PELLA—The Central College football team will get an early read on its status in the American Rivers Conference football race when its travels to the University of Dubuque Saturday.
           
Game time is 1 p.m. at Chalmers Field in Dubuque.
           
Both squads won their league openers last week. Central (3-0) overpowered Luther College 63-14 while Dubuque (2-1) knocked off Coe College on the road, 27-18.
           
"Going into the season every year, you know that Dubuque is going to be one of the teams to beat in the conference," coach Jeff McMartin 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 snapped a two-game losing skid to the Spartans at home last year, winning 38-21 in the season finale, to wrap up second place in the conference. The Dutch hold a 57-19-2 advantage in the all-time series, which launched in 1930. Central has not won at Dubuque since 2009.
           
The Spartans—Dubuque took on a demanding non-conference schedule, opening with a 38-6 defeat against No. 8-ranked Wis.-Whitewater, then making a long trek to Forest Grove, Oregon and tripping Pacific University (Ore.) 21-10.
           
"Coach (Stan) Zweifel is a great competitor and always schedules tough opponents every year," McMartin said.
           
Saturday at Cedar Rapids, Dubuque limited Coe to just 76 rushing yards and is averaging 65.7 rushing yards allowed while yielding 239.7 passing yards. The Spartans' numbers are a bit skewed because of the lopsided Wis.-Whitewater loss. Dubuque is getting outscored 22.0-18.0 and outgained 305.3-301.0 yards.
           
Running back Dwayne Allen, Jr. was the conference male athlete of the week Sept. 10 after rushing 37 times for 228 yards at Pacific. He's second in the league, rushing for 133.3 yards per game. Quarterback Sean Duffy has completed 44 of 80 passes for 417 yards with five touchdowns and one interception. Emanuel Jenkins has 12 receptions for 126 yards and is averaging 12.0 yards on six punt returns, good for third in the league.
           
"Their quarterback is doing a great job," McMartin said. "He's tall and strong-armed, the kind of quarterback Dubuque has tended to have success with. He's very accurate and they run zone/boot schemes really well with him."
           
Defensive back Blaze Barista and linebacker Jacob Owens are both among the league's top 10 in tackles with 23 (7.7 per game). Defensive back Marshon Crowder is second in the league with 3.5 sacks.
           
"They're very athletic and very skilled," McMartin said. "They're going to be a great challenge."
           
Borman second in nation—Strong safety Jordy Borman (junior, Eagan, Minnesota) is tied for second in the NCAA Division III in interceptions with four. He didn't have a pick Saturday, but instead, blocked a punt and returned it 27 yards for a touchdown.
           
Quarterback Blaine Hawkins (sophomore, Ankeny) ranks seventh nationally in passing efficiency with a 193.29 rating. He's 12th in completion percentage, hitting 69.2 with 45 of 65 passes for 685 yards and he's 20th in touchdown passes with seven. Erik Knaack (sophomore, Reinbeck, Gladbrook-Reinbeck HS) is 19th in TD receptions with four. He has 11 receptions overall for 253 yards.
           
In team statistics, Central is 19th in interceptions with five, 22nd in scoring defense (9.0 points allowed per game) and 26th in scoring offense (42.6).

Honors—Borman and Knaack were each named to the D3football.com team of the week for their accomplishments Saturday. Knaack had three receptions for 152 yards and two touchdowns. Wide receiver Tanner Schminke (sophomore, Boone) was also an honors candidate with four catches for 124 yards and two scores.
Meanwhile, Hawkins tied his own school mark with five touchdown passes and became the second Central player ever to do so in one half. For the day he completed 13 of 15 throws for 349 yards.
           
Defensive leaders--Linebacker Drew Smith (sophomore, Joliet, Ill., West HS) remains Central's tackles leader with 25, including eight solos. Cornerback Trevor Smith (junior, Audubon) follows with 19, including 14 solos and 2.5 for loss. Linebacker Connor Lewin (junior, Stillman Valley, Ill.) is tops in tackles for loss with 4.5 and has 18 stops overall. Cornerback Danny Anderson (junior, Boone) has four pass breakups.
           
Productive day—McMartin said a look at the video of the Luther win confirmed the favorable view he had on Saturday.
           
"We were able to capitalize on some big plays," he said. "We had some receivers who made tough catches and I thought we blocked better downfield."
           
Last year's second-leading rusher, running back Donny Groezinger (senior, Sulphur Springs, Texas; Eastland, Ill. HS) made his season debut after being sidelined by injury. He rushed four times for 24 yards and a touchdown while also catching four passes for 25 yards.
           
"It was good to get Donny back in the offense," McMartin said. "He adds another dimension to what we can do."
           
Groezinger is one of three seniors listed as co-starters at running back, along with Pat Gray (West Des Moines, Waukee HS) and Nathan Fitzgerald (Elkader, Central HS). The Dutch are finding ways to utilize all three and, in fact, they were each in the lineup on Central's opening play from scrimmage Saturday.
           
Luther presented the Central defense with several new looks, some of which the Dutch hadn't prepared for.
           
"Defensively, I kind of feel like we played three first games in a row. Northwestern-St. Paul (Minn.) and DePauw (Ind.) both played their opening games against us and Luther changed a lot of things for our game that we had not seen on film. But I thought our guys defended it really well."
           
Central recovered two fumbles and blocked a punt. The Dutch are plus-4 in turnover margin through three games.
           
"I liked how we created turnovers on defense and we got some really important fourth-down stops," McMartin said.
           
A look at the bench—Saturday's outsized scoring margin allowed the Dutch to get nearly every player on the roster some time on the field.
           
"I liked a lot of what we saw," McMartin said. "People were flying around to the ball and gave great effort. Defensively they executed well, especially considering they hadn't seen that (option) offense. And our offense continued to move the ball."
           
McMartin noted that many of the players spent time on the scout team and had not had opportunities to prepare for Luther. He singled out linebacker Thomas Fox (senior, Stockton, Ill.) and quarterback Brayden Egli (freshman, Saint Charles, Interstate-35 HS). Fox ran Luther's offense as the scout team quarterback in practice and Egli lined up at receiver.
           
"They did what we needed them to do to help the team," McMartin said and noted they still were able to excel on Saturday. Egli, who has flashed promise at quarterback, was 3-for-3 for 34 yards and a touchdown and also rushed twice for 15 yards and a score.
           
"He's a tremendous athlete," McMartin said. "On the touchdown pass, he really zipped it in there. He's very competitive. There's a lot to like about him."
           
Notes—For the first time this year, Central is among those receiving votes in both the d3football.com top 25 and the American Football Coaches Association coaches' poll. Conference rival Wartburg College also received votes in each poll…The 63-14 rout Saturday was the highest point total ever by the Dutch against Luther and also the largest Dutch victory margin in the series. Central hasn't lost to the Norse in Pella since 1976…Central is among 27 Division III teams to not throw an interception yet this year and also among 27 that are 100 percent in Red Zone scoring. In 12 trips inside the opponent's 20-yard line, Central has scored 11 touchdowns and one field goal. Dutch opponents have converted on just four of nine trips…This is the second time in three years that Central has started 3-0. But prior to 2016, the Dutch hadn't won their first three since 2009.