PELLA—A freshman quarterback will try to generate more of the Central College football team's newly discovered offensive spark when it travels to Simpson College Saturday.
           
The Iowa Conference contest starts at 1 p.m. at Buxton Stadium in Indianola.
           
Blaine Hawkins (freshman, Ankeny) is expected to make his first start at quarterback after making his collegiate debut off the bench at Pella last Saturday, helping ignite a 52-27 comeback league victory over Nebraska Wesleyan. Trailing 17-0 in the second period, Hawkins and the Dutch (2-2 overall, 1-1 conference) erupted for 52 points over the final two-and-a-half quarters, finishing with a season-high 606 yards total offense.
           
Simpson is 2-2 overall and 1-1 in the league after snapping defending league champ Coe College's 14-game regular-season win streak Saturday, 38-33 at Cedar Rapids.

On the air and online—The Voice of the Dutch, Trevor Castle, will call Saturday's action on KRLS-FM (92.1), along with Cory Houser. 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.
On Mondays, Castle also plays host to coach Jeff 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.
Twitter users can follow Saturday's action through the Central football account @CUI_Football.

The series—Central was a 49-14 winner against Simpson at Pella last year and holds a 62-29-3 lead in the teams' series. The last Simpson win was in 2013 at Indianola. Simpson is the oldest rival on this year's schedule. The teams first met in 1905.

Big Simpson win—Senior quarterback Sam Sasso threw for 340 yards and four touchdowns at Coe. He ranks third in the league with 1,209 passing yards (302.2 per game), completing 107 of 176 throws (60.8 percent) with 12 touchdowns and four interceptions.

Simpson is averaging 302.2 yards passing and 408.5 yards overall, while giving up 411.2 yards per game. The squad ranks second in the league in pass defense (226.2 yards) and first in sacks (13). Simpson's two losses were to No. 25 Wis.-Stout and unbeaten Wartburg, which is receiving votes in the AFCA poll.

"They're a very dangerous football team," coach Jeff McMartin said. "They've made a lot of strides since last year. They did a great job beating a team that hadn't lost a game in a long time, which should signal that they're going to be very strong."

Senior Jackson Redmond is the league's second-leading receiver with 33 for 428 yards and five touchdowns. Junior Ricky Reese is tied for third with 28 catches for 292 yards and three scores. Junior running back Cam Bunting has rushed for 268 yards (61.0) on 61 carries with three touchdowns.

"Their quarterback is making a lot of plays," McMartin said. "He gets the ball out quickly. Redmond had two touchdowns against us last year, Reese is a very talented receiver and they've got a lot of different guys they can throw to."

Defensive ends Trey Chumbley, a sophomore, and senior Jake Stearns share the conference lead in sacks with six. Sophomore defensive back Brendan Homes is seventh in tackles with 37 (9.2 per game), including 19 solos. Sophomore Ryan Lehr has 34 stops with eight pass breakups, including three interceptions.

"They play a lot of four-man fronts," McMartin said. "They've got good size up front and their linebackers run very well. Their defensive backs are solid and Lehr is very active."

Another quarterback—Hawkins will likely be Central's third starting quarterback in five games. Opening-day starter Nate Boland (junior, Iowa City, West HS) remains sidelined by injury, although McMartin remains hopeful he'll return soon. Kohle Helle (senior, Guttenberg, Clayton Ridge HS), who filled in capably after Boland was injured, returns to his wide receiver spot, although he'll continue to serve as backup quarterback, McMartin said. The Dutch are without receiver P.J. Carey (senior, Ankeny) due to injury, making Helle's return there more critical.

"He certainly helps our depth," McMartin said. "He's a really good weapon for us."

Hawkins completed 14 of 22 passes for 253 yards and two touchdowns after entering the game early in the second quarter. A promising start, but there's plenty of work ahead, McMartin said, beginning with this week's practices.

"He just needs to get more reps," McMartin said. "There will be things we can hone in on. The more we use him in practice and see some of his strengths, we can try to take advantage of those."

But Hawkins provided what was needed Saturday.

"As the game wore on, he got better," McMartin said. "The more times you do something, the better you get at it. He's a good decision-maker, for the most part. The big thing was, he got the ball in the right places to the right people. We've got some good playmakers we need to utilize."

It was the season's best day for last year's Division III receptions leader, Sam Markham (senior, Atlantic), who had eight catches for 171 yards and two touchdowns.

"We know what Sam can do and what he's capable of," McMartin said. "It's been a challenge getting him the ball enough with our situation. We want to make sure we keep doing that."

Defensive progress—Nebraska Wesleyan scored 27 points but McMartin saw some encouraging signs from his defense. The Dutch gave up just 10 points after intermission and while Nebraska Wesleyan passed for 280 yards, McMartin noted the Prairie Wolves previously rolled up 461 yards through the air against No. 21 Illinois Wesleyan.

"We'd like to get more stops but we did a better job in the second half," he said. "The reality of college football today is you're not going to get three-and-outs every time. The way the ball is being thrown, the way the passing game is coached, the rules of the game, there are a lot of things that make it hard.
That said, we want to keep working at it.

"After watching the film, I feel like we're making progress. We rose up at times and got some key stops. And to also make them kick field goals on a couple drives and keep them out of the end zone, that's a positive."

Lineup changes—Quarterback isn't the only change in the Dutch lineup this week. The defense will benefit from the return of linebacker Chris Neeld (senior, New Boston, Ill., Mercer County HS), who was sidelined last week. Sophomore Zach Samson (Baxter) is now the starter at tight end with freshman Erik Knaack (Reinbeck, Gladbrook-Reinbeck HS) listed at wide receiver.
           
Notes—Central's 606 yards of total offense were the fifth-most in school history. It was especially remarkable because the Dutch mustered just 21 yards in the first period, and only 8 yards more nearly 7 minutes into the second quarter. Central rolled up 577 yards over the last two-and-a-half quarters…Starting at quarterback as a freshman is rare at Central, but if Hawkins gets the nod on Saturday, he'll be one of two players on the Dutch roster to do so. Boland filled in as a starter late in his rookie season of 2015…Markham's two touchdown receptions Saturday pushed him into third place on the career list with 25, easing ahead of Jamie Arendt (1991-94) and Jeremy Snead (2008-11). He's within two of Randy Busscher's (1971-74) record. It's one of the few school receiving marks Markham doesn't already own or at least share.