It was perhaps the sign of a good day for the Central College football team Saturday at windswept Ron and Joyce Schipper Stadium when Luther College's opening kickoff made an abrupt U-turn and bounded backwards 5 yards.
Nine seconds later the feet of wide receiver Logan Mont (junior, Aurora, Ill., West Aurora HS) touched the end zone turf with a 30-yard TD reception from Cooper Downs (sophomore, Ames). Skies cleared after a cold, drizzly morning but while the stiff west winds didn't abate, neither did the Dutch offense, which was off to a 61-13 American Rivers runaway.
"Our game plan was to attack the perimeter and a lot of our throws today were short passes where we got good blocks from wide receivers and the guys who caught the ball made plays," coach Jeff McMartin said. "And it started right away with Logan Mont's catch."
It was the home finale for 31 Dutch seniors and fifth-year players as Central improved to 6-3 overall and 4-3 in league play. The win assures the Dutch of yet another winning season. They've not had a sub-.500 campaign since 1960, the year prior to the arrival of AFCA Hall of Fame Coach Ron Schipper.
For Luther (1-8 overall, 1-6 conference), the opening misfire was on an onside kick attempt and McMartin applauded the aggressive try.
"I give Luther a lot of credit," he said. "They put some things out there that you have to prepare for. They're taking some chances to gain advantages and play to their strengths and that particular kick just didn't go the way they wanted it to."
It was an efficient offensive performance as Central controlled the ball for just 20:50 of the game's 60 minutes yet posted 539 yards of total offense. Five quarterbacks completed 22 of 39 passes to 18 different receivers while 10 ballcarriers rushed for 192 yards. Senior running back Isaiah Walk (Buffalo Center, North Iowa HS) topped the century mark for the first time in his career, rushing for 105 yards on just seven carries, highlighted by a 64-yard touchdown burst up the middle early in the second quarter.
"Coach (Ryan) Maiuri and the offensive staff do a great job of creating good matchups, putting people in good positions and training the quarterbacks on where to go with the ball," McMartin said. "It's not necessarily going to a person but going to different areas of the field to try to attack those areas and then getting guys in those spots. And the nice thing is, when you spread it around like that, you're harder to defend because they can't just key on one guy."
Central rattled off the game's first 38 points before Luther answered with a touchdown with 5:40 left in the first half, only to have the extra point blocked by Dutch linebacker Brady Klein (junior, Rainier, Wash.) and returned 90 yards for a 2-point conversion by Dillon Hoit (senior, Solon). The game's lone turnover was a deflected second-quarter pass that was snagged by Klein, who took it 45 yards for another Central touchdown. The Dutch were up 47-13 at halftime before easing on the accelerator.
"Those were huge plays," McMartin said. "If you score on defense and you score on special teams, you love seeing that. And obviously when you're doing those things, you're probably playing pretty well."
Downs took an early exit after completing 6 of 10 passes for 97 yards and two scores but the best numbers were delivered by Central's fourth quarterback of the day, freshman Hunter Hoffman (Pecatonica, Ill.), in his most extensive varsity action, connected on 8-of-10 for 184 and two scores. Another rookie, Keegan Glover (Benton, Ill.) completed 4-of-4 for 46 yards and two TDs.
Mont, Walk, Ryan Neu (junior, West Des Moines, Valley HS) and Gabe Howard (sophomore, Pecatonica, Ill.) each caught three passes, with Neu gaining 66 yards and scoring twice. But it was freshman Carson Cummer (Dubuque, Wahlert HS) who took a swing pass from Hoffman, eluded some defenders, then outraced them 82 yards down the sideline for Central's longest TD pass of the season.
While scoring only a pair of second-quarter touchdowns, Luther did have some success moving the ball, with 400 yards total offense. The Norse gained 259 yards passing, completing 24-of-49 while rushing for 141 yards.
Linebacker Cale Fiderlein (sophomore, West Branch) had eight tackles for Central while outside linebacker Nathan Rahn (senior, Chadwick, Ill., Milledgeville HS) made seven stops, including six solos. Freshman linebacker Cole Clark (Lisbon) had six tackles, including 1.5 for loss.
"We did a good job of shutting them out in the second half," McMartin said. "We had to make some adjustments (in the first half) but, for a majority of the time, we stopped their running game pretty well. And we were able to play quite a few guys on defense and get them some reps. I thought our defensive line overall played a very good game."
McMartin called it a fitting farewell to Schipper Stadium for his seniors.
"We're really appreciative of all that they've given to the program for four—and for some of them five—years," he said. "They've had a lot of success and to send them out with a win in their last home game is really special."
Central completes the league season next Saturday at the University of Dubuque. The Spartans are 6-1 with a 6-3 overall mark after a 27-20 overtime victory at Loras College Saturday. Game time is 1 p.m. at Chalmers Field in Dubuque.
Central scores in first 9 seconds, races past Luther 61-13
/seasons/2022/boxscores/20221105_hhrd.xml
2022
Luther
13
Central
61
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luther (1-8) | 0 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| Central (6-3) | 14 | 33 | 14 | 0 | 61 |
Nov 05, 2022