PELLA— Amassing 324 yards on 55 rushing attempts with 11 different ball carriers, the Central College football team cruised to a 56-3 win over Luther College Saturday afternoon.
           
The Dutch (5-2, 3-2 American Rivers Conference) scored the first touchdown of the game without running an offensive play. A Luther punt went into the back of a personal protector and skittered into the end zone where senior linebacker Joe Jansen (Pella) jumped on it.
           
"I'm really happy for Joe," coach Jeff McMartin said. "He does a lot of great things for us on special teams. He has such a great attitude and work ethic. You love to see guys like that in our program get rewarded for their effort and hustle."
           
The offense got its opportunity a few minutes later and quarterback Brady Ketchum (senior, Mount Vernon) connected with Keegan Glover (junior, Benton, Ill., Benton HS) for a 65-yard touchdown pass. Ketchum was 6-for-6 on the day with 111 yards passing and added a five-yard touchdown shovel pass to tight end Grant Nelson (senior, Pella) in the second quarter.
           
Central scored four more offensive touchdowns in the first half. Jase Grunder (sophomore, running back, Tampico, Ill., Prophetstown HS) had a pair of rushing touchdowns while Cody Klein (freshman, Newton) scored his first rushing touchdown. Coming out of a time out near the end of the first half, Glover hit an unguarded Jack Johnson (senior, wide receiver, Mount Pleasant) for a three-yard touchdown pass.
           
"We executed well with our starters and played to our standard," McMartin said. "We were able to continue when put some of our younger guys in there."
           
Freshman quarterback Cole Duty (Gonzales, Texas) scampered in for a six-yard touchdown in the third quarter for Central's final score.
           
The special teams had a second turnover when a Norse kick returner muffed a ball and junior linebacker Gabe Orris (Iowa City) dove on it to set up Central's seventh touchdown.
           
"Gabe is a high effort guy," McMartin said. "He's a good athlete and is on a lot of special teams. It's great to see him come through for us today."
             
Grunder and Klein with 76 and 57 yards on the ground. Eli Rouse (freshman, Madrid, Ballard HS) also added 49. Glover and Nelson were among the five Dutch players to each make two receptions. Six other Central players had a catch while five quarterbacks completed a pass. In total Central, piled up 537 yards and outgained the Norse by 410 yards
           
"We really do try and play a lot of people," McMartin said. "We're always looking at the next scenario to see who we can substitute in. It's an inexact world to live in but when you have so many players who have worked hard all week, you want to get them into the game."
           
Defensively, the Dutch held Luther to 127 total yards and just 51 by halftime when most of Central's starters were removed from the game. Central had four sacks and eight tackles-for-loss. Linebacker Cael Fiderlein (senior, West Branch) led the way for Central with six tackles while linebacker Austin Burns (fifth year, Williamsburg) had five. A Norse field goal late in the third quarter cost the Dutch a second shutout.
           
"We prohibited a team from scoring a touchdown on us and that's always a good thing," McMartin said.
           
Central travels to the University of Dubuque next Saturday for a 1 p.m. contest against the Spartans. Dubuque beat Loras College 49-42 on Saturday.