GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – One of the team buses broke down on Iowa Western’s first-ever football road trip, forcing a six-hour delay Friday in Gary, Ind.

Perhaps it was just a sign of things to come.

There were plenty more breakdowns Saturday once play began at Houseman Field. The result was a 54-36 Reiver loss to NJCAA No. 16 Grand Rapids in a Midwest Football Conference game that got away in a hurry.

Special teams killed IWCC’s chances for a victory. The Reivers had two punts blocked, gave up a return touchdown and missed a pair of kicks, which netted a 25-point advantage for the Raiders.

“That phase we didn’t win,” Iowa Western coach Scott Strohmeier said. “And it cost us major field position and put our team in bad situations.”

Grand Rapids (4-0), which has outscored its opponents 194-84, found the end zone on its first play from scrimmage and separated from the 0-3 Reivers by scoring twice in the final minute of the second quarter. The blocked punts helped their cause.

“Those are the things that have killed us,” Strohmeier said. “We can’t stop the bleeding when something went wrong. I’ve never had this many problems on a punt team before. And it’s hurt us in every ball game.”

GR: Brandon Newburn 30 pass from Demonte Collins (Jose Diaz kick)
GR: Collins 12 pass from Casey Therriault (kick blocked)
IW: Shane Prater 22 pass from Austin McBeth (Dan Biddick kick)
GR: Jason Hannett 2 run (Diaz kick)
IW: Anthony Thompson 15 pass from McBeth (pass failed)
GR: Hannett 10 run (Diaz kick)
GR: Collins 2 pass from Therriault (Diaz kick)
GR: Isaiah Cheatham 90 kickoff return (Diaz kick)
GR: Collins fumble recovery in end zone (Diaz kick)
GR: Kristian Cathey-Armstead 12 run (kick blocked)
IW: Dominique Corder 7 run (Corder run)
IW: Marcus Sullivan 10 pass from Corder (Corder run)
IW: Corder 9 run (Biddick kick)