A 6-minute flurry of 11 points was the only production the Central College football team could generate in a lightning-delayed 19-11 American Rivers setback against Coe College Saturday.
Mistakes that the Dutch (2-1 overall, 0-1 conference) largely avoided in the season's first two games uncharacteristically surfaced, and in a big way. Central threw four interceptions, was flagged for 10 penalties for 91 yards and dropped some balls on both offense and defense that spoiled potentially big plays.
Still, Central outgained Coe (373 yards to 309), led in first downs (21-17) and possession time (32:14 to 27:46), picked off four passes, blocked two kicks and posted a special teams safety.
But it was the missed opportunities that left coach Jeff McMartin and the Dutch searching for answers afterwards, although one thing was obvious.
"We made a lot of mistakes and you can't make mistakes and beat a good football team," McMartin said.
Central generated just one first down in the first quarter, punting on four of its first five possessions and throwing an interception on the other. With the Dutch trailing and 6:58 left in the second quarter, the game was delayed 53 minutes by lightning.
Momentum suddenly swung when play resumed. A Coe punt snap sailed out of the end zone for a safety and the Central offense began to stir. The third Dutch quarterback of the day, Brady Ketchum (junior, Mount Vernon), made his season debut and capped a nine-play, 56-yard drive with a 20-yard TD pass to Ryan Neu (senior, West Des Moines, Valley HS). A 2-point conversion try failed but on the next play from scrimmage, cornerback Gavin Smith (sophomore, Audubon) picked off a pass and returned it to the Coe 18 for another scoring chance. The Dutch got a 20-yard Logan Sunvold (senior, Monroe, Southeast Polk HS) field goal and they were up 11-10 at the break.
"We had a great end of the first half and put ourselves in a good position," McMartin said.
Central made good use of the weather delay.
"We had time to make some adjustments and I think our players stayed loose," McMartin said. "They were ready to go and when we came out, I thought we played really well."
That was the end of the Central scoring, however. Coe struck for a 37-yard third-quarter TD pass, added a 24-yard field goal and stymied every Dutch opportunity—and there were several.
"We gave ourselves a number of chances and were down in there a couple times and just didn't come away with anything," McMartin said.
The Central defense denied the Kohawks on fourth down three times in the second half and made two interceptions.
"We made some big stops in the red zone, blocked a field goal and made them kick field goals," McMartin said. "Some of the things that we've not done a real good job of all through last year, we did a really good job of today.
Coe was limited to 68 yards rushing on 34 carries. Two Coe quarterbacks completed 21 of 40 passes for 241 yards and two touchdowns with three interceptions. Coe was just 6-of-18 on third-down conversions and 1-4 on fourth down.
"I look at us defensively right now and I like what I see," McMartin said.
Meanwhile, Central mustered only 61 rushing yards on 30 carries, with quarterback Keegan Glover (sophomore, Benton, Ill.) gaining 45 yards on 12 carries despite being sacked twice. Glover completed 11-of-16 passes for 114 yards with two interceptions. Hunter Hoffman (sophomore, Pecatonica, Ill.) was 8-of-16 for 73 yards with one interception. Ketchum was 11-of-21 for 125 yards and a score with one interception while also being sacked twice.
Neu had eight catches for 84 yards while Logan Mont (senior, Aurora, Ill., West Aurora HS) had eight catches for 78 yards and Jeff Herbers (5th-year, Urbandale, Des Moines Christian HS) had seven receptions for 70 yards.
Linebacker Reid Pakkebier (junior, Cedar Rapids, Kennedy HS) had eight tackles and linebacker Cale Fiderlein (junior, West Branch) had seven stops along with an interception and a blocked kick.
Central will travel to Decorah next Saturday for its third road trip in four games, taking on Luther College at 1 p.m. The Norse (0-2 overall, 0-1 American Rivers) were defeated by Loras 44-29 at Dubuque Saturday.
"Our goal has to be to improve," McMartin said. "We've got to go on the road and play a Luther team that is going to be really hungry to win a conference game.We know what the challenge is. What we need to do is get better. It's got to be about improvement to a point where we can be really dangerous.
"That's my goal. I want us to be a team that plays better every week and then see where that takes us."