PELLA — Two Iowa Conference teams generating some early NCAA Division III hype clash Saturday when Central College plays its homecoming contest with the University of Dubuque Saturday.
Game time is 1 p.m. at Ron and Joyce Schipper Stadium.
Both clubs are 4-0 overall and 2-0 in league play. And each is listed in a national poll, although that likely won't be the case next week. Dubuque, which boasts the nation's top passing offense (337.3 yards per game) is up one notch to No. 20 in the AFCA Division III Coaches' Poll. Wartburg, Coe and Central are among those also receiving votes. Meanwhile Central made its first season appearance in the D3football.com Top 25 last week and climbed to No. 24 this week. Dubuque and Wartburg are also receiving votes.
Dubuque is coming off a 30-17 league win at Luther College Saturday while Central had to rally to get past Loras College 42-34 at Dubuque.
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 also 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—Dubuque wrapped up last year's league crown with a 38-16 runaway home-field win over Central in the regular-season finale. But the Dutch are the last Iowa Conference team to defeat Dubuque, prevailing 38-7 Nov. 15, 2014 in Pella. The Spartans have won three of the teams' last five meetings but Central holds a commanding 56-18-2 lead in the all-time series.
The Spartans—Dubuque has eight starters from last year's conference champs to go with a bevy of new talent. Sophomore running back Mo Herrion is among the returnees. He's 13th in Division III with six rushing touchdowns and is averaging 81.0 yards per game.
"He's really good," McMartin said. "He's a big, strong, hard runner who fits in well with their scheme. They like to run a lot of offensive zone plays and he runs those very well."
Meanwhile, 6-foot junior quarterback Conor Feckley from Anchorage, Alaska shares the Division III lead with 15 touchdown passes—including eight in a 70-53 come-from-behind win over Bethel University (Minn.) Sept. 3--and is second nationally in passing yards with 1,349 (337.3 per game). He's completed 88 of 157 (.561) with two interceptions.
"Their quarterback is doing a fantastic job," McMartin said. "He's had some tremendous games already."
Senior Najee Toomer, a 5-10, 155-pound speedster, is third in Division III with seven touchdown catches and is fourth with 133.0 receiving yards per game. He has 26 catches for 532 yards. Sophomore Austin Morgan has 21 receptions for 222 yards and two scores while senior Dylan Schultz has 19 catches for 243 yards and two TDs.
"They've got a really good group of wide receivers," McMartin said.
Those receivers can all stretch the field, something the Dutch will need to limit. Dubuque threw for 336 yards against Central last year, completing 23 of 27 passes.
"They like to threw the deep ball and we've got to be ready for that," McMartin said. "They've got a lot of speed at wide receiver and that's what's hurt teams they've played."
There's plenty of defensive talent at Dubuque as well, McMartin said. Junior linebacker LeDevin Smith has a team-high 42 tackles along with an interception and a pass breakup. Junior free safety Derek Trotter has 33 tackles and two interceptions.
"They've got a lot of depth on the defensive line and a lot of speed," McMartin said. "They've moved some players from offense to defense and they're fast and very physical. They'll hit you. Their defensive backs cover a lot of ground quickly. They've made some amazing interceptions."
Dubuque is third in Division III in yards per reception (15.3), 18th in first downs (92), 19th in interceptions (7), 26th in turnover margin (plus 1.5 per game) and 27th in scoring (42.3 points per game).
The Spartans are outscoring opponents 42.2-28.5 and outgaining them 470.5 yards to 463.0.
Dutch numbers—Central remains the Division III leader in first downs with 128, an average of 32.0 per game. The Dutch are tied for sixth in blocked kicks (3), are 12th in total offense (550.5 yards per game), 14th in third-down conversions (.534, 39-73), 25th in passing yards per game (319.0) and 26th in scoring (42.5 points per game).
Individually, wide receiver Sam Markham (senior, Atlantic) is first in Division III in receptions (11.0 per game), fifth in reception yards (128.0 per game) and eighth in touchdown receptions (6). Free safety Zach Matter (senior, Ankeny) is 14th in passes defended (2.0 per game).
Good effort—While Central was trailing a winless Loras team in the third quarter Saturday before rallying, McMartin found much that he liked in his video review of the game. The Loras record is misleading, he said, and the Dutch didn't need to be convinced of that after getting outscored at Loras last year, 55-48.
"Our guys gave a great effort," McMartin said. "That's a very important part of who we are. We want to play hard every down and I think we did that. I thought both quarterbacks played well and in the second half we ran the ball well. And I thought we protected the quarterback very well."
Quarterbacks Riley Gray (senior, West Des Moines, Waukee HS) and Nate Boland (sophomore, Iowa City, West HS) suffered no sacks. They combined for 345 yards passing, completing 28 of 46 throws with four touchdowns and no interceptions, while rushing for 134 yards on 21 carries. Gray was 23-of-35 for 266 yards and three scores while running for 74 yards and a TD on 13 carries.
McMartin said the Dutch had some highlight-reel pass receptions.
"(S-back) Kyle Gritsch's (junior, Brooklyn, BGM HS) first-half touchdown catch was amazing," he said of Gritsch's leaping, one-handed grab in the end zone of a 10-yard Gray pass.
Second-half interceptions by were also crucial. Cornerback Trevor Smith (sophomore, Audubon) and Matter each picked off a Loras pass.
"The defense made some good adjustments at halftime and gave us the ball back on some turnovers," McMartin said.
New face on defense—The resume for Zack Martinelli (senior, Elburn, Ill., Kaneland HS)continues to grow. He's caught 17 passes for 223 yards and two touchdowns as a starting wide receiver for the Dutch. He's also returned 11 punts for an average of 14.3 yards, including a 76-yard return for a touchdown, and has run back seven kickoffs for a team-high average of 24.0.
But last Saturday, for the first time in his college career, Martinelli also appeared at cornerback, providing some depth and speed at a position that's been thinned by injury. McMartin, who doesn't think Martinelli even played the position in high school, said the Dutch will continue using him there, while continuing in his other roles.
"We've been working him there in practice for a couple weeks," McMartin said. "He's doing a good job. He's a good athlete and he certainly helps us. It's cool to see Zack be such a tremendous teammate by being willing to do this. His selflessness is a great example for our younger players."
On this week's depth chart, Martinelli is listed as Central's second-team cornerback as well as the starting wide receiver and kick/punt returner.
Markham records, awards—Markham entered Saturday's game needing one catch to tie the school's career receptions record and shattered his own school mark for receptions in a game in the process. His 15 catches for 201 yards and two touchdowns eclipsed the school standard of 14 receptions he established at Augustana College (Ill.) Sept. 10.
Saturday's performance also earned him conference offensive player of the week honors for the second time and he was also named to the D3football.com Team of the Week.
He now has 165 career catches, and his 201 receiving yards Saturday, which were the fourth-most in school history, give him 2,142 career yards. He leapfrogged Randy Busscher (1971-74) and Chris McCullough (1999-2001) into second place on the all-time career yardage list. Chris Johnson (1995-98) holds the all-time mark with 2,566 yards. Markham has six regular-season games left to get the 425 yards he needs to break that record. He's averaging 128.0 yards through four games.
Markham is just four catches away from cracking Central's top-10 season receptions list for the third time. His 52 catches in 2014 rank fourth on the all-time list and he set the school mark of 69 last season.
Norgaard also honored—In addition to Markham's league award, linebacker Sam Norgaard (senior, Naperivlle, Ill., Neuqua Valley HS) was tabbed as the conference defensive player of the week. He had a career-high 18 tackles Saturday, the most for a Central player since Zach Van Arkel tallied 19 in 2009 against Mary Hardin-Baylor (Texas).
Central has received five league player of the week awards in the season's first four weeks.
Notes—Central is 10-2 in homecoming games during McMartin's tenure. The Dutch were 45-10 homecoming winners over Luther at homecoming last October… Central and Dubuque both made successful extended early season trips for games with Northwest Conference opponents. Central surprised then-ranked Whitworth University (Wash.) 50-49 in overtime in Spokane Sept. 3. Dubuque journeyed to Forest Grove, Ore. Sept. 10 and topped Pacific University (Ore.) 28-24…There are four teams with perfect Iowa Conference records but will be just two after Saturday's Dubuque-Central and Wartburg-Coe games…Early arriving Central fans Saturday can also catch the Dutch volleyball team in a homecoming-weekend league match with Dubuque at noon in P.H. Kuyper Gymnasium. Central also has a conference contest with Loras Friday evening at 7:30 p.m. Meanwhile the Dutch women's tennis squad plays host to Dubuque at 10 a.m. Saturday and Loras at 2 p.m.
Probable starters
Central College
Sat., Oct. 1
OFFENSE
QB 16 Riley Gray (6-1, 200, sr.)
RB 4 Donny Groezinger (5-9, 185, so.)
SB 28 Kyle Gritsch (6-1, 205, jr.)
TE 88 Mitchell Boerm (6-5, 250, sr.)
WR 13 William Meredith (6-1, 185, sr.)
WR 5 Sam Markham (6-2, 170, sr.)
LT 75 Yaqoob Ahmad (6-3, 260, sr.)
LG 60 Kyle Pepper (6-1, 275, sr.)
C 57 Josh Brunk (6-1, 265, jr.)
RG 56 Cole Tanner (6-2, 275, sr.)
RT 76 Cal Smith (6-4, 290, jr.)
DEFENSE
DE 22 Edwin Etienne (5-9, 240, sr.)
NG 91 Wes Wheat (5-11, 265, jr.)
DE 78 Corbin Blythe (6-2, 265, sr.)
OLB 19 Drew Carlson (6-1, 220, sr.)
ILB 2 Tyler Olson (5-11, 215, jr.)
ILB 42 Sam Norgaard (6-1, 215, sr.)
OLB 48 Josh Scheible (5-9, 200, jr.)
CB 14 Danny Anderson (6-0, 175, fr.)
SS 9 Tate Jensen (5-11, 200, jr.)
FS 20 Zach Matter (6-0, 200, sr.)
CB 25 Trevor Smith (5-9, 170, so.)
SPECIALTY
K 32 Aaron Marcellus (5-9, 205, sr.)
P 87 Cam Kiner (6-4, 215, so.)
PR 11 Zack Martinelli (5-8, 185, sr.)
KR 11 Zack Martinelli (5-8, 185, sr.)
LS-K 83 P.J. Norem (6-2, 225, jr.)
LS-P 33 Carson Remick (5-10, 205, jr.)
H 2 P.J. Carey (6-0, 160, jr.)
