Central football team finishes on wrong side of defensive slugfest
PELLA- Holding Wartburg College without an offensive touchdown wasn’t enough as the Central College football team lost 10-6 Saturday afternoon.
The turnover bug bit Central (2-1, 0-1 American Rivers Conference) in the first quarter. On Central’s second offensive possession a backwards screen pass got away from its intended receiver and a Wartburg defender went 24 yards the other way for a touchdown. Central threw interceptions on its next two possessions but held the Knights to just a field goal.
“We did a great job defensively, we couldn’t ask for anything more from the defense,” coach Jeff McMartin said. “The defense only gave up a field goal. You’re going to win a lot of football games when your defense only gives up three points.”
With the Knights offense driving in the second quarter, safety Gavin Hierseman (senior, West Branch) came off the right edge on first down and knocked the ball loose on a sack, recovering the ball himself at the Central 41-yard line.
“I give Coach Hodges a lot of credit,” McMartin said. “He had a great game plan and put people in position to make plays. Gavin had some opportunities and made the most of it. He was special today.”
Quarterback Hunter Hoffman (sophomore, Pecatonica, Ill.) found wide receiver Ryan Neu (fifth year, West Des Moines, Valley HS) for a 2-yard touchdown pass to make it 10-6 with 1:15 left in the second quarter. It was the only offensive touchdown of the contest. A bad snap resulted in Central failing the point after attempt.
After outgaining the Knights 180 yards to 157 in the first half, the Dutch offense mustered just 84 yards in the second half. Neither team scored in the second half.
Hierseman also led the Dutch defense with 10 tackles. Linebackers Cole Clark (junior, Lisbon) and Cael Fiderlein (senior, West Branch) had nine and eight, respectively. Central’s defense also had three takeaways after Ben DeMeulenaere (junior, Chelsea, Belle Plaine HS) and Reece Miller (Center Point, Center Point-Urbana HS) added interceptions.
Hoffman was 17-34 for 143 yards passing with one interception. Starting quarterback Brady Ketchum (senior, Mount Vernon) was 10-12 or 94 yards and an interception.
Keegan Glover (junior, Benton, Ill., Benton HS had nine catches for 92 yards to lead the Dutch. Central had just 27 total yards of rushing. Hoffman ran 12 times, gaining 37 yards but losing 20 for a net gain of 17.
In addition to the three turnovers, Central’s offense committed three penalties on third down. All those drives ended in punts or turnovers on down.
“You can’t have turnovers and penalties,” McMartin said. “You can’t have dropped passes. All those things are drive killers. They are all things we’re going to have to fix this week to give our team a chance.”
Central travels to Storm Lake to face Buena Vista University next Saturday at 1 p.m.
“There’s a lot of hurt and disappointment in our locker room,” McMartin said. “But there has to be hope, too. We need to take things one day at a time and not let the same team beat us twice. We’re going to have to rise up and do the job next week.”
