PELLA—Making its third out-of-state trip in six weeks, the Central College football team carries its new national ranking to Lincoln, Nebraska Saturday to take on Nebraska Wesleyan University.
           
It's the fourth road game in that span for the 5-0 Dutch, who debuted at No. 23 in the American Football Coaches Association coaches' poll this week. Central is among those receiving votes in the D3football.com top 25.
           
Game time is 1 p.m. at Abel Stadium.
           
Central is 3-0 in American Rivers Conference play after bolting past Buena Vista University 62-20 at Pella Saturday. Nebraska Wesleyan is 1-4 overall and 0-3 in the league, dropping a 40-28 contest at Coe College last week.
           
Coach Jeff McMartin said his team is accustomed to long treks.
           
"As I've said all along, this team is very easy-going when it comes to the schedule, and changes, and taking things in stride," he said. "We're going to have to do that again this week."
           
It's Central's first 5-0 start since the program's 10-0 regular season in 2009, and the first appearance in the national rankings since Sept., 2016. But McMartin said he's paying little attention to that and is confident his players aren't thinking about it, either.
           
"Our attitude is let's be 1-0 each week, not 5-0," he said.
           
On the air and online—The Voice of the Dutch, Trevor Castle, will call Saturday's action on KRLS-FM (92.1), with Cory Houser providing the color. 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 plays host to McMartin on the KRLS Coaches' Corner at 7 p.m. Those broadcasts are also available on demand through www.kniakrls.com.
Twitter users can follow Saturday's action through @CentralDutch.

The series—Central was a 52-27 winner over the Prairie Wolves last year in Pella and holds a 6-0 mark in the teams' all-time series, which launched in 1984.

The Prairie Wolves—Nebraska Wesleyan senior running back Shaka Taylor is tied for fourth in the league in rushing at 75.0 yards per game, gaining 375 yards and four touchdowns on 86 carries. He's fifth in all-purpose yards, with 178 yards receiving and 14 on punt returns.

"He's really good," McMartin said. "They want to get him the ball. They hand off and they direct-snap it to him in the wildcat. He's thrown the ball and he throws it well, so it's not just a run threat. They also get him out in routes."

Junior quarterback Jonathan Curti has completed 100 of 198 passes for 1,159 yards (231.8 per game) with nine touchdowns and three interceptions. Senior James Skerjanec has 23 catches for 221 yards.

"Their quarterback is very mobile and athletic," McMartin said. "He's going to be hard to contain. He throws a lot of good sideline patterns and go patterns. They're not afraid to throw it deep. And their offensive line has continued to get better each week."

Sophomore linebacker Jacob Garnas is the team's top tackler with 49 stops, including 21 solos, ranking third in the league. Senior defensive back Jake Kittle is tied for ninth with 39.

"They've changed their defense," McMartin said. "It's really designed to stop the run as well as take away certain things in the passing game. We'll have to be on our game mentally to execute."

Precision performance—Dutch quarterback Blaine Hawkins (sophomore, Ankeny) set a school record for completion percentage Saturday, hitting 16 of 17 passes (94.1) for 206 yards and four touchdowns.

"As you're going through the game, you're not thinking about that but then you look at the statistics and you go, 'Wow,'" McMartin said. "He was really sharp. I feel like Blaine has continued to improve. It was a year ago that we put him in in the homecoming game and you watch him each week just continue to get better, continue to make plays and continue to lead our offense. He's not only a great passer but he runs the ball well. The thing that really makes him stand out is that he can extend plays, too."

Hawkins ranks fifth in the NCAA Division III in passing efficiency (190.5) and seventh in completion percentage (72.7).

McMartin liked his team's offensive efficiency. The Dutch averaged 7.4 yards a play.

"Minus the sacks (they yielded three), that was about as clean and crisp of an offensive performance as we've had this season," he said.

Defense steady—Central only outgained Buena Vista by 450 to 438 yards, but McMartin said that's a reflection of some quick Dutch scores, including on a punt return. That allowed the Beavers to run additional plays. They controlled the ball for 36:06 to Central's 22:49.

"Give our defense a lot of credit for some really big stops inside the Red Zone," McMartin said.

Central leads the league in Red Zone defense, limiting opponents to scores on eight of 17 possessions inside the Dutch 20-yard line, with just six touchdowns. Central forced Buena Vista to run 13 plays inside the 5 to get its three scores.

The Dutch were missing three injured starters, but linebackers Jake Poster (senior, Davenport, Assumption HS) and Connor Lewin (junior, Stillman Valley, Ill.) helped fill the void.
They combined for 17 tackles with 4.0 tackles for loss, including 3.0 sacks. Lewin is Central's season tackles leader with 38, including 7.0 tackles for loss and 3.0 sacks.

"We used some different pressures this week, trying to utilize the strengths of the guys we have out there," McMartin said. "They've both got great speed and have a nose for the ball. I think both of them show great pursuit and are relentless.

"I also think the pass rush we got from our defensive linemen moved the quarterback into different lanes and that's where you saw Jake and Connor getting to him. I thought (defensive end) Lou Gomez (sophomore, Mission, Texas) played a tremendous game. When you put the film on, you see that Lou was a disruptive force. He pursues the ball well and he's always in on plays."

Defensive denials—Buena Vista's early touchdown was just the second the Dutch have yielded in the first three quarters in five games. Central has limited foes to 17 points in the first quarter, three in the second and none in the third. Opponents have scored 40 of their 60 points in the fourth quarter, primarily with the starting defense on the bench.
The Dutch lead the league in scoring defense, allowing 12.0 per game, and rank 21st in Division III.

Player of the week—Versatile Tanner Schminke (sophomore, Boone), who played defensive back a year ago, shifted to quarterback at the start of the year and has moved into the starting lineup at wide receiver, received league special teams player of the week honors for his performance as a kick returner. He returned two kicks Saturday, one for 50 yards and another for 86, to set up Central touchdowns.

Central also got a 62-yard punt return from Hunter Robinson (junior, Lisbon).

"We almost scored on both a kick return and punt return," McMartin said. "I thought we blocked things well and we executed well. We've got to keep working on making that last guy miss, that's where we can get better. But it was nice to see."

McMartin was equally impressed with Robinson's efforts at fielding difficult punts to avoid giving up yardage on rolls.

"I thought Hunter did a good job of getting to the ball and making some tough catches in traffic," he said. "That's what we need from him. I thought we made big improvement there from last week to this week."

Triple threat—Officially, seniors Pat Gray (West Des Moines, Waukee HS), Nathan Fitzgerald (Elkader, Central HS) and Donny Groezinger (Sulphur Springs, Texas, Eastland, Ill. HS) are listed as sharing the starting running back position. In reality, all three are frequently on the field together. They've rushed for a combined 532 yards on 111 carries with eight touchdowns while catching 25 passes for 197 yards and two scores. Each had a third-quarter touchdown Saturday.

"They all scored and they all are contributing offensively," McMartin said. "We're going to need to continue to utilize them and play to their skills. They each have a different style and they each catch the ball well. That gives you the opportunity to use them in a variety of ways. I think it makes it a challenge to defend them with their versatility."

Dutch numbers—Strong safety Jordy Borman (junior, Eagan, Minn.) remains the Division III interceptions leader with six. Central is among 10 teams nationally at 100 percent in Red Zone offensive efficiency, scoring on all 19 trips inside the opponent's 20-yard line, including 18 touchdowns. Central is fifth in team passing efficiency (192.02), seventh in average kickoff returns (29.2 yards), 14th in first downs (22.0 per game) and 19th in interceptions per game (1.6).

Notes—The win over Buena Vista assured Central of at least a .500 season, extending a streak of years without a losing campaign to 58. Central's most recent sub-.500 season was 1960, the final year of the Eisenhower Administration and just prior to AFCA Hall of Fame coach Ron Schipper's arrival in 1961…While this is Central's first 5-0 start in nine years, it's the team's 15th 5-0 start since 1984…Injuries continue to hamper the Dutch defense but linebacker Tate O'Tool (junior, Fort Dodge, St. Edmond HS) is expected to return to the field Saturday after missing last week's game.