The preseason favorite in the Iowa Conference race will play the preseason favorite in the Minnesota Conference in Waverly on Saturday when Wartburg hosts Bethel. The Knights opened the season with a 40-3 victory at Augsburg of Minnesota.
“This will be a great test, it should be a great small-college football game,”” Wartburg coach Rick Willis says. He says the team is excited by the opportunity to play the game.
While the Knights played last week this will be the season opener for Bethel. He says it is always good to get the first game out of the way and he hopes that works to their advantage, but Willis says Augsburg has an experienced team.
Wartburg is ranked 15th in division three and lost to seventh ranked Bethel in the playoffs last year. Willis says the defense needs to limit big plays by the Bethel offense. Willis says they are a physical team that runs the football and then the passing game comes off the run action. He says they’ve had trouble in the past giving up big plays agains them.