Hawkins’ 5 TDs carry Central to football win
STORM LAKE—Central College quarterback Blaine Hawkins (junior, Ankeny) went to the air in near-record fashion Saturday but it was his legs that finally sealed a 44-27 football victory at Buena Vista Saturday.
Hawkins accounted for five touchdowns, getting the clinching score on a 6-yard bootleg on 4th-and-1 with 3:23 left. He had kept the drive alive with a pivotal 13-yard scramble on 3rd-and-10 as Central improved to 5-1 overall and 3-1 in the American Rivers. Hawkins continued his assault on the Central record leaderboards, completing 27 of 50 passes, both career highs, for 276 yards with one interception and three touchdowns. He ran for a team-high 50 yards on 13 carries and two scores, despite being sacked four times, including on the team’s first two plays from scrimmage.
“I thought most of Blaine’s best plays were when he was just creating things and extending plays,” coach Jeff McMartin said. “If you try to gauge what he did really well today, it was running the football.”
Hawkins’ 27 pass attempts are tied for the fourth-most in school history and the 50 pass attempts rank sixth. He now has 57 career touchdown passes, climbing within one of Tim Connell’s (2004-07) school mark. Central was 28-of-51 overall for 292 yards as punter Danny Anderson (senior, Boone) completed a 16-yarder on a fake.
The pass-heavy approach at wasn’t necessarily the game plan, but it also didn’t come as a surprise to McMartin, after watching video on the Buena Vista defense.
“I thought we might have to throw 50 times,” he said.
“They do a really good job with their personnel. They’ve got a couple of excellent defensive linemen, their linebackers are tough kids and the secondary is really talented. They eliminate certain things you like to do so you have to find other things to try.”
Hunter Robinson (senior, Lisbon) had a career-high 11 pass receptions for 118 yards and two TDs while Erik Knaack (junior, Reinbeck, Gladbrook-Reinbeck HS) had seven catches for 84 yards and a score.
“Hunter and Erik had very good days,” McMartin said. “And our tight end, Ross Norem (senior, Iowa Falls, Iowa Falls-Alden HS), made some big catches at critical times.”
Norem had four receptions for 41 yards, as did wide receiver Tanner Schminke (junior, Boone).
Central ran 36 times for just 97 yards but that was after gaining just 2 yards in the first half, and 24 more in the third quarter.
“I thought we ran the ball better as the game wore on,” McMartin said. “Their pressure, fronts and alignment took things away. But I was happy we were able to run the ball well on that last drive.”
Central’s pass protection improved as well, as all four sacks were given up in the first half.
Buena Vista (2-5 overall, 0-5 conference) overall, outgained Central 464 yards to 389. A pair of quarterbacks completed 27 of 51 passes for the Beavers as the teams combined for 102 pass attempts. The Central record is 114 combined attempts against Whitworth (Wash.) in a 50-49 overtime win in 2016.
“They did get a lot of yards, but I thought we really battled,” McMartin said. “We got some good third-down stops, especially early, and we made some good adjustments.”
The Dutch surrendered a fourth-quarter touchdown on a fumbled snap, but linebackers Tate O’Tool (senior, Fort Dodge, St. Edmond HS) and Tommy Smith (sophomore, Maryville, Tenn.) each recorded interceptions.
Strong safety Jordy Borman (senior, Eagan, Minn.) had a career-best 12 tackles, including nine solos with two breakups and a forced fumble. Linebacker Connor Lewin (senior, Stillman Valley, Ill.) had nine stops with one tackle for loss and a breakup while linebacker Hunter Maddy (junior, Mystic, Centerville HS) posted a career-best eight tackles, including 2.0 for loss.
Central never trailed yet didn’t feel comfortable until the closing seconds. A pair of Robinson TD catches helped Central bolt to a 17-0 second-quarter lead. But after a 13-play, 75-yard scoring drive stretched the advantage to 24-7 with 3:30 left in the half, the Dutch allowed an 80-play Buena Vista scoring drive in just 2:19. And on Central’s next play from scrimmage, Hawkins tossed an interception, giving the Beavers the ball on the Central 22 with 29 seconds still remaining.
But one play later O’Tool came through with his interception to preserve a 24-14 halftime lead.
“That was really critical,” McMartin said. “We kind of got the momentum back going into halftime.”
Central got three field goals from all-region kicker Jon Alberts (senior, Huntley, Ill.) that helped keep the game out of Buena Vista’s grasp. He’s six-of-seven this year.
“They were all important,” McMartin said. “Jon was rock-steady. And he kicked off amazingly well. Those were the longest I’ve seen his kicks all year.”
Coming off a 28-7 loss to Dubuque last week, the Dutch gave the response McMartin was looking for.
“You’ve got to flush it, but that’s something that’s easier said than done,” he said. “Our attitude, mental state and focus were things we really worked hard on this week.”
Central is home next Saturday as Nebraska Wesleyan University visits Ron and Joyce Schipper Stadium for a 1 p.m. game. The Prairie Wolves are 3-3 overall and 1-3 in the conference after tumbling 56-21 at home against Coe College Saturday.
