Central football team meets preseason favorites
Central College
PELLA — Central College’s hopes of remaining in contention in the wide-open Iowa Conference football race hinge on a pair of challenging upcoming road assignments, starting with tackling preseason favorite Wartburg College at Waverly Saturday.
Game time is 1 p.m. at Walston-Hoover Stadium.
Central is 6-2 overall and 5-1 in league play after running past Cornell College at Pella Saturday, 49-17. Wartburg is coming off a bye week and is 5-2 overall and 3-2 in the conference. The Knights have been in the national Division III rankings much of the season.
Televised in Cedar Rapids— Saturday’s game will be telecast on KCRG-TV’s digital channel 9.2 in Cedar Rapids and can also be viewed via www.kcrg.com. The telecast will be replayed on channel 9.2 next Sunday, at 10 a.m., Monday at 2:40 a.m., Nov. 5 at 1 p.m., Nov. 6 at 2:40 a.m. and 10 a.m. and Nov. 15 and 26 at 2:40 a.m. Bob Bruce, afternoon host on WMT Radio, will call the play-by-play with former University of Iowa player Eric Thigpen handling the color.
The voice of the Dutch, Trevor Castle, will call the play-by-play of Saturday’s game on KRLS-FM (92.1) and the broadcast can also be accessed through Central’s website at www.central.edu/athletics or through www.kniakrls.com.
KRLS radio also airs the Coaches’ Corner featuring Dutch coach Jeff McMartin at Applebee’s restaurant in Pella each Monday night at 7 p.m. The show can be accessed online, either live or via podcast.
The series—Wartburg ended Central’s 2010 title hopes in last year’s season finale for the Dutch at Pella, 20-17. Wartburg has won six of the teams’ last 10 meetings but the Dutch hold a commanding 41-18 advantage in the teams’ all-time series, which began in 1945.
The Knights—Wartburg has a balanced attack.
“Without a doubt, Wartburg has a tremendous football team,” McMartin said. “They’re very, very talented. They play hard and they come at you from every angle.”
Junior running back Connor Dahlstrom is fifth in the league in rushing at 81.1 yards per game and is second in yards per carry at 5.6. He’s gained 568 yards on 101 attempts with six touchdowns. Knights senior quarterback Dan Stiefel is tied for third in passing yards at 225.9. He’s completed 109 of 196 (55.6 percent) for 1,581 yards with nine touchdowns and seven interceptions. Senior Levi Helbling is sixth in receptions with 26 for 463 yards and second in reception yards per game at 92.6. Senior Robby Salmon is the league’s punting leader, averaging 41.9 yards on 38 kicks.
“They run the ball well,” McMartin said. “They’ve got a great group of running backs. Their quarterback is a good leader. They’ve got big offensive linemen that can really hit you.”
Junior linebacker Jason Shupp has 71 tackles, including 38 unassisted stops with 10 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks. Junior free safety Garrett McGrane has 57 tackles with six pass breakups and three interceptions.
“They blitz a lot and they’ve got good defensive backs,” McMartin said. “They move around a lot up front and make it hard for you to block them. You’ve got to stay very disciplined. They’re well-coached.”
The Knights are outgaining opponents by an average of 396.4 yards to 377.4. They’re averaging 229.9 yards passing and 166.6 yards rushing. Wartburg has yielded a league-low four quarterback sacks in seven games.
Wartburg would be undefeated but was twice victimized by some last-minute fireworks. Coe and Simpson each trailed late in the fourth quarter before pulling out upset wins, the latter coming in overtime. The Knights handed league co-leader Dubuque its only setback, 42-39 Oct. 8. Dubuque outscored Central 56-28 Sept. 24.
“Early in the year, Wartburg was a little banged up, but they’re healthy now,” McMartin said. “They’re firing on all cylinders.”
Dutch numbers—Central is first in the conference in total defense (343.6 yards per game), second in total offense (450.6 yards per game), second in scoring offense (39.2 points) and third in scoring defense (26.0). The Dutch are first in rushing offense (236.0 yards) and rushing defense (92.0 yards), and second in pass efficiency (147.6). Central leads in quarterback sacks with 27 for 168 yards, picking up five more against Cornell.
Run game rolling—Central’s leading rusher, quarterback Nate Snead (senior, Altoona, Southeast Polk HS) had a season-low five carries for 12 yards and a touchdown against Cornell Saturday. He’s had 20 or more carries in five of Central’s other six games. Yet the Dutch rolled up 340 rushing yards Saturday, including a season-high 115 on 22 carries by running back Ross Doehrmann (junior, Williamsburg), a career-best 95 yards and two touchdowns on just six carries by running back Josh Osborn (freshman, Burlington) and 50 yards and two scores on 10 carries by S-back Preston West (senior, Swisher, Cedar Rapids Prairie HS).
“One thing we’ve tried to work on is becoming a much more balanced running team,” McMartin said. “We’re getting there. A goal this season is for us to be able to use all of our backs well because they each complement each other. I’m confident that will continue and we’ll utilize their abilities in different ways.”
Likewise, the Dutch displayed balance in the passing game as eight players caught passes.
“Nate did a good job of spreading it around,” McMartin said.
Central limited Cornell to 244 yards of offense.
“Each week there are some things we’ve done better and we have to keep getting better,” McMartin said. “I like to think that we will. I’m encouraged, but we still have a long way to go.”
Record watch–Snead has rushed for 2,201 yards in his career, the most ever by a Central quarterback, and ranks 10th on the school’s all-time rushing yardage list. Saturday was only the second game this year that he did not have a passing touchdown. He’s rushed for at least one in each game and is the career leader in combined rushing/passing touchdowns (87). Snead is second in school career touchdown passes (44) and rushing touchdowns (43). He’s in position to climb into the top three in career passing yards. He stands fourth with 4,444 yards, 61 behind Mark Isaacson (2002-04). Snead is second in career total offense (6,645 yards), an average of 221.5 yards per game.
His younger brother, wide receiver Jeremy Snead (senior, Altoona, Southeast Polk HS), is fourth in career touchdown receptions (23), four behind all-time leader Randy Busscher (1971-74). Snead is third in career pass receptions (122) and fifth in receiving yards (1,707).
Brett Wilkin (senior, Pleasant Hill, Southeast Polk HS) remains tied for first in school career kick return yardage with 1,239, matching Brett Clayberg (1981-84). Mike Furlong (senior, Davenport, Assumption HS) is third with 1,132 yards. Furlong is 10th in career punt return yards (432), a figure that would have received a boost if his 64-yard return Saturday hadn’t been called back because of a penalty.
Notes—Punter Preston Roberts (senior, Bloomfield, Davis County HS) had his first touchback of the season Saturday as his boot rolled out of bounds inches beyond the goal line. Of his 24 punts, 10 have landed inside the 20-yard line. He’s averaging 39.0 yards per kick…This is the third time in the past four weeks that Central is facing an opponent coming off its bye week…More evidence of how football has changed. Central is leading the conference in total defense by limiting opponents to 343.6 yards per game. The Dutch held foes to 173.1 yards in 1985 and a school-record 144.6 yards in 1964…Freshman kicker Kevin Sheldon (West Des Moines, Valley HS) is perfect on 42 extra-point tries. He needs just two more to tie the school record of 44 PATs set by Jake Viggers last year. Viggers didn’t have a miss in 2010.
