College of Idaho Football Semifinal Matchup at Keiser

Football | 12/8/2023 11:33:00 AM

SEMIFINALS: The 31-17 win over Grand View has propelled College of Idaho into the semifinals of the NAIA Football Championship Series for the first time in program history. This is the third appearance for the Seahawks in the last four years. They reached the championship game in 2022 after starting the season 1-3. 

SCHOFIELD FINDS END ZONE: Senior wide receiver Jon Schofield has scored 13 touchdowns on the ground and 11 through the air for a school record 24 touchdowns. His 24 touchdowns leads the Frontier Conference and is tied for third in the NAIA (26 - 1st: Rontavious Farmer - St. Thomas; 25 - 2nd: K'Vonte Baker - Friends; tied for 3rd: K'McMillan - Northwestern). 

PETERS - A DUAL-THREAT QUARTERBACK: Quarterback Andy Peters has moved into the top three all-time in pass attempts (576, third), passing yards (4,808, second) pass completions (368, second) and passing TDs (36, second). 

Against Grand View, Peters scored a career-best three rushing touchdowns. In the win over the Vikings, he was the top ground gainer for the Yotes for the seventh time on the season. He became the first quarterback since Darius-James Peterson to run for three touchdowns since 2018 against Southern Oregon. Earlier this season, against Eastern Oregon, he threw for a career-high five passing touchdowns. He tied the program's single-game record with Darius-James Peterson, who threw five TD passes against Southern Oregon on October 26, 2019. Peters earned Frontier Conference Offensive Player of the Week five times in 2023 en route to second team all-conference recognition. Furthermore, he has had a touchdown pass in 18 of his 20 games as a Yote. 

SINGLE-SEASON RECORD BOOK ALERT: 
Andy Peters 
- 1st in TD passes (29)
- 1st in passing yards/game (263.2)
- 1st in total offense yards (3,965)
- 1st in attempts (396)
- 1st in completions (228) 
- 1st in passing yards (3,158)

Caden Cobb
- 1st in kick return yards (729)

GRINDING IT ON THE GROUND: College of Idaho holds a 5.5 to 3.4 advantage in average yards per rush, 173.3 to 105.0 in average yards per game rushing and 30 to 14 in rushing touchdowns. 

END ZONE VARIETY: To complement the 24 touchdowns by Jon Schofield, 13 other Yotes have found the end zone - eight of which have scored multiple touchdowns - in 2023.

POTENT OFFENSE: College of Idaho has scored a school record 67 TDs (t-4th nationally) and 484 points (40.3 ppg / 8th nationally). 

RED ZONE ALERT: College of Idaho has reached the red zone on 58 occasions and scored 47 times - 42 touchdowns (28 rushing; 14 receiving) and five field goals for an 81% conversion clip. The 81% conversion percentage is the highest since the 2019 team converted 86.8% (46 of 53 opportunites). 

Opponents have reached the red zone on 33 occasions and scored 26 times - 16 touchdowns (10 rushing, 6 receiving) and six field goals for an 78.8% conversion clip.

THIRD QUARTER SUCCESS: College of Idaho has outscored its opponents, 154-49 in the third quarter. Every year since 2015, College of Idaho has outscored its opponents in the third quarter - 699 to 385. 

TRICK OR TREAT: With four returning starters and the strong play of junior center Liam Coppinger, the College of Idaho has allowed only 10 sacks and 30 tackles for loss. The Yotes defense has racked up 30 sacks on the season (6th most in program history) on its way to 68 tackles for loss (6th most in program history.

EXPLOSIVE PLAYS: 
• The College of Idaho offense has had passing plays of: 20-29 yards - 20; 30-39 yards - 10; 40-49 yards - 10; 50-59 yards - 1 and 60+ yards - 3. 
• The College of Idaho offense has had rushing plays of: 20-29 yards - 12; 30-39 yards - 8; 50-59 yards - 2.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF SEASON:
• Outscoring opponents, 484 to 289
• FIRST DOWNS: 8 of 12 games; 116 by rush; 142 by pass
• RUSHING: 10 of 12 games; season high: 237 at Arizona Christian
 - three games over 200 yards
• PASSING: 8 of 12 games; season-high 420 at Montana Western
- four games over 300 yards
• TOTAL OFFENSE: 10 of 12 games; season-high 621 at Montana Western

KICKOFF CHATTER: Caden Cobb returned a pair of kickoffs in back to back weeks against MSU-Northern and Arizona Christian for a touchdown in 2023. The last Yote to return two kickoffs for a touchdown in a season was Ted Martin (1953) and John Finlay (1974). Cobb holds the school record for kickoff returns (58) and kickoff return yards (1610).

SPECIAL SIMONS: Kickoff specialist Cameron Simons has recorded 20 touchbacks on the season. Based on information available, this is the most in a season in program history. 

PUNTING BOMBS: Punter Andrew McKague is averaging 37.5 yards per punt. The 37.5 average is the sixth best in program history. He tied a career-high with a 54-yard punt against Arizona Christian. McKague and the Yotes did not punt in the game against Montana Tech. Based on information available, this is the first time that College of Idaho not have a punt in a game.

TANNER TERROR: The College of Idaho features three individuals with the first name, Tanner. Tanner Leaf (#39) has made 70 tackles including 8 TFLs; Tanner Sackman (#82) has been involved in 20 tackles - including eight against Montana Western to go along with a pair of tackles for loss and a forced fumble; Tanner Steele (#31) has made 45 tackles with a sack and 2.5 TFLs to go along with 7 PBUs. 

PICKING UP THE FUN: Boise State transfer Chip Mitchell leads the team with four interceptions. His 34-yard interception return for a touchdown against Arizona Christian was the Yotes second of the season. In his first action since October 14 against MSU-Northern,  defensive back Keegan Croteau made an immediate impact in the secondary with his fourth career interception against Montana Western. He is one of 21 players in program history to record five career interceptions.

PICK SIX: The 95-yard interception return for a touchdown against Grand View by  Chase Brown was the third of the season for College of Idaho. The 95-yard interception return was the second longest in program history (RECORD: 97 by George Crawford on Oct. 24, 1970 against Lewis & Clark). The three interception returns for a touchdown are the most since the 2019 season.

POLL TALK: In the final 2023 NAIA Football FirstDown PlayBook Coaches' Top 25 Rating, College of Idaho is ranked at No. 10 along with Morningside and Saint Xavier (Ill.). College of Idaho has been ranked 48 times since 1999. 

NEARLY PERFECT: Place kicker Jacob DeMott has made his last 63 point-after attempts on the season. He missed his only PAT on the fourth touchdown of the season in the season-opening win over Lincoln. For the season, he has made a school record 64 PATs which ranks fifth in the NAIA. 

FOURTH DOWN: College of Idaho has gone for it on fourth down on 28 occasions for a 61% conversion rate. The 28 fourth down attempts are the most since the 2016 team went for it 35 times. The five field goals by the Yotes are the fewest among active teams in the NAIA playoffs. 

RECEIVING WEALTH: The 777 yards (4th) receiving by Jon Schofield and 771 (5th) by Brock Richardson have combined for a school record 1,548 yards in a season.  

ALMOST A FAMILIAR OPPONENT: College of Idaho has matched up with Keiser for three-consecutive years on the pitch in women's soccer. The Seahawks have won all three meetings, including a matchup on November 18 with Keiser winning in Caldwell by a 1-0 margin. 

HONORS START TO ROLL IN: Selected to the first team all-Frontier Conference were offensive lineman Garrett Rehberg, who picked up his second all-conference selection. Joining Rehberg were linebacker Willie Nelson and defensive back Chip Mitchell. The trio was joined by kickoff return specialist Caden Cobb. College of Idaho was well represented with seven selections on the second team. Among those receiving recognition were offensive lineman Brett Gydesen and Ryan Halford, quarterback Andy Peters, wide receiver Jon Schofield, running back Allamar Alexander, tight end Ben Hruby and defensive back Brady Frame. On the honorable mention team were defensive ends Tanner Leaf, Kobe Roberts and wide receiver Brock Richardson.

YOTES SIBLINGS: Defensive lineman Ryan Seth - brother: Vince; linebacker Joey Calzaretta - brother: Nick and wide receiver Brock Richardson - brother: Connor were all teammates on the last Yotes team that played in the postseason in 2019. 

YOTES SIBLINGS II: There are four sets of brothers on the College of Idaho roster including twin brothers: Cooper and Tanner Leaf; brothers: Ryan and Tyler Halford; brothers: Jayce and Tucker French; brothers Jonah and Jovan Sowell.  

BRONCOS turned YOTES: Three members of the College of Idaho football team - Allamar Alexander, Chip Mitchell and Andy Peters - started their college careers at Boise State University before transferring to College of Idaho.  

UNPRECEDENTED SUCCESS: All six College of Idaho fall sports teams (men's and women's cross country; men's and women's soccer; football and volleyball) secured spots in the postseason to go along with the 2022-23 NAIA Men's Basketball national champion team that started the season at No. 1 for the first two polls. The only other team in the NAIA with this similar feat is Indiana Wesleyan. Most recently, the College of Idaho women's cross country team became the fourth team in school history to win a national title. 

AERIAL ASSAULT: Against Grand View, for the first time on the season, College of Idaho was held without a passing touchdown. Earlier this season, they had a six-touchdown game against Eastern Oregon on October 28. The 32 passing touchdowns shattered the previous school record of 23 from 2019. 

PROUD ALUMNI: On the Yotes coaching staff are five former Yotes including linebackers coach/special teams and recruiting coordinator Austin Nelson, offensive line coach, Braden Bale, defensive backs coach James Silva and defensive line coach Carlos Murana. Also on the College of Idaho roster are six members of the team - Hayden Dondero, Cade Flint, Ryan Halford, Ben Hruby, Chip Mitchell and Garrett Rehberg - who are all working on a graduate certificate in sports administration.

TWO-SPORT STARS: Keegan Croteau, Hunter Gilbert, Liam Hays, Ryan Halford and Tanner Sackman are also members of the College of Idaho football team; Matthew Iwamizu has seen time on the Yotes baseball team and Gavin Ozuna is also a member of the lacrosse team. 

CAPTAINS: The Yotes have been represented by quarterback Andy Peters, offensive lineman Garrett Rehberg, linebacker Willie Nelson and defensive back Jacob Arms as captains for the coin toss.