Flexing some season-opening ground-game muscle, the Central College football team subdued St. Olaf College (Minn.) 34-24.
While the Dutch (1-0) have fed off a prolific passing attack in recent years, they racked up 308 yards on the ground Saturday, including 113 yards on 14 carries from quarterback Keegan Glover (sophomore, Benton, Ill.). Glover and starter Hunter Hoffman (sophomore, Pecatonica, Ill.) also combined to throw for 195 yards and three touchdowns as Central compiled 503 yards total offense.
"We ran the ball well today and give our offensive line a lot of credit," coach Jeff McMartin said. "(Offensive coordinator Ryan Maiuri) had a good game plan and I thought our backs and quarterbacks made some really good runs. That was something that we went into the game saying we needed to do for us to be successful."
It was the Central defense that shouldered the load much of the way. After St. Olaf cut an early Dutch lead to 17-10 at halftime, the Oles were blanked for most of the second half. Central stretched the lead to 34-10 before St. Olaf struck for a pair of touchdowns in the final 2:33. Defensive backs Ben DeMeulenaere (sophomore, Belle Plaine) and Gavin Hierseman (junior, West Branch) and linebacker Brody Klein (senior, Rainier, Wash.) each made interceptions, two of which set up second-half touchdowns.
"Those were huge plays and some of them were not easy plays," McMartin said. "Brody Klein had a diving interception and we had our hands on a couple more balls, too. If we can do those things over the course of the season, that's really going to help our defense."
Linebacker Reid Pakkebier (junior, Cedar Rapids, Kennedy HS) and free safety Reece Miller (senior, Center Point, Center Point-Urbana HS) each had 10 tackles, including five solos. Strong safety Caylor Clark (junior, Pleasantville) had seven stops. Klein had five tackles, two pass breakups and a quarterback hurry. The Dutch failed to record a sack but had two tackles for loss.
St. Olaf had 140 rushing yards and completed 23 of 45 passes for 282 yards for 422 yards total offense. Running back Jordan Embry pounded out 127 yards on 31 carries.
"We got good play out of our linebackers," McMartin said. "Up until the last two-and-a-half minutes of the game, I felt like, defensively, we played about as well as we could envision. We were pitching a shutout and making a lot of big stops."
Central jumped to a 14-0 second-quarter lead. Receiver Ryan Neu (senior, West Des Moines, Valley HS) raced 24 yards to the end zone on a reverse and tight end Jacob Birch (freshman, Harlan) got a score on his first collegiate catch, a 13-yarder from Glover.
One play after DeMeulenaere's third-quarter interception, Neu hauled in a 36-yard scoring pass from Hoffman while running back Jordan Rusch (senior, Johnston), in his first collegiate start, caught a 17-yard TD pass from Glover. Rusch also had 77 yards on the ground on 11 carries. All-region kicker Logan Sunvold (senior, Monroe, Southeast Polk HS) connected on field goals from 33 and 24 yards.
Hoffman was 12-of-24 passing for 128 yards while Glover was 8-for-15 for 67 yards. Central was without one of its top receivers, Logan Mont (senior, Aurora, Ill., West Aurora HS). Jack Johnson (junior, Mount Pleasant) filled in with a team-high five catches for 48 yards.
McMartin credited St. Olaf for its late-game theatrics.
"St. Olaf has 20 starters returning," he said. "Their quarterback is experienced and their running backs are really good. They've got some big talented tight ends and their receiving corps is really solid, (Payton Schott and Eli Paton) are really good football players. We had to work hard to get stops. I felt like we did a better job with some of these things against St. Olaf than we did a year ago (a 44-13 Central win)."
Central heads out of state again next week, traveling to Bloomington, Illinois for a first-ever meeting with Illinois Wesleyan University next Saturday at 1 p.m. The Titans will be playing their season opener, coming off a 6-4 campaign.
McMartin said the Dutch have a full agenda in finding ways to eliminate Saturday's mistakes while preparing for Illinois Wesleyan.
"We can get better and we need to get better," he said. "The goal is always to be a better team and to learn from your mistakes. We're going to play a really good football team next week on the road and it'll be a great challenge for us, but it's a great opportunity to improve.
"But I liked how hard our guys played, how much passion they had and how they played together. They were really encouraging each other on the sideline."
Glover rushes for 108 in season-opening Central road win
/seasons/2023/boxscores/20230902_qjju.xml
2023
Central
34
St. Olaf
24
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central (1-0) | 7 | 10 | 7 | 10 | 34 |
| St. Olaf (0-1) | 0 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 24 |
Sep 02, 2023