Andy Hamilton

ahamilton@dmreg.com

Iowa Barnstormers coach Mike Hohensee figured his defense couldn't play worse than it did last week when his team missed tackles, couldn't pressure the quarterback and couldn't preserve a big lead in a 63-62 victory against San Antonio.

Saturday might have been an illustration of the Barnstormers at their best.

Iowa shut down the Los Angeles Kiss during a 31-12 victory in front of 9,152 at Wells Fargo Arena.

The Barnstormers turned up the heat on their former quarterback, intercepted five passes and came within 35.2 seconds of blanking Los Angeles in the second half. Three of the interceptions were thrown by Raterink.

Iowa (3-2) traded J.J. Raterink to Los Angeles (2-3) during the offseason and the Barnstormers used the pick they acquired in the deal to select quarterback Carson Coffman, who completed 18-of-37 passing for 264 yards and three touchdowns. He also scored on an 11-yard run.

Darius Reynolds caught seven passes for 114 yards and two touchdowns and had another waved off by replay.

It was over when: Big leads can vanish in a matter of minutes in the Arena League. But after scoring just six points in three quarters, it seemed like the last chance for the Kiss came with a little more than 7 minutes remaining when the Barnstormers stopped Los Angeles short of the marker on fourth down.

Turning point: After the Barnstormers scored a touchdown on their opening possession, the Los Angeles bid for a tying score slipped through the hands of receiver Markee White and De'Mon Glanton intercepted the pass in the end zone. Iowa cashed the turnover into points immediately when Coffman connected with Marco Thomas on a 45-yard bomb on the next play.

Highlight of the night: It didn't count, but it was sure fun to watch when Reynolds caught a long pass down the sideline, spun out of two tackles and dived into the end zone on the last play of the first half. Officials initially ruled it a touchdown, but they reversed the call after video review.

Star of the show: Iowa's defense dominated the low-scoring game — a total reversal of a week ago. The Barnstormers harassed Raterink throughout the first half. Mike Lewis sacked his former teammate twice and pressured him into another fourth-down incompletion.