PELLA—It won't take long for the Central College football team to gauge its standing in the American Rivers race.
             
The home and conference season opener Saturday is with Coe College (2-0), which has posted a pair of one-sided non-conference victories and 18 returning starters from the club that outlasted Central 37-31 last year at Cedar Rapids. Game time is 1 p.m. at Ron and Joyce Schipper Stadium in Pella.
             
Saturday's outcome should be telling as both Coe and Central were picked to finish in the top three of the conference standings in a preseason coaches' poll. Coe pummeled the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire 44-14 last Saturday while Central (2-0) was a 38-13 victor at Illinois Wesleyan University.
                         
On the air and online—The Voice of the Dutch, Trevor Castle, calls the action on KRLS-FM (92.1), with Central's NFCA Hall of Fame softball coach George Wares 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. And it can be heard as part of the video webcast through the Central Dutch Network at centraldutchnetwork.com or via the Central athletics website at athletics.central.edu.
             
The series—Coe outlasted the Dutch at Cedar Rapids last year, 37-31, but Central holds a 19-11-2 advantage in the teams' series.
                       
Eyes on 150—Central coach Jeff McMartin is in his 20th season as head coach at his alma mater. He's one win away from being the 10th active Division III coach to record 150 career victories. He's posted a 149-46 (.761) record. Linfield University (Ore.) coach Joseph Smith also has 149 career wins.
             
A 1990 Central grad, McMartin ranks seventh among active NCAA Division III coaches in winning percentage. He was the 2021 AFCA Division III Coach of the Year and has piloted Central to six of the program's 32 conference championships.
             
Back home—While successful on the road, the Dutch are eager for their home-season debut, McMartin said.
              "They're really looking forward to this opportunity," he said. "We're all excited to be back in Pella, playing in Schipper Stadium. It's going to be a fun atmosphere."
             
About Coe—Coe is off to a dominant statistical start, leading the conference in offense (581.0 yards per game) and defense (191.0 yards) while outscoring opponents 50.0-10.0. Jacob Brecht, a 5-foot-8, 220-pound senior running back is averaging 111.5 yards per game on just 17 carries, a 13.1-yards per carry clip. Senior quarterback Carter Maske has completed 33 of 45 passes (.733) for 486 yards and seven touchdowns with one interception. Senior wide receiver Dominic Shepardson has 13 receptions for 248 yards and five scores. Senior outside linebacker Jay Oostendorp has posted three tackles for loss.
                              
"They are a fantastic football team," McMartin said. "They're balanced in every direction. I don't see any weaknesses in this team."
             
It's a veteran-loaded lineup. Oostendorp and Shepardson are among six returning first-team all-conference players. The Kohawks have nine returning all-conference players overall and are starting 17 seniors, including nine on defense.
             
"They're all returning from a team that, going into the last game of the season, had a chance to win the conference title and narrowly lost to Wartburg," McMartin said. "There's as good as advertised."
             
Same approach—It's the start of the conference season but the preparation remains the same, McMartin said.
             
"I don't think anything changes from our approaches in the first two games," he said. "We've tried to keep things very much with a one-day-at-a-time mentality. Every game you have is an important moment in your season."
             
Steady start—Central is outscoring opponents 36.0-18.5 and outgaining them 385.0 yards to 326.0. Linebacker Reid Pakkebier (junior, Cedar Rapids, Kennedy HS) is third in the conference in tackles with 18.
             
After watching the video of Central's victory in Illinois Saturday, McMartin saw much he liked.
             
"I think that our receivers did a good job of catching the ball better and made some really good plays," he said. "I thought Nick Bandy (junior, Dubuque, Wahlert Catholic HS) did some good things on the defensive line and improved a lot from week one to week two. And obviously Austin Burns (senior, Williamsburg) made a really big play. It's good to get him going because it makes you better on defense when you've got more good outside linebacker-types on your team."
             
Burns stripped an Illinois Wesleyan ballcarrier and raced 48 yards for a fourth-quarter touchdown that stretched Central's lead to 31-6.
             
But the numbers that stood out the most beyond the score were zero Dutch turnovers and just two penalties.
             
"We are working really hard to do the little things well and to be a disciplined football team," McMartin said. "That's a week-to-week process. But if you compare our penalties from last year to this year, there's a significant difference. There is an improvement in the turnovers. And there's also an improvement in not giving up big plays. It's not to say that all the mistakes have been eliminated, but there's definitely improvement in those areas. Those are part of the game we're focusing on."
             
Through two games last year, the Dutch had been flagged for 18 penalties for 355 yards. This season Central has six penalties for 57 yards. The squad ranks 10th in the NCAA Division III in fewest penalties per game (3.0).
             
Forever Dutch—The Central president who hired AFCA Hall of Fame coach Ron Schipper is returning to campus and will be introduced at Saturday's game. Don Lubbers served as Central's president from 1960-69. He was the youngest college or university president in the U.S. when he took over at age 29. His father, Irwin Lubbers, was Central's president from 1934-45 and Don spent much of his boyhood in Pella. In 1961, he persuaded Schipper, an old friend from his undergraduate days at Hope College (Mich.), to leave his football coaching job at Jackson (Mich.) High School to coach at Central, replacing Richard "Babe" Tysseling, who transitioned to become Central's first athletics director. Schipper often claimed he turned the job down three times before Lubbers convinced him to come to Pella to take a look. The Dutch have not had a losing football season since. Schipper led the Dutch from 1961-96 posting a 287-67-3 record (.808), with 18 Iowa Conference championships and 12 NCAA Division III playoff berths, winning the 1974 NCAA title.
             
Among Lubbers' many accomplishments at Central was the closing of a section of Peace Street for the installation of Peace Mall and the now-iconic pond in the heart of the campus. He left Central in 1969 and served as president of Grand Valley State University (Mich.) for 32 years.
             
Lubbers will be accompanied by his daughter, Central grad Mary Montgomery of Knoxville, and their family.
             
Notes—Central ranks 14th in first downs in Division III with 53 and fifth in turnovers gained (8). Kicker Logan Sunvold (senior, Monroe, Southeast Polk HS) is 10th in field goals per game (1.5). He's moved into a tie for fifth with Rob Phipps (1988-90) on the career field goals list with 22. Sunvold is now second in career extra-point conversions with 156, 11 behind Joel Buseman (1993-97). He's second in career extra-point conversion percentage with .971 (102-105)…This is Central's latest home opener since the 2016 team opened Sept. 17…All-conference receiver Logan Mont (senior, Aurora, Ill., West Aurora HS), who missed Central's Sept. 2 contest at St. Olaf College (Minn.), saw some action Saturday at Illinois Wesleyan, making five catches for 33 yards. He's expected to appear in a reserve role this week…The Dutch were among those schools receiving votes for the D3football.com Top 25 this week.