-Messenger photo by Britt Kudla Desna Washington of Iowa Central makes the catch for a touchdown against Iowa Western on Saturday inside Dodgers Stadium

For the first 35 minutes of Saturday’s ICCAC championship, 13th-ranked Iowa Central was primed to pull off the upset of second-ranked Iowa Western and bring the President’s Cup back to campus.

After a scoreless first half, the Tritons (5-4 overall, 1-1 ICCAC) exploded for a 13-0 lead, but the Reivers (8-0, 2-0) rallied from all three phases of the game for a 35-21 victory.

The President’s Cup, which was first brought into play when Dr Dan. Kinney held that title at Iowa Central. He has since replaced his father at Iowa Western, and the trophy returns to Council Bluffs.”Now we have to find a way to put this behind us,” Montalto said. “We need to get to six wins so we can get to a bowl game.”

The Tritons got out of the first half unscathed as they had two fumbles, once inside the 30 and one at midfield. Iowa Western also missed a 42-yard field goal.

After intermission, it took the Tritons only three plays to build a two possession game.

Zach Marker hit Cal Weidmann with a 54-yard touchdown strike that Weidmann ran 35 yards after the catch for the first score of the ball game.

Izaiah Haslett recovered an Iowa Western fumble on the kickoff, setting the Tritons up from the 31-yard line.

Marker went back to the air connecting with Jamarien Wheeler. After the extra point was missed, Iowa Central led 13-0.

Iowa Western then scored on its next two possessions, plus a special teams score, to take a 21-13 lead.

The Tritons were putting from their own 23-yard line and the Reivers got to the punt. Matt Kordas picked it up and took it to the end zone.

After a three-and-out from the Tritons, Iowa Western quarterback Aiden Niedens hit a wide open LJ Fitzpatrick from 28 yards out.

On the ensuing possession, Marker threw an interception that was reviewed and upheld. It took Niedens one-play to find Aisea Toki from 35 yards out for the eight-point lead.

The Tritons would answer back when Justin Silverstein went to the Tritons top wideout Desna Washington, who leaped over the defensive back for a 20-yard score.

Silverstein then found Weidmann for the two-point conversion and the tie ballgame with six seconds left in the third quarter.

On their third possession of the second half, Niedens cashed in from one yard out for the 28-21 lead. The drive went 57 yards on 10 plays.

With a little over a minute to go the Tritons were inside their own 40 as Iowa Western forced a fumble and Roscoe Parrish returned it 20 years for the scope and score for the final tally.

For Iowa Central, Washington finished with six catches for 116 yards. Weidemann had two grabs for 77.

Marker was 6-for-11 for 116 and Silverstein was 8 of 19 for 159.

For Iowa Western Niedens was 15 of 31 for 165 yards. Toki had 62 yards to lead the receivers. Bryant Williams had 21 carries for 82 yards.

Iowa Central will travel to face Highland on Saturday in Kansas. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.

IW IC

First downs 20 16

Total Net Yards 314 277

Rushes-yards 45-149 34-(-13)

Passing 165 290

Comp-Att-Int 15-31-0 15-33-1

Punts 7-38.6 8-36.9

Fumbles-Lost 4-2 4-3

Penalties-Yards 3-18 8-82

Time of Possession 33:35 25:18

Iowa Western 0 0 21 14 — 35

L.A. Rams 0 0 21 0 — 21

Scoring Summary

IC–Cal Weidemann 54-yard pass from Zach Marker (Kongolo Mwenemkamba kick), 11:29 left third.

IC–Jamarien Wheeler 31-yard pass from Marker (kick failed), 11:14 left third.

IW–Matt Kordas returns block punt (Josh Meyer kick), 7:46 left third.

IW–LJ Fitzpatrick 28-yard pass from Aiden Niedens (Meyer kick), 3:49 left third.

IW–Aisea Toki 35-yard pass from Niedens (Meyer kick), 2:31 left third.

IC–Desna Washington 20-yard pass from Justin Silverstein (two-point conversion Silverstein to Weidemann), :06 left in third.

IW–Niedens 1-yard run (Meyer kick), 10:19 left fourth.

IW– Anterio Thompson returns fumble 20 yards (Meyer kick), 1:14 left fourth.——

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Iowa Central: Zach Marker 8-14, Jayson Murray 4-9, Walter Wilbon 5-8, Jadon Washington 8-2, Omarion Bartlett 2(minus 12), Justin Silverstein 7(minus 34); Iowa Western: Bryant Williams 21-82, Aiden Niedens 16-48, Jaden Koger 5-16, Trey King Jr. 1-2, James Graham 2-1.

PASSING–Iowa Central: Justin Silverstein 8-19-0-159, Zach Marker 6-11-1-116, Omarion Bartlett 1-3-0-15; Iowa Western: Aiden Niedens 15-31-0-165.

RECEIVING–Iowa Central: Desna Washington 6-116, Cal Weidemann 2-77, Izaiah Haslett 3-34, Jamarien Wheeler 1-31, George Sims 2-26, Walter Wilbon 1-6; Iowa Western: Aisea Toki 2-62; Micah Davis 4-31, LJ Fitzpatrick 1-28, Roscoe Parrish 3-22, Bryant Williams 3-12, CJ Horton 1-7, Ty’shun Jordan 1-3.