JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI— Twenty-one unanswered points in the second half helped the Central College football overcome the heat and Belhaven University (Miss.) for a 31-17 win Saturday afternoon.
The Dutch (2-1) found themselves trailing the Blazers (1-2) by a 17-10 margin after the opening drive of the second half. Capping an eight-play, 66 yard drive with a five-yard touchdown pass from quarterback
Brett Connolly (sophomore, Plainfield, Ill., Oswego HS) to tight end
Elam Praises (Elizabeth, Colo., Mountain Vista HS) to level the score at 17-17 with 7:08 left in the quarter.
Belhaven was on the brink of retaking the lead when freshman linebacker
Brecken Ritzert (Pella Christian HS) stepped in front of a pass at the Central 20-yard line and returned it 25 yards, the team's first interception of the season.
"That interception by Brecken was huge," coach
Jeff McMartin said. "They were driving to the red zone and then he brought it back to midfield. He's going to keep getting better each week. I'm excited to watch him develop."
Central took its first lead of the day on the ensuing possession on
Jase Grunder's (senior, Tampico, Ill., Prophetstown HS) eight-yard touchdown run with 14:11 on the clock in the fourth quarter.
After the teams exchanged punts a few times, Central made it a two-score lead when running back
Cody Klein (junior, Newton) took a reverse on the right side of the Dutch line 67 yards to paydirt and a 31-17 lead. Klein finished the game with seven carries for 114 yards.
"That reverse to Cody in the fourth quarter was a huge play," McMartin said.
It just shows what great speed he has and what a special player he is"
The Blazers had two more possession but both ended in turnovers. Defensive end
Brayden Alger (junior, Davenport, West HS) forced a fumble out of quarterback Ian Burleson's hands into the waiting arms of linebacker
Diego Garcia (junior, Sycamore, Ill.). After a Central turnover on downs, cornerback
Jordan Martino (sophomore, Aurora, Ill., West Aurora HS) gave Central the game-sealing interception.
Safety
Cole K. Johnson (senior, Grinnell) had a team-high six tackles and two pass break-ups.
"We got takeaways at critical times on defense," McMartin said. "We made some really good adjustments and pressured the quarterback. Our secondary really improved their play.
"We got off to a slow start. We found ourselves behind a few times but we kept believing in each other. We got to a point where we started making some plays.
Wide receiver
Tate Jirovsky (junior, Grundy Center) had five catches for 106 yards, including an eight-yard touchdown grab at the end of the first half. He also had a 57-yard catch and run. Connolly had 206 yards passing while completing 12 of 15 passes for two touchdowns.
Central netted 224 yards on the ground and 221 through the air.
"We were a more balanced offense," McMartin said. "We threw the ball effectively and had some really good, timely runs."
Kicker
Andrew Mohan (junior, Waverly, Waverly-Shell Rock HS) started the scoring for Central in the second quarter with a 22-yard field goal.
The Dutch will make their Ron and Joyce Schipper Stadium debut for Homecoming on Saturday, October 3 against the University of Dubuque at 1 p.m.
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