Wartburg Football Rewrites History With New A-R-C Record

The Wartburg College Knights face off against the University of Dubuque Spartans on Oct. 11. Photo courtesy of Ali Parkhurst, Marketing & Communication and The Wartburg Trumpet.

The No. 8 ranked Wartburg Football team has been rewriting history this season. On Saturday, Oct. 11, the Knights powered over the University of Dubuque 33-7 to claim their 30^th consecutive win in the American Rivers Conference (A-R-C), a new all-time conference record. To make the win even sweeter, the Knights were victorious in front of a packed, passionate Wartburg Homecoming crowd.

The streak for the Knights began in 2021 when they beat Nebraska Wesleyan 50-14 on Nov. 6 and Simpson College 55-23 on Nov. 13. Since then, the Knights have had three straight undefeated seasons in conference play. The 30^th consecutive A-R-C win upstaged the 29 consecutive wins that were previously collected by the Central College Dutch from 1983-1987.

Chris Winter, head coach of the Wartburg Football team, relays a play call on the field against the University of Dubuque. Photo courtesy of Ali Parkhurst, Marketing & Communication and The Wartburg Trumpet.

Head coach Chris Winter, a former Wartburg Football player himself, knows how important this record is to past and present players, and takes a lot of pride in the work that was required to get to this point.

“To be a former player and knowing what the work was, and the kind of the blood, sweat and tears from all the guys in my time… that built this program to a level where people really believe this is something we could accomplish is pretty cool,” Winter says. “To still be here and see it happen and be part of it now is special.”

Senior kicker and punter Jaxson Hoppes, who has earned the A-R-C Special Teams Player of the Week honor twice this season, also noted the significance of this record for the entire Wartburg Football community.

“The players, the coaches, all the fans, and then everybody that feeds their energy into our football team helps us play on Saturday,” Hoppes says. “It’s not just for us, but for everybody that collectively moves this train along the tracks.”

Senior Jaxson Hoppes with a kickoff during the Homecoming game against the Spartans. Photo courtesy of Ali Parkhurst, Marketing & Communication and The Wartburg Trumpet.

Despite the stakes of the game against the Spartans, the Knights made sure to keep their approach and mindset consistent: treat Saturday as the biggest game of the year.

“We approach every game as a championship game, because the next one’s the biggest one,” Hoppes says. “We’re keeping that mindset throughout the entire season, no matter who’s on the other side of the ball.”

Racking up 30 consecutive wins is no easy feat for any football program, and Winter credits the culture and relationships the players have established for the past three years for their continued success.

“It certainly takes hard work and people that are committed to showing up and giving great effort, but I think that’s easier to do when you enjoy showing up, because you’re doing it with people you like being around,” Winter says. “When things do get tough, we’re not going to crumble and fold. We’re going to pull together and have each other’s backs.”

In addition to the strong relationships across the entire team, Winter also notices a different level of fight in this group that has elevated their performance this year.

“Every day they show up, there’s a there’s an edge to them, there’s an excitement to be out there,” Winter says.

While Winter and Hoppes recognize how impactful this win was for the football program, they know they ultimately have a much larger goal for this year’s squad.

“We attack each game the same way with the goal of winning, because we have bigger goals than being 6-0, right now,” Hoppes says. “We want to be finishing the season 10-0 and then carrying that momentum onto the playoffs and finishing the hill at 15-0 and the Stagg Bowl.”

Knowing their goal is within reach, Winter echoes the same hope for the 2025 team.

“We do believe that we can compete for a national championship here, and we’ve been on the doorstep of that the last three years,” Winter says. “We’ve got a big vision, but I would say our goal is trying to take care of that week and make sure that we’re getting better for that week against whoever we’re playing.”