INDEPENDENCE, Kan. — The Iowa Central football team returns to action here Saturday after a bye week with a tremendous opportunity having been presented to them.

The Tritons take on Independence in the NJCAA Game of the Week live on ESPN+. Kickoff is now set for 10 a.m. due to the chance of inclement weather later in the day.

Iowa Central (3-5 overall) scored a convincing 58-7 victory over Ellsworth to secure second place in the ICCAC last time out. Following a four-game slide vs. several ranked teams by a combined 11 points, they went 2-1 in October.

“It’s a big opportunity for our kids and our program to be this featured game,” ICCC head coach Jesse Montalto said. “They get the chance to play in front of a new audience and we get to put our brand out there.”

Cyncir Bowers continues to lead the offense, rushing for 533 yards with another 341 receiving. Both numbers lead the team, along with his six rushing scores and almost 150 all-purpose yards per game.

Dallas Sauser and Ty Purdy have been sharing time at quarterback since an injury to Tyler Smith, who replaced the injured Trevon Taylor. Purdy has thrown for 451 yards and six TDs while Sauser has 346 and four.

Smith, though, is expected back under center, which is a welcome sign for the Tritons. The redshirt freshman has a quarterback rating of 164.2, completing 68 percent of his passes for 789 yards with eight TDs and no interceptions. He is also second on the team in rushing.

“It’s great for our offense to have Tyler back,” Montalto said. “We should have have running back Anthony Hall back, which gives us another skill kid. We’re still banged up at a few other positions, but we’re getting there.”

Bryce Anderson, who has received numbers Power 5 FBS offers, has 15 receptions for 128 yards with three scores while Akili Mattox leads the team with four receiving touchdowns.

Ishamael Kante and Jawarren Corbin both have over 50 tackles with Corbin recording a team-leading 9.5 tackles for loss. Kante has four sacks and Corbin, Kadarius Williams and Ra’Jon Hill all have two interceptions each.

Former Humboldt prep Nolan Gustafson has made six field goals and is 34 of 36 on extra-point attempts.

Independence (2-6) has lost three straight to Hutchinson, Iowa Western and Dodge City following a forfeit win vs. Garden City. Freshman Isaiah Nathaniel has thrown for almost 1,200 yards while Nathan Owens is the leading receiver with 336 yards on 39 receptions and three scores.

Breyahn Townsend and Cortez Fisher have a combined 651 yards rushing with five TDs.

“They are probably playing their best football of the season,” Montalto said. “And we feel like we’ve done a great job over the past few years in November and December of playing our best, so it should be a good matchup.”