2018 Wartburg Knights football team

2018 Wartburg Knights football
ARC champion
NCAA Division III First Round, L 14–41 at Bethel (MN)
Conference	American Rivers Conference
Record	8–3 (7–1 ARC)
Head coach	Rick Willis (20th season)
Offensive coordinator	Matt Wheeler (9th season)
Defensive coordinator	Chris Winter (8th season)
Home stadium	Walston-Hoover Stadium

2018 American Rivers Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
Wartburg $^		7	–	1					8	–	3
Central (IA)		6	–	2					8	–	2
Dubuque		6	–	2					7	–	3
Simpson (IA)		6	–	2					7	–	3
Coe		5	–	3					6	–	4
Loras		3	–	5					4	–	6
Nebraska Wesleyan		2	–	6					3	–	7
Luther		1	–	7					1	–	9
Buena Vista		1	–	9					0	–	8
$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division III playoff participant

The 2018 Wartburg Knights football team represented Wartburg College as a member of the American Rivers Conference (ARC) during the 2018 NCAA Division III football season. Led by Rick Willis in his 20th season as head, the Knights compiled an overall record of 8–3 with a mark of 7–1 in conference play, winning ARC title for the second year in a row and earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Football Championship playoffs. This was the 16th conference title for Wartburg and 10th for head coach Rick Willis. Wartburg lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Bethel Royals. The team played home games at Walston-Hoover Stadium in Waverly, Iowa.

Schedule

Wartburg's 2018 regular season scheduled consisted of five home and five away games.

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance
September 1	7:00 p.m.	Greenville*	No. 13	Walston-Hoover Stadium Waverly, IA	W 73–13	1,832
September 8	1:00 p.m.	at Monmouth (IL)*	No. 13	Zorn Stadium Monmouth, IL	L 18–24	1,700
September 15	1:00 p.m.	Buena Vista		Walston-Hoover Stadium Waverly, IA	W 63–0	1,642
September 22	1:00 p.m.	at Nebraska Wesleyan		Abel Stadium Lincoln, NE	W 42–14	971
September 29	1:00 p.m.	Simpson		Walston-Hoover Stadium Waverly, IA	L 36–37 ^OT	1,927
October 13	1:00 p.m.	at Coe		Clark Field Cedar Rapids, IA	W 31–19	1,373
October 20	1:30 p.m.	No. 20 Central (IA)		Walston-Hoover Stadium Waverly, IA	W 47–20	3,229
October 27	1:00 p.m.	at Loras		Rock Bowl Dubuque, IA	W 56–14	1,725
November 3	1:00 p.m.	Luther		Walston-Hoover Stadium Waverly, IA	W 43–7	3,000
November 10	1:00 p.m.	at Dubuque		Chalmers Field Dubuque, IA	W 47–28	4,210
November 23	12:00 p.m.	at No. 11 Bethel (MN)*		Royal Stadium Arden Hills, MN (NCAA Division III First Round)	L 14–41	6,107
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from D3Football.com Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

[1]

Awards and honors

Individual awards

Player	Award
Matt Sacia	Gagliardi Trophy Finalist ARC Offensive Player of the year D3football.com Honorable Mention All-American
Dillon Rademaker	D3football.com First-team All-American
Reference:[2][3]

All-Conference

Player	Position	Team	Year
JoJo McNair	DB	1	So
Dillon Rademaker	DL	1	SR
Connor Frerichs	LB	1	SR
Matt Sacia	QB	1	SR
Nic Vetter	OL	1	SR
Hud Johnston	OL	1	SR
Cedric Dobbins	DB	2	JR
Marcus Johnson	LB	2	SR
Jason Fisher	DL	2	JR
Kolin Schulte	WR	2	JR
JoJo McNair	WR	2	So
Tyler Schager	OL	2	Sr
JoJo McNair	RS	HM	So
HM = Honorable mention. Reference:[4]

References

1. "2018 Football Schedule". Wartburg College Athletics Athletics. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
2. "2018 D3football.com All-America team". D3football.com. D3football.com. Retrieved December 27, 2023.
3. Staff Report (December 14, 2018). "SJU's Erdmann named 2018 Gagliardi Trophy winner". SC Times. Retrieved December 27, 2023.
4. "2018 American Rivers All-Conference Football Team Announced". rollriver.com. American Rivers Conference. Retrieved December 27, 2023.