David Zachary Sept. 14, 2009

No. 16 Central opens league slate

PELLA—A dramatic comeback victory over a nationally ranked opponent is always a season highlight, but coach Jeff McMartin and his Central College football team are looking ahead.  

And ahead is the Iowa Conference opener, a trip to the Univ. of Dubuque for a 1 p.m. game at newly renovated Chalmers Field in Dubuque. Dubuque is 1-1after suffering a 28-20 defeat against the Univ. of Wis.-Platteville Saturday.

Central (2-0) is coming off a 22-21 win over No. 7 Wis.-Stevens Point at Pella Saturday. The victory helped the Dutch vault from No. 25 to No. 16 in the D3football.com rankings. Wis.-Stevens Point slipped to No. 17.

“We have to be very focused,” McMartin said. “We had a chance to enjoy our win Saturday but Dubuque is the most important game on our schedule now because that’s the game we play this week.”

On the air, on the Web—Trevor Castle will call the play-by-play on KRLS-FM (92.1) and the broadcast can also be accessed through Central’s Web site at www.central.edu/athletics or through www.kniakrls.com.

The series—Central’s last two meetings with Dubuque have been three-point decisions. Central escaped Dubuque last year at Pella, 24-21, and pulled out a memorable 37-34 triple-overtime victory in the teams’ last meeting in Dubuque in 2007. The Dutch hold a 52-15-2 advantage in the all-time series and haven’t lost to the Spartans since 1987.

First-year Dubuque coach Stan Zweifel, who helped guide Minn. State-Mankato to the NCAA Division II playoffs as offensive coordinator last year and was an assistant for 16 seasons at the Univ. of Wis.-Whitewater, has brought a new approach to the Dubuque offense, with more emphasis on a power running game. But one of the squad’s biggest offensive weapons is a receiver, his son Michael Zweifel, a preseason all-America honoree who transferred from Wis.-River Falls.

Zweifel is the Iowa Conference receptions leader through two games with 23 catches for 286 yards and four touchdowns. He had 14 catches for 142 yards against Wis.-Platteville. Quarterback Colton Hansen completed 21 of 33 passes for 192 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions Saturday.

Dubuque leads the league in scoring offense (40.0 points per game), is second in total offense (423.0 yards) and first in total defense (260.5 yards).

“It’ll be a very different team than the one we’ve played the last couple of years,” McMartin said. “We expect a great challenge. They’ve got a talented group of people in their program.”

Snead comes up big—Dutch quarterback Nate Snead (sophomore, Altoona, Southeast Polk HS), in his second collegiate start, was an obvious key to Central’s second-half comeback against Wis.-Stevens Point. After rushing four times for six yards in the first half, he gained 86 yards on 19 second-half rushes with three touchdowns, including the gamewinner from inside the 1-yard line with 1:05 left. He’s gained 90 yards in each of the season’s first two games.

But McMartin said he’s not looking for his quarterback to carry the ball 23 times every week.

“We needed to change things up at halftime and that was one of the adjustments we made,” he said. “You do what you have to do each week to win the football game. Each week it may be somebody different who steps up and makes plays. That’s something I like about this team. We’ve got a group of players who are not concerned about stats or touches. They’re worried about finding ways to win.

“We’re also fortunate we’ve got good depth at quarterback with Zack Bandow (junior, Manilla, IKM HS). That frees you up to do more things at that position.”

Getting defensive—Central is the conference leader in rushing defense, allowing just 45.5 yards a game.

“We played defense very well against a very high-powered offense Saturday,” McMartin said. “(Wis.-Stevens Point) has some really talented offensive players and for our defense to keep us within 7-0 at halftime was really important. They got the ball back for us on multiple occasions and kept (the Pointers) out of field goal range in the fourth quarter. That was huge.”

Happy returns—Receivers Mike Furlong (sophomore, Davenport, Assumption HS) and Brett Wilkin (sophomore, Pleasant Hill, Southeast Polk HS) combined to return four kickoffs for 127 yards Saturday, another spark for Central’s comeback. The Dutch lead the league, averaging 31.8 yards per return.

“So far our kick returners have done really well,” McMartin said. “A big part of the game Saturday was winning the hidden yardage in the kicking game. That was a plus.”

Dutch punts blocked—Wis.-Stevens Point got a hand on two of Kurtis Brondyke’s (junior, Clinton) punts, blocking one and partially blocking another.

“We’re going to have to take a really good look at our punt protection,” McMartin said. “It’s something we work on every day in practice and take a lot of pride in. But it was not what we wanted Saturday. We’ll discuss it as a staff and keep working on it to make sure we get better.”

Notes—Saturday’s win was Central’s first victory over a top-10 ranked opponent since the Dutch routed St. John’s Univ. (Minn.) 37-7 in a second-round NCAA Division III playoff game Nov. 24, 2007. However Central wasn’t the official underdog in that one as St. John’s was rated No. 8 and the Dutch were No. 3… A 40-yard field goal by Jake Viggers (junior, Altoona, Southeast Polk HS) wasn’t far from his career long, a 43-yarder against Dubuque Oct. 11 last year. He’s tied the school career field goals record of 24 set by Matt Schulte (1983-84)…Last year’s Iowa Conference sacks leader, Shane Wong (junior, Pleasant Hill, Southeast Polk HS) had two more Saturday, giving him four for the season, again the league’s best. He also leads the conference in tackles for loss with five…Brondyke has tied Brant VerMeer’s (2003-06) school career record of pinning opponents inside the 20-yard line on 45 punts…This is Central’s fourth 2-0 start in the past five seasons. The Dutch lost to Wartburg 19-17 in last year’s second game, which was played in the third week of the season as Central had a second-week bye…Defensive backs Jake Petersen (sophomore, Gladbrook, Gladbrook-Reinbeck HS) and Corben Schueler (senior, Granger, Woodward-Granger HS) and offensive lineman A.J. Santon (junior, Omaha, Neb., Camdenton HS) each sat out Saturday’s game because of injury. Santon is considered the most likely to return this week, although that’s not certain.

Probable starters
Sept. 12, 2009
OFFENSE
QB       6         Nate Snead (so., 6-2, 225)      
RB       23        David Zachary (sr., 5-9, 195)
SB        41        Preston West (so., 5-8, 230)                
TE        18        Jordan Leuschen (jr., 6-5, 230)           
WR      3         Jeremy Snead (so., 6-2, 215)              
WR      82        Alex Dittmer (sr., 6-2, 220)                
LT        75        Lee Schroeder (jr., 6-6, 300)               
LG       56        Colton Smith (so., 5-11, 245)
or         52        A.J. Santon (jr., 6-1, 285)
C          64        Kyle Wnenk (sr., 6-1, 325)                 
RG       51        Andrew Kneib (sr., 5-11, 275)
RT       74        Joey Shoemaker (jr., 6-4, 280)           

DEFENSE
DE       57        Aaron Steenhoek (jr., 6-1, 215)          
NG       94        Brady Hill (so., 6-3, 235)                    
DT       78        Jon McWilliams (sr., 6-2, 230)           
DE       53        Shane Wong (jr., 6-0, 230)
LB       8         Greg Best (jr., 6-2, 235)                      
LB       43        Zach Van Arkel (sr., 6-0, 215)
LB       42        Ryan Steinkamp (so., 5-11, 215)        
CB       12        Cody Baethke (sr., 5-10, 180)
CB       1         Adam Petz (so., 6-0, 180)
SS        20        Kevin Good (sr., 5-9, 175)     
FS        28        Ryan Schmidt (so., 5-10, 175) 

Kickoff: 87 Kurtis Brondyke (jr., 6-4, 195)
PAT/FG: 2 Jake Viggers (jr., 5-10, 150)
Holder: 5 Brett Wilkin (so., 5-9, 170)
Punter: 87 Kurtis Brondyke (jr., 6-4, 195)
Punt return: 5 Brett Wilkin (so., 5-9, 170)/11 Mike Furlong (so., 6-0, 180)
Kickoff return: 5 Brett Wilkin (so., 5-9, 170)/11 Mike Furlong (so., 6-0, 180)
Long snapper: 82 Alex Dittmer (sr., 6-2, 220)           

D3football.com Top 25
No. School (1st votes)       Rec.   Pts   Prev.
1   Mount Union (23)          1-0   623    1

2   Wis.-Whitewater (2)       2-0   602    2

3   Mary Hardin-Baylor        1-0   575    3

4   Wheaton (Ill.)            1-0   532    5

5   Wesley                    2-0   499    6

6   St. John's                2-0   448   11

7   Ohio Northern             1-0   405    9

8   Washington and Jefferson 2-0   363   10

9   Cortland State            1-0   340   12

10 Case Western Reserve      2-0   335   13

11 Monmouth                  2-0   312   14

12 North Central (Ill.)      1-1   305   15

13 Wabash                    1-0   287   16

14 Linfield                  1-0   259   --

15 Hardin-Simmons            1-1   231    4

16 Central                   2-0   226   25

17 Wis.-Stevens Point        0-1   198    7

18 St. Thomas                1-0   161   20

19 Otterbein                 1-0   158   21

20 DePauw                    1-0   153   23

21 Occidental                1-0   137   22

22 Union                     1-0   102   --

23 Concordia-Moorhead        2-0    92   --

24 Wis.-La Crosse            2-0    88   --

25 Ithaca                    1-1    84    8

Dropped out: No. 17 Hobart, No. 18 Montclair State, No. 19 Franklin, No.
24 Salisbury. 

Others receiving votes: Franklin 81, Delaware Valley 67, Trine 62, Willamette 52, Redlands 47, Trinity (Texas) 44, Capital 43, Dickinson 35, Rowan 30, Wartburg 24, St. John Fisher 20, Thomas More 18, Wilkes 16, Hobart 16, St. Norbert 11, Hampden-Sydney 11, Bethel 7, UW-Eau Claire 6, Millsaps 4, Austin 4, Mount St. Joseph 3, Christopher Newport 3, Montclair State 2, Mississippi College 2, Carnegie Mellon 1, Whitworth 1.