tritons are back in action on Saturday, Oct. 8, when they travel to Coffeyville.

IC CD

First Downs 32 12

Rushes-Yards 38-261 38-142

Passing Yards 374 73

Comp-Att-Int 23-30-0 11-25-0

Total Offense 635 215

Punts 1-58.0 5-42.4

Fumbles-Lost 1-0 6-50

Penalties-Yards 6-50 6-45

DuPage 0 3 0 3 — 3

Iowa Central 10 19 14 10 — 53

Scoring Summary

Iowa Central — Cal Weidemann (51-yard pass from Zach Marker), 12:13 left first quarter. Kongolo Mwenemkamba kick.

Iowa Central — Mwenemkamba (21-yard field goal), 6:10 left first quarter.

Iowa Central — Desna Washington (23-yard pass from Marker), 11:49 left second quarter. PAT blocked.

Iowa Central — Walter Wilbon (21-yard run), 9:31 left second quarter. Mwenemkamba kick.

Iowa Central — Weidemann (4-yard pass from Marker), 3:10 left second quarter.

DuPage — Joshua Winslow (22-yard field goal), :27 left second quarter.

Iowa Central — Jamarien Wheeler (15-yard pass from Justin Silverstein), 12:27 left third quarter. Liam Wahe kick.

Iowa Central — George Sims (14-yard pass from Silverstein), 9:04 left fourth quarter. Wahe kick.

Iowa Central — Wahe (35-yard field goal), 8:02 left fourth quarter.

Iowa Central — Wheeler (8-yard pass from Silverstein), 2:45 left fourth quarter.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Iowa Central: Walter Wilbon 8-73, Jadon Washington 11-62, Zach Marker 5-60, Justin Silverstein 3-34, Jayson Murray 7-27, Spencer Zimm 3-14, Team 1(minus-9); College of DuPage: Nick Bucaro 12-63, Samson Zander 5-40, Shamaree Brown 5-17, Randy Young 7-16, Jaden McGill 4-15, Samson Zander 1-3, Team 3(minus-10); PASSING — Iowa Central: Zach Wheeler 12-15-0-194, Justin Silverstein 8-8-0-139; Bryce Aspengren 3-4-0-41; Omarion Bartlett 0-3-0-0; College of DuPage: Gavin Sukup 9-23-0-62; Andrew Eald 1-1-0-9; Joe Swaray 1-1-0-2; RECEIVING — Iowa Central: Cal Weidemann 4-85, Jamarien Wheeler 3-63, George Sims 4-55, Desna Washington 2-55, Jadon Washington 2-39, Bryan Davis 1-21, Jayson Murray 1-14, Zane Johnson 1-11, Tyler Schenkelberg 2-11, Walter Wilbon 1-9, Travis Isaac 1-8, Izaiah Haslett 1-3; College of DuPage: Demetrius Kellie 3-26; Brian Trobel 2-20; Matthew Brown 2-12; Myles McKatherine 1-8; Marquel Porter 2-5; Lafabian Fain 1-2.