PELLA — After five road trips in the season's first seven weeks, the Central College football team returns to Ron and Joyce Schipper Stadium to take on preseason Iowa Conference co-favorite Wartburg College Saturday.
The 1 p.m. game is the first home appearance for the Dutch (5-2 overall, 3-2 conference) since Oct. 1. They don't have another road trip until Nov. 12 They're off next week and play the home-season finale Nov. 5 against Simpson College. This week is also an opportunity to clinch the program's 54th winning season since 1960. Central, a 43-17 winner at Nebraska Wesleyan last Saturday, is already assured of at least a .500 campaign and hasn't had a losing season since the Eisenhower Administration.
But Wartburg (4-2 overall, 3-1 conference), which defeated Simpson College 20-6 at Waverly Saturday, looms as a significant obstacle. The Knights are just a game out of the league lead and making steady progress with a youthful lineup. Their lone conference loss was the result of a late score in a 37-34 setback at first-place Coe College Oct.1.
"They've continued to improve," coach Jeff McMartin said. "They had a lot of people graduate and have a lot of new faces in the lineup. Early in the season they went through the process of gaining their identity and some experience, but they've done a great job of that and are playing really well."
McMartin said he's ready for a weekend at home.
"We've played pretty well on the road," he said. "But we know it's going to be exciting to be at home. We've had great fan support this year and the players are excited about playing back on campus."
On the air and on the Web—The Voice of the Dutch, Trevor Castle, will call the action on KRLS-FM (92.1), along with Dutch softball coach George Wares and sideline reporter Libbie Randall, a Central junior. The KRLS pregame show will air at 12:35 p.m. The broadcast can also be accessed through www.kniakrls.com or directly at rdo.to/krls. It's also accessible via mobile device with the KRLS app available through iTunes and other outlets.
Video webcasts with Castle's play-by-play and live stats for all Dutch football home games can also be accessed via the Central athletics website at www.central.edu/athletics or directly at http://portal.stretchinternet.com/central/ .
On Mondays, Castle plays host to McMartin on the KRLS Coaches' Corner broadcast live from Fred's dining establishment inside Central's Maytag Student Center at 7 p.m. Those broadcasts are also available on demand through www.kniakrls.com. A live video stream of the show can be accessed via the Central athletics website at www.central.edu/athletics.
Twitter users can follow Saturday's action through the Central football account @CUI_Football.
The series—Wartburg held off Central 21-13 at Waverly last year and has won three in a row against the Dutch. But Central still holds a 42-22 advantage in the teams' all-time series.
The Knights—Wartburg returned nine starters from last season's 9-1 club. A young lineup includes just three senior starters on offense and four on defense. But sophomore quarterback Matt Sacia is hitting his stride, completing 112 of 197 passes (56.9 percent) for 1,500 yards and 13 touchdowns with seven interceptions. Sacia has also rushed 48 times for 217 yards and two touchdowns—but a net of 110 yards after losing 107 yards primarily in sacks.
"He's a very talented player," McMartin said. "I've been really impressed with how well he throws the ball in what I've seen on film."
Junior Riley Brockway is the top receiver with 39 catches for 484 yards and four scores while running back Connor Schrader, a 5-foot-9, 225-pound junior, has gained 426 yards on 74 carries with five touchdowns. Receiver Griffin Brennecke has 22 catches and ranks 22nd in the NCAA Division III in yards per reception with 20.86.
Brockway also handles punt and kick returns while rushing for 45 yards on three carries as well. He ranks 33rd in Division III in all-purpose yardage with 155.3 per game. Punter Jake Pisarik is 14th nationally with a 42.1-yard average.
"Their offense is very sound," McMartin said. "They run the ball well, too."
Tony Anstoetter,a 6-4 junior linebacker, is the top tackler with 43. He also has two interceptions, three pass breakups and a fumble recovery.
"They've continued to stay true to who they are on defense," McMartin said. "They're very aggressive. They fly around and have great team speed."
Wartburg is outgaining opponents 469.7 yards to 354.7 and is averaging 255.2 yards passing.
Getting better—Central is improving as well and showed it in the win at Nebraska Wesleyan.
"I thought we covered kicks well," McMartin said. "Our defense did a good job of creating turnovers in the second half, which was very important. We were able to get to the quarterback and limit them in the running game. Offensively, we executed well. We gave our quarterback time to throw and we were efficient in the running game against a team that was pretty big up front."
Not on purpose—Central continues to put up big offensive numbers, particularly through the air. The Dutch are averaging 320.0 yards passing per game, well ahead of school-record pace, but certainly aren't abandoning the run, churning out 210.1 yards a game on the ground. Central's offensive intentions haven't changed.
"We've worked to stay balanced and not just be one-dimensional," McMartin said. "We feel like we have to continue to strive to do that."
More Dutch numbers--Central remains the national leader in first downs (211) and ranks seventh in total offense (530.1 yards per game). The Dutch are 18th in passing offense (320.0 yards per game). They're also 14th in fewest penalties per game (4.29), 24th in third-down conversions (47.1 percent) and 24th in interceptions (10).
Central is outgaining opponents 530.1 yards to 439.6 and outscoring them 37.1-26.4. With 3,711 yards thus far, Central needs 953 yards (317.2 per game) in its final three games to break the school season total offense mark set in 2007 and 860 yards (286.6 per game) to break the season average record set in 1996.
The Dutch are a near certainty to break the season mark for passing yards per game. The record of 244.4 was set in 2007 and with 2,240 yards already, need just 201 passing yards over the final three games to eclipse that.
The Dutch have scored 30 or more points in six of seven of their games, with the exception a six-turnover, 35-17 loss to Dubuque Oct. 1. However Central's average of 37.1 points per game falls well short of the school-record 43.5 posted in 1989.
Some Rhino love—Certainly a big part of Central's offensive surge is the performance of the offensive linemen, known as the Rhinos under long-time offensive line coach Eric Jones. After the 587-yard offensive effort at Nebraska Wesleyan, the group was named to the D3football.com team of the week. Getting some rare recognition were left tackle Steven Peterman (junior, Lytton, Carroll Kuemper HS), left guard Kyle Pepper (senior, Overland Park, Kan., Blue Valley Southwest HS), center Josh Brunk (junior, West Des Moines, Valley HS), right guard Cole Tanner (senior, Greenfield, Orient-Macksburg HS) and right tackle Cal Smith (junior, Orland Park, Ill., Carl Sandburg HS).
Another less-heralded performer, Kyle Gritsch (junior, Brooklyn, BGM HS), was chosen for the honor team as a hybrid H-back. Gritsch had six receptions, including two touchdown catches, for 62 yards. In the Dutch offense Gritsch is tagged the S-back, and he's lined up as a running back, tight end and wide receiver.
A marked man—Receiver Sam Markham (senior, Atlantic) is second in Division III in receptions per game (10.1), 16th in receiving yards per game (115.1) and 18th in touchdown receptions (8).
Markham already has the school season receptions record with 71 through seven games and has the career mark as well with 192. His 69 catches last year rank second in school history on the season list and his 52 receptions in 2014 rank fifth.
Groezinger back—Running back Donny Groezinger (sophomore, Sulphur Springs, Texas, Eastland, Ill. HS), who started the season's first four games, returned to action on a limited basis as he works his way back from injury. He's listed on this week's two-deep roster behind Nathan Fitzgerald (sophomore, Elkader, Central Elkader HS). Fitzgerald rushed for a game-high 158 yards on 24 carries with one touchdown at Nebraska Wesleyan. With 79 of his 88 season carries coming in the last three games, Fitzgerald has rushed for 474 yards and two touchdowns. In the past three games he's averaged 147.3 yards.
Effective tandem—While Chris Neeld (junior, New Boston, Ill., Mercer County HS) is listed as the starter at the Will position—outside linebacker—McMartin said Josh Scheible (junior, Kansas City, Mo., Liberty HS) will continue seeing extensive action as well. Neeld ranks second on Central's tackle charts with 48, including 3.5 sacks and an interception. Scheible has 31 stops with 1.5 tackles for loss.
"They're both playing really well," McMartin said.
Inside linebacker Sam Norgaard (senior, Naperville, Ill., Neuqua Valley HS) is the Central tackles leader with 61, including 2.5 for loss with an interception and two pass breakups.
