Ryan Thomspon Oct. 18, 2008

Central's defense leads way in victory

CEDAR RAPIDS— Linebacker Ryan Thompson (senior, Montezuma) had 10 tackles and blocked a punt that set up Central College’s first touchdown as the Dutch defense fueled a 27-10 Iowa Conference football victory at Coe College Saturday. Central (4-2 overall, 2-2 conference) recorded five sacks and methodically built a 27-3 lead early in the fourth quarter before coasting to the win. Defensive stinger Shane Wong (sophomore, Pleasant Hill, Southeast Polk HS) had nine stops, including two sacks, four tackles for loss and a fumble recovery.

Coach Jeff McMartin said his young and injury-battered squad is hitting its stride.

“That was a Central College win,” he said. “We played great defense, made some huge plays on special teams and had timely offense.”

For the second week in a row, Central was actually outgained by its opponent. Coe finished with a 294-254 yard advantage in total offense. Remarkably, in the last 19 regular-season games in which the Dutch have been outgained, they’re 17-2.

However McMartin noted that Coe racked up 121 of its 294 yards on its last two possessions, with the Dutch comfortably ahead.

Until late in the first half Central could only generate a pair of field goals by Jake Viggers (sophomore, Altoona, Southeast Polk HS). But with 2:29 left in the second period, Thompson blocked a Coe punt that was recovered at the 7-yard line. Three plays later, quarterback Jarred Lackey (sophomore, Somerton, Ariz., Cibola HS) tossed a 7-yard TD pass to Brett Wilkin (sophomore, Pleasant Hill, Southeast Polk HS) for a 13-0 halftime lead.

“The blocked punt was huge,” McMartin said. “The special teams really made great plays.”

The Dutch took the opening kick of the third quarter 68 yards in seven plays with Lackey finding freshman Mike Furlong (Davenport, Assumption HS) on a 9-yard pass for Furlong’s first collegiate score.

Coe got on the board with an early fourth-quarter field goal, but Cam Waugh (senior, Fort Collins, Colo., Loveland HS) returned the kick 55 yards and on the next play, Lackey hit Matt VerMeer (senior, Montezuma) on a 40-yard scoring strike for a 27-3 lead. Coe got its lone touchdown with 6 seconds left in the game.

“We moved the ball well,” McMartin said. “The guys really battled.”

Lackey completed nine of 17 passes for 135 yards with one interception and three touchdowns in his second collegiate start at quarterback after moving over from defensive stinger. He threw completions to eight Central receivers.

Running back Dustin Veldhuizen (senior, Oskaloosa) had 65 yards on 12 carries while David Zachary (junior, Des Moines, Dowling HS) rushed for 43 yards on 14 carries and Lackey gained 18 on nine attempts.

McMartin also cited another sound performance by conference punting leader Kurtis Brondyke (sophomore, Clinton). He averaged 42.2 yards on six boots, landing one inside the Coe 20-yard line.

“Kurtis punted really well and we had a great kickoff return by Cam Waugh,” he said.

Wong entered the game ranked second in the league in sacks before adding two more.

“Shane had a great day,” McMartin said. “The whole defense played really well.”

Stinger Corben Schueler (junior, Granger, Woodward-Granger HS) had eight tackles, including a sack, giving him 19 tackles in two collegiate starts. Freshman cornerback Jake Petersen (Gladbrook, Gladbrook-Reinbeck HS) had seven stops and forced a fumble.

Central is back on the road next Saturday, taking on Cornell College at Mount Vernon. The Rams are 0-5 in the league and 0-7 overall after tumbling 31-10 Saturday at Dubuque.