HIGHLAND, Kan. — Jesse Montalto wanted Iowa Central to finish as the top offensive team in the nation, and after Saturday’s rout of Highland, the Tritons are now out in front.

In their regular season finale, 15th-ranked ICCC (6-4 overall) racked up 648 yards of total offense in a 50-20 victory over Highland (2-8).

The victory puts the Tritons in line for a bowl game on Dec. 4. The postseason spot will be announced in two weeks.

The Tritons were coming off a tough loss to No. 2 Iowa Western after holding an early 13-0 lead.

“The beginning of the week is tough to get the kids motivated,” Montalto said. “We wanted to come out and be the No. 1 offense in the nation. We have a lot of goals that we still want to accomplish.

“We needed this and wanted to get to six wins and a bowl game. With the schedule we had and all the road games, it was a tough feat.”

After their victory over the Scotties, the Tritons are the top NJCAA squad in the country for total offense with 4,770 yards. They are also tops in passing (2,975), yards per game (477) and are fourth in rushing (1,795).

Iowa Central scored 29 unanswered points through two and a half quarters on Saturday, silencing the Scotties.

“We went in and did some good things on defense,” Montalto said. “They had some good formations, but we limited them on what they could do.

“We have some leadership in our QB1 spot. We did some good things on hot routes and did some site adjustments.”

During that stretch, Triton sophomore quarterback Zach Marker had three throwing and one rushing touchdown.

Marker connected with Mamarien Wheeler (41 yards), George Sims (22) and Cal Weidemann (one) on scoring strikes. He also ran in a touchdown from 12 yards out.

Marker later threw an 18-yard touchdown to Desna Washington.

“Zach made some plays with his feet and helped us pull away,” Montalto said.

Justin Silverstein threw a four-yard TD to Walter Wilbon, and Jayson Murray added a 20-yard touchdown run.

Marker finished the contest 24-for-35 for 264 yards and four touchdowns. The Tritons had 355 yards passing.

Marker ran for 129 yards on 14 carries as well.

Washington caught eight balls for 90 yards and a score. Washington is second in the nation in yards (812), tied for second in touchdowns (nine).

Weidemann leads the nation with 10 TD catches.