PELLA—A road-heavy Central College football schedule launches in Minnesota Saturday and a new quarterback will take the first snap against a veteran lineup.
           
The Dutch travel to Northfield, Minnesota to open against St. Olaf College for the third consecutive year in a 1 p.m. contest at Klein Field at Manitou. Central won the previous two meetings, which comprise the entirety of the teams' all-time series. After posting a 44-13 victory after home last year, Central went on to a 7-3 campaign while St. Olaf finished 4-6. But the Oles return 20 starters, including fifth-year running back Jordan Embry, a first-team D3football.com all-region honoree, and second-team all-region defensive back Mark Thrower.
           
It's the first of six road games for the Dutch, who open at home Sept. 16.
           
On the air and online—The Voice of the Dutch, Trevor Castle, calls the action on KRLS-FM (92.1), with Pella mayor and retired Central defensive coordinator Don DeWaard providing the color. The KRLS pregame show will air at 12:35 p.m. The broadcast can 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.
           
The coaches—St. Olaf coach James Kilian is starting his seventh season and has a 23-27 career mark.
           
It's the 20th year at the helm for Jeff McMartin at his alma mater. A 1990 Central grad, McMartin ranks seventh among active NCAA Division III coaches with a 147-46 (.761) record. He was the 2021 AFCA Division III Coach of the Year and has piloted Central to six of the program's 32 conference championships.
           
The Oles—While Central is 2-0 against St. Olaf, McMartin is anticipating the stiffest test yet in the series.
           
"They've a very veteran team and they return almost the entire lineup," he said. "They really have given us two battles. The two games we've been in with them have really been hard fought and close until the end of the game. I think they're even better than they were last year."
           
St. Olaf lists 12 seniors in its starting lineup, including three fifth-year players but also will open with a freshman right tackle, Johnathan Hartwig. Junior quarterback Theo Doran is a returning starter. He completed 161 of 305 passes (.527) last year for 2,408 yards with 18 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Embry rushed for 1,067 yards (118.5 per game). Thrower made 38 tackles and had a team-high eight pass breakups along with an interception. Junior safety Jacob Halek had  46 tackles and five interceptions while senior inside linebacker Luke Stanga led the Oles with 71 tackles last season.
           
The preseason—McMartin was generally encouraged by Central's preseason workouts.
           
"It's been an interesting preseason and there's been a lot of good that's come out of it," he said. "We've had to go through a lot of the things that you go through in the preseason, with some injuries and players changing positions. But I think we're coming out of it and moving into a good place. I know our seniors and upperclassmen know how important the preseason is so they've worked really hard to overcome any challenge, whether it be the heat or an injury and they have the right mindset going forward."
           
Hoffman makes starting debut--Central, which used four quarterbacks last year but never really settled on a starter, will open with sophomore Hunter Hoffman (Pecatonica, Ill.), who appeared in just four games as a rookie. He completed 17-of-27 passes for 281 yards and two touchdowns. But potentially seeing the field as well are sophomore Keegan Glover (Benton, Ill.) and junior Brady Ketchum (Mount Vernon). Glover rushed for 314 yards on 42 carries with six touchdowns while completing 17-of-22 passes for 203 yards and three scores with one interception. Ketchum has the most experience. He connected on 113-of-187 passes for 1,460 yards with four interceptions and 17 touchdowns.
           
"It's been a process and something we've worked really hard to evaluate," coach Jeff McMartin said. "And it's going to be an ongoing process once we get in the game and try to move the team, take care of the football and find ways to score. Some of those things might look really good when you're in practice and then you get in a game and it can be a little different. So you have to kind of evaluate on game day."
           
While McMartin prefers to go with one quarterback, he's fine with playing more.
           
"We have got three guys that have really battled it out," he said. "We're going to continue to work to run our offense the best way that we can and if that means that we play more than one quarterback, we will. You're seeing a lot of that in college football today. We have to really process what's best for the team."
           
Regardless, the Dutch are in a better position at quarterback than they started 2022 with, McMartin said.
           
"All of them have some experience now," he said. "They've gotten game reps, they've gotten a chance to run with the first unit in practice at different times. Those things are all real positive."
           
Rusch will rush—There are numerous other position battles and senior Jordan Rusch (Johnston) gets his first shot as starting running back Saturday, backed by sophomore Kyle Norton (Vancouver, Wash., Evergreen HS).
           
"Once again, there's been a lot of competition at that spot," McMartin said. "These next couple games, I think we'll learn more and more about what's going to be the right fit at the right time for us and make sure we're utilizing the skills these guys have."
           
Receivers ready—Central has plenty of experience at many spots as well, most notably wide receiver, where CSC Academic All-America® honoree Jeff Herbers (Urbandale, Des Moines Christian HS) is back for a fifth season, along with first-team American Rivers all-conference pick Logan Mont (senior, Aurora, Ill., West Aurora HS) and team MVP Ryan Neu (senior, West Des Moines, Valley HS).
           
Mont had 69 catches for 754 yards and five TDs last season, Neu had 44 receptions for 881 yards and 12 touchdowns while Herbers had 48 catches for 468 yards and seven touchdowns.
           
They're among six seniors listed on the starting offense. Other senior offensive starters include Nik Coble (Crawfordsville, WACO HS) at tight end and Tristan Hunt (Britt, West Hancock HS) at right guard.
           
There are six seniors listed in the defensive lineup, including a pair of fifth-year defensive linemen, Hunter Olson (Peoria, Ariz., Sunrise Mountain HS) and Derrick Voss (Cedar Rapids, Xavier HS). Voss had 44 tackles last year, including five for loss. Joining them up front is Tate Hagen (senior, Britt, West Hancock HS) at the Stud position, a combination linebacker/tight end. He ranked fourth on the team with 57 tackles, including 14 for loss.
           
Senior Brody Klein (Rainier, Wash.) is a first-team all-conference honoreee at the Bandit linebacker position where he made 54 tackles. And the Dutch have a pair of senior standouts at safety. At strong safety, Cameron Bannister (5th-year, State Center, West Marshall HS) was a second-team all-conference pick with 39 tackles and a team-high five interceptions. Free safety Reece Miller (Center Point, Center Point-Urbana HS) was Central's third-leading tackler last year with 63 stops and four interceptions.
           
Special specialists—Senior Logan Sunvold (Monroe, Southeast Polk HS) is a two-time all-conference kicker and a D3football.com all-region selection. Sunvold holds school records for most extra-point conversions in a game (12 at Simpson, Sept. 25, 2021) and a season (83, 2021). He ranks third on the career list with 147, 20 shy of Joel Buseman's (1993-97) school mark. Meanwhile, senior Austiin Burns (Williamsburg) was an all-conference pick as punter. He averaged 37.5 yards per kick last year, with 15 of 44 punts inside the opponent's 20-yard line.
           
Game by game--Lineups evolve, just as a team's identity does as the season unfolds, McMartin said. He'll know a lot more about this year's squad by the time he boards the bus to return home Saturday evening.
           
"Who you are at the start and who you are at the end of the year—you're a different team because, in the course of the season, things have a way of working themselves out," he said. "And I think we're going to find that again this year. We'll take it one game at a time, evaluate things each week and work to get better each week. We'll work to put the best people on the field and in the right situations. That's the opportunity and the challenge that we have."
           
Rookie debuts—While there are no freshmen listed on Central's initial two-deep lineup, 10 are on the travel squad for Saturday and several are expected to see action, including some on special teams. McMartin likes the young talent on his squad.
           
"There certainly are a lot of good things you can say about our freshman class," McMartin said. "And we have a number of sophomores in that two-deep."
           
Notes—For the fourth time in the past eight years, the Dutch have just four home games this season, with six on the road…Central enters the year on a two-game win streak…The Dutch haven't lost a season opener since falling to Whitworth University (Wash.) in 2017…Central has won its last four games in Minnesota, last losing in 1999, a 10-9 NCAA playoff setback at Saint John's University…When Coble makes his first collegiate start Saturday it's believed he'll be the tallest starting tight end in Central history at 6-foot-7…Josiah Villanueva (sophomore, Mesa, Ariz., Red Mountain HS), who was among the contenders for time at running back, was moved to bolster the Dutch secondary and is now at cornerback.