PELLA—It was the biggest test of the season thus far for the Central College football team, and quarterback Blaine Hawkins and the Dutch aced it, racing past Wartburg College 49-24 before a sun-drenched overflow homecoming crowd Saturday.
Hawkins tossed six touchdown passes a week after breaking the school record with seven TD strikes in one half of action in an 84-16 rout at Simpson College.
Ranked No. 14 in the D3football.com Top 25 poll, Central (5-0 overall, 3-0 American Rivers) took a major step towards a conference title in the battle of the teams that shared the 2019 crown.
"I think our guys responded really well," coach Jeff McMartin said. "I think they had a lot of belief in each other throughout the game and that was something we worked on a lot this week--the mindset that we needed to be successful."
Hawkins completed 21 of 29 passes for 297 yards and has 21 TD passes in five games. He's already thrown for 1,468 yards.
"I thought he made some great throws and our receivers made some really great catches," McMartin said. "They all came through for us today."
Wartburg (2-2 overall, 1-1 conference) took the early lead in a 27-yard Kain Eagle first-quarter field goal, but Hawkins needed just four plays and 1:01to answer, hitting Tanner Schminke on a 14-yard scoring toss for a lead the Dutch never relinquished.
Hawkins strikes of 28 yards to Erik Knaack and 20 yards to Schminke stretched the lead to 21-3 with 1:34 left in the second quarter. But on the final play of the half, Wartburg scored on a fake field goal to cut it to 21-10 at the break.
That was a deflating play but the Dutch made sure it turned into nothing more, reasserting command with an uncharacteristically methodical 19-play, 82-yard drive to open the second half with Herbers scoring on a 3-yard toss from Hawkins.
"For some teams, a play like that right before the half can really drag you down, but we were able to stay up," McMartin said. "That was a really critical kind of series for us to have and I credit our guys' mindset. They did a great job with that."
Three fourth-quarter Central scores settled the issue, extending the margin to 49-17 before surrendering a late touchdown.
Wartburg's powerful ground game had some success early but was limited to 128 yards on 31 carries on the day.
"They ran the ball really well," McMartin said. "It was a test. We knew they were going to run the ball well."
The Knights also completed 26 of 39 passes for 245 yards, but free safety Brody Klein recorded a key interception, two plays after a third-quarter Dutch score. He had six tackles on the day while strong safety Cameron Bannister had a game-high 13 stops including six solos. Cornerback Brayden Egli had 11 tackles and two pass break-ups while also delivering a blocked field goal in the second quarter. Cornerback Benjamin Crist also had 11 tackles and made a pivotal play by forcing a fumble at the goal line that Central recovered. Linebacker Josh Van Gysel had 10 tackles.
"They ran a lot of option plays and got the ball out on the perimeter," McMartin said. "When you do that, your safeties are going to have to come down and make plays and I thought they did a really good job. Wartburg also threw the ball effectively at times and they had to make stops on the pass plays, too."
Central had 159 yards rushing including 57 yards and a touchdown from Isaiah Walk.
Schminke finished with eight catches for 135 yards and two TDs while Knaack had four catches for 44 yards and two scores and Herbers had five catches for 30 yards and two touchdowns.
The Dutch outgained Wartburg 456 yards to 373 and held a 27-22 advantage in first downs. They also controlled the ball for 11:33 in the final quarter to take a 31:17 to 28:43 edge in time of possession for the game.
Central's quick-strike offense can often hinder possession time, but McMartin said the up-tempo rhythm gave the Dutch an advantage.
"If you look at our drives in the second half, we had a lot of success and gained a lot of yards," he said. "Some of that, I think, had to do with the fact that we kept them on the field and things were going fast."
The large, enthusiastic crowd gave the Dutch another reason to savor Saturday's win.
"I know our players had to appreciate the environment," McMartin said. "It was small-college football at its best. We're so appreciative of the fans and all the support we've had from the student body in all three of our home games. It means something to our players and to the legacy of this program. This was Central College at its best today."
Central heads to Cedar Rapids next Saturday for a 1 p.m. league game at Coe College. The Kohawks were off this week and are 3-1 for the year with a 1-1 conference mark.
McMartin noted that Saturday's win was a nice step, but work remains.
"We're at the halfway mark," he said. "We need to enjoy this win against a great team and we will. But we're going to play another great team on the road next week at Coe."
No. 14 Central takes down Wartburg
/seasons/2021/boxscores/20211002_aovn.xml
2021
Wartburg
24
Central
49
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wartburg (2-2) | 3 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 24 |
| No. 8 Central (5-0) | 7 | 14 | 7 | 21 | 49 |
Oct 02, 2021