Iowa Central Books Early Spot in CRC
Iowa Central Books Early Spot in CRC
Iowa Central CC became the first team to qualify for NCR's CRC with a victory at the Sunshine 7s in Gainesville, Fla.
The Tritons overcame an early loss to Notre Dame to beat those self-same Fighting Irish in the final.
Notre Dame and ICCC met up for the opening game in pool play with UND winning 21-19. It was a tough loss for Iowa Central, but Head Coach Brent Nelson said his team showed they could put phases and continuity together and there was reason to be confident.
However, they also knew now that games against Auburn and Clemson were must-wins.
"We knew if we lost the second match it would be over for us," said Nelson. "So the guys played with a lot of urgency. They played lights-out defense."
ICCC took a 14-7 lead into the final moments but Auburn had the ball and a chance to tie it up. But an interception take all the way iced it 21-7. Clemson provided a tough opponent as well. They had beaten Auburn 40-0 and lost a close one to Notre Dame so this game would decide who would make the semifinals. The game was back-and-forth but Iowa Central's attack started to find its feet and the Tritons won 31-21.
Meanwhile, in Pool A, Queens, Alabama, and South Carolina all finished up 2-1. Queens lost to Alabama early so were in desperate need of wins after that. After a big win over Florida, Queens was still in control as long as they won. Going into the final round South Carolina was 2-0 with a points difference of +12. Queens was 1-1 but with a PD of +26, and Alabama was a +5 and 1-1. So Alabama needed to win and hope Queens lost or USC lost by enough to get the rub of the points difference green.
Queens overcame USC 28-21 and Alabam beat Florida 34-17 and so Alabama and Queens moved on to the semis.
In the semis, Iowa CCC and Queens played a back-and-forth game that could have gone either way. Once again Iowa Central was able to come back to win. Notre Dame defeated Alabama to make the final.
"Notre Dame is big and fit and professional in their approach," said Nelson. "Queens being a varsity program is a high-quality team. Everyone was tough."
In the final, once again Iowa Central made the changes they needed to make and won 21-14.
"It was about the kids trusting each other and taking the feedback," said Nelson. "We'd go half-to-half and make minor adjustments."
Takudzwa Musingwini was outstanding for Iowa Central and halfback Hlanga Mabele was skilled and ran the tempo nicely. Matt Surles Davis lived up to his nickname "Matty Ice" as he was clutch throughout.
"Matty always does a solid job," said Nelson. "He supports, makes tackles, and does all those little things you need someone to do to be successful. But I can't say enough about Joe Lippert and how he has spearheaded the 7s program. He's brought other coaches in and the guys have really responded."
Now Iowa Central can just concentrate on getting their depth and they game right. They are in the CRC already, and a serious contender when they get there.
