Broncbusters shutout at home

Garden City, KS-Saturday's result put the finishing touches on a tumultuous week. 

After being forced to forfeit their first six wins because of an ineligible player, Garden City suffered just its' second shutout loss in 13 years.  

Iowa State transfer, Hunter Dekkers threw for 280 yards and three touchdowns, Daniel Swinney added a pair of rushing scores, and second-ranked Iowa Western blanked Garden City, 38-0 at Broncbuster Stadium.  

Tyler Nelson was just 8-of-20 for 75 yards for Garden City, which fell to 0-8 overall. They were also held to a season-low 89 yards on the ground with leading rusher Dejaun Lacy carrying the ball just nine times for 18 yards. 

"It was a tough week for our guys, but we still had some really good practices," Head Coach, Kiyoshi Harris said. 

Things started promising for the Broncbusters, who thwarted Iowa Western's opening drive when Jeremiah Caldwell intercepted Dekkers at the Garden City 18. But after the Broncbusters picked up one first down, their next three plays netted just a single yard, and they were forced to punt. 

"We had some opportunities early in this game," Harris added.  

The Reivers followed up by marching 51 yards in seven plays. On first-and-goal from the 7, Swinney, who transferred from Garden City during the spring, punched it in for a 7-0 advantage with nine minutes to go in the first. 

After Garden City missed another scoring chance when Tanner Rinker's 48-yard field goal was blocked by Antonio Sandel-Bascomb, Iowa Western took full advantage. Dekkers connected with Jaivyn Moore up the right sideline for 14 yards. Two plays later, safety Jaden Watkins was flagged for pass interference in the end zone putting the ball at the 2 where it eventually setup Dekkers two-yard scoring toss to Naivyan Cargill to make it 14-0 with less than two minutes to go in the half.  

On the Broncbusters' ensuing possession, Nelson found a crease up the middle for a 47-yard touchdown. But a pair of unsportsmanlike penalties wiped the score off the board, and Garden City eventually punted.  

That was their best scoring chance of the day. 

Dekkers padded the Iowa Western lead early in the third when he found Titus Myers for a 31-yard touchdown. Swinney followed by punctuating a 12-play, 78-yard drive with a two-yard rushing score, and the Reivers turned a Jaylen Boehm-Peterson interception into a field goal less than 10 seconds into the fourth quarter that gave the visitors a commanding 31-0 lead. Dekkers then capped the scoring with a 14-yard touchdown pass to Owen Gish on the Reivers' next possession. 

Former Broncbuster Keyon Brown caught four balls for 64 yards for Iowa Western (6-1), which handed the Broncbusters the second most-lopsided loss in the history of the series.