Central College's resilient second-half effort pushed No. 20 Wartburg College to the brink before the No. 24 Dutch surrendered a last-minute touchdown in a 35-28 homecoming football defeat Saturday.
Wartburg (6-0 overall, 4-0 American Rivers), which brought a seemingly impenetrable defense that was limiting foes to a miserly 2.0 points per game, stymied Central in the first half en route to a 10-0 lead. The Dutch (3-2 overall, 1-2 conference) mustered just 49 yards total offense and failed to advance beyond their own 31-yard line.
But then they did something no other league school had yet pulled off against the Knights by reaching the end zone. Four times. Trailing 13-0 more than 5 minutes into the second half, quarterback Cooper Downs (sophomore, Ames) regenerated some of his third-quarter magic. After tying a Division III record with five TD passes in that period a week ago at Nebraska Wesleyan University, Downs hit Gabe Howard (sophomore, Pecatonica, Ill.) from 7 yards out for Howard's first collegiate TD reception. Then on the first play of the fourth period, he found Ryan Neu (junior, West Des Moines, Valley HS) for a 6-yard score and the Dutch suddenly had a surprising 14-13 advantage.
Wartburg swiftly answered and two Wartburg scores seemingly put the game on ice, with a 28-14 lead and only 7:35 remaining.
But the Dutch turned to early season starter Brady Ketchum (sophomore, Mount Vernon) and he connected with Logan Mont (junior, Aurora, Ill., West Aurora HS) for a 6-yard score. A Brody Klein (junior, Rainier, Wash.) recovery of the ensuing onside kick ignited an overflow Ron and Joyce Schipper Stadium crowd and two plays later, when freshman Carson Cummer (Dubuque, Wahlert Catholic HS) broke free for a 49-yard game-tying catch-and-run TD, the place was up for grabs.
Yet that only set the stage for Wartburg's game-sealing escape, a methodical 11-play, 75-yard scoring drive against an increasingly weary Dutch defense. Central forced a fourth down at its own 4-yard line but back-to-back offsides penalties paved the way for Hunter Clasen's 1-yard score with only 21 seconds left. That capped a frantic fourth quarter in which Central was outscored 22-21.
"Our kids really battled hard," coach Jeff McMartin said. "We can feel good about the fact that they played their hearts out for a full game. There are things that we can build on, things that we can grow with."
A Wartburg defense that was allowing just 180.6 yards per game, surrendered 377 passing yards to the Dutch.
"We were able to throw the ball effectively (in the second half)," McMartin said. "Our quarterbacks got the ball in the hands of guys that can make plays."
But seven Wartburg sacks left Central with minus 33 yards rushing and 344 yards total offense overall.
"We did (protect) better in the second half," McMartin said. "We've got to continue to improve in that area. We need to continue to give our quarterback more time and reduce the number of sacks. In the games that we've not had success, that's been something that's hurt us."
Downs, in his first Central start, completed 23 of 40 passes for 222 yards with an interception and two touchdowns. Ketchum was 10-of-17 in the fourth quarter for 133 yards and two scores while freshman Keegan Glover (Benton, Ill.) was 1-of-2 for 22 yards.
"I think our offensive staff did a good job of putting these guys in a position to be successful," McMartin said. "Both (Downs and Ketchum) led our team to scores and were able to function against a defense that no one else has been able to function against. We'll have to watch the film and see not only what they did well but then try to find ways to be better. We have a lot of work to determine what next week's going to look like because they both played well at times."
Mont had his best day since returning from last year's season-ending injury with nine catches for 118 yards and a touchdown. Freshman Camden Cash (The Woodlands, Texas) had a career-best seven receptions for 67 yards while Neu had five for 49 yards.
"We have really good wide receivers and they're one of the true strengths of our football team," McMartin said. "I think as this season goes along and even in the future, people are going to see that Central College has a great collection of receivers."
Central gave up 499 yards total offense, including 168 rushing as Clasen had 131 yards on 25 carries. Wartburg quarterback Nile McLaughlin completed 27 of 43 passes with two TDs and an interception.
Linebacker Nathan Rahn (senior, Chadwick, Ill., Milledgeville HS) and free safety Reece Miller (junior, Cener Point, Center Point-Urbana HS) each had 11 tackles for the Dutch while strong safety Cameron Bannister (senior, State Center, West Marshall HS) had 10 stops. Rahn had 3.0 tackles for loss and a pass breakup.
Yet McMartin saw significant development from the Dutch compared to their effort in a 38-35 loss to Loras College Sept. 17.
"We're going to have to go back and assess the fourth quarter, defensively, but I think our guys worked hard for the whole game," McMartin said. "And for a majority of the game, I thought our defense kept making plays and doing the things that we need to do to win a football game."
McMartin was also enthused about the energy generated by the huge homecoming crowd.
"It was a great atmosphere and we really appreciate our great fans," he said.
Central travels to Storm Lake next Saturday for a 1 p.m. game with Buena Vista University. The Beavers (2-4 overall, 1-3 conference) were overwhelmed 65-0 at Loras College Saturday.
At 1-2 in league play, the Dutch are in a tough spot, yet McMartin has his team's focus fixed squarely ahead.
"Nobody wants to be in this position, certainly not us," he said. "This isn't how we want this year's story to read. But what we can control is what we learned from this game, and our preparation for BV and go up there and play the best that we can play. We'll take it week by week and day by day and when the season is concluded, we want to look back and see that as a team we got better each week. I'm encouraged by our attitude, our effort and our focus and those are things we have to keep building on. We want to continue to build this into a national-caliber program and you don't do that by not improving. We have to get better each week. We have to ask a lot of ourselves to do that—coaches, players, everybody."
No. 20 Wartburg holds off hard-charging No. 24 Central
/seasons/2022/boxscores/20221008_so7p.xml
2022
Wartburg
35
Central
28
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 12 Wartburg (6-0) | 7 | 3 | 3 | 22 | 35 |
| Central (3-2) | 0 | 0 | 7 | 21 | 28 |
Oct 08, 2022