DEWITT — One of the things the gurus of Iowa high school football were looking to do when they expanded the playoff field two years ago was to keep up the interest of teams and their fans who fell out of the race for a district championship in the early weeks of the season.

For the past two years that was not an issue for the Central DeWitt football team, which cruised through district play without suffering a loss in either season.

That was not the case this fall. Following a loss to Maquoketa in Week 5, the Sabers were 1-3 in district play, with their postseason hopes hanging by a thread. On the strength of back-to-back wins, the latest a 45-21 defeat of Union in DeWitt's home finale, the Sabers now find themselves a win away from advancing into postseason play for a third year in a row.

In a very entertaining contest, the Sabers fought back from a 21-18 first-half deficit by outscoring their guests 27-3 over the final 31 minutes to even their district mark at 3-3.

The first half was a see-saw affair with the teams matching scores through most of the opening two periods. Union was first on the board, only to have the Sabers answer 68 seconds later on Ryan Daniels' 57-yard run on DeWitt's third play from scrimmage.

The Knights came right back with a touchdown on their own, only to have Ben Comer answer with a 9-yard run capping a DeWitt seven-play 62-yard drive. Dustin Petersen gave the Sabers their first lead when he bulled his way into the end zone from a yard out, following a 45-yard Tyler Smith-to-Daniels pass play. Daniels was back at it again when he sprinted around the left side, used a bone-crushing block from Bryan Connell to race 80 yards for his second touchdown of the first half. Daniels score erased a 21-18 Union lead. The Knights closed out the first-half scoring with a field goal, but those would be their final points of the night.

Strangely enough, at least based on the early going, it was the Saber defense which was just as important to the win as its offense.

After allowing the Knights to score on four of their five first-half possessions, the DeWitt defense pitched a shut-out over the final two periods. Just as impressive, it allowed just four second-half first downs.

Matching the play of its defense was the offense. Sparked by Daniels, who ran for a career-high 271 yards, the Sabers dominated play on both sides of the ball over the final 24 minutes.

Taking the opening kick of the second half, the home team needed just six plays to reach the end zone, scoring on Dustin Peterson's seven-yard scamper. After punting away on its next drive, the Sabers upped their advantage to 38-24 when Daniels broke loose for his 45-yard scoring run. The Sabers closed out their scoring when Smith took off around the right side for a 25-yard touchdown run with just under five minutes left to play. With the way the DeWitt defense was playing Saber fans were able to take a deep breath and turn their focus to next week's trip to Vinton-Shellsburg for the regular-season finale.

In essence, the Sabers will be playing in their third-straight playoff-type game. Following their 1-3 start a loss in any of their final three games would end their hopes of a postseason berth. Now, with back-to-back wins under their belts, the Sabers are a win away from making three consecutive appearances in the Iowa Class 3A postseason, a program first.

Scoring by quarters

Union 14 10 0 0 — 24

Central DeWitt 12 13 13 7 — 45

First quarter

U — Steven McGarvey 19 pass from Austin Bunz (Brad Siebel run), 8:25.

C — Ryan Daniels 57 run (kick failed), 7:17.

U — Jared Wauters 3 run (kick failed), 5:19.

C — Ben Comer 9 run (run failed), 1:57.

Second quarter

C — Dustin Petersen 1 run (run failed), 8:19.

U — Wesley Burnside 56 run (run failed), 7:13.

C — Ryan Daniels 80 run (kick good), 6:50.

U — Steven McGarvey 14 field goal, 1:30.

Third quarter

C — Dustin Petersen 6 run (kick good).

C — Ryan Daniels 45 run (kick failed), 4:18.

Fourth quarter

C — Tyler Smith 25 run (Altor Meninero kick), 4:57.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Union, Wes Bumside 22-192, Josh Dunkelberger 8-18, Jared Wauter 1-2. Central DeWitt, Tyler 7-66, Ben Comer 14-82, Ryan 16-267, Dustin Petersen 13-86.

PASSING — Union, Steve McGarvy 8-20 141 yards, Jared Wauters 1-0-0. Central DeWitt, Tyler Smith 2-2 53 yards.

RECEIVING — Union, Wes Bumside 1-2, Jared Wauters 3-46, Austin Bunz 3-85, Zach Purdy 1-8. Central DeWitt, Dustin Petersen 1-45, Dillon Connell 1-8.