Jeremy Snead Sept. 21, 2009

Last of the unbeatens--Coe, Central clash

PELLA—There will be one unbeaten Iowa Conference football team remaining after Coe College and Central College meet in the Dutch homecoming contest Saturday in Pella.

Both squads sport 3-0 records and 1-0 league marks while the other seven conference teams have each suffered at least one loss. It’s also Family Weekend at Central and game time is 1 p.m. at Ron and Joyce Schipper Stadium. The Dutch survived the Univ. of Dubuque’s offensive assault last Saturday for a 41-27 conference season-opening win at Dubuque. Coe shut down Luther Saturday at Cedar Rapids, 19-6.

On the air, on the Web— A live video Webcast of the contest will be available through the Central athletics Web site at www.central.edu/athletics, with live stats also offered. 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 or through www.kniakrls.com.

The series—Central defeated Coe at Cedar Rapids last season, 27-10, and has won the teams’ last three meetings. The Dutch hold an 11-6-2 lead in the series.

The Kohawks—Coe is the conference leader in scoring defense (12.3 points allowed per game) and second in total defense (312.7 yards). The Kohawks are also tops in pass offense (260.7 yards) and average 360.0 yards overall.

Quarterback Brad Boyle is first in passing yards (260.7), completing 70 of 108 passes for 782 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions. He’s also rushed for 56 yards and is second in the conference in total offense (279.3 yards). The Kohawks’ Sam Hammes is second in receiving yards, making 5.3 catches per game for 72.7 yards. He’s also Coe’s top rusher with 56.3 yards per game

Coe has nine starters back from last year’s 4-6 team that posted a 4-4 league mark.

“Coe’s a good football team,” coach Jeff McMartin said. “This is a big game and we’re going to have our work cut out for us. They play great defense and their quarterback is playing really well. It’s a well-coached team

“It’s going to be a battle. We’ll have to play great football to win.”

Increasingly, that’s the story in any Iowa Conference game, McMartin said.

“We’ve got to improve every week,” he said. “You cannot stand still. We’ll have to watch the film (from Saturday) and really be critical as a coaching staff about what we can do to get better.”

Defense regroups—Dubuque’s high-powered offense put up 504 yards against Central Saturday. That’s the most yardage the Dutch have yielded since giving up a record 539 yards at Bethel (Minn.) Sept. 10, 2005. It’s the fourth time in school history that Central has allowed more than 500 yards. The Spartans’ were also productive in the teams’ previous meeting in Dubuque in 2007. They gained 494 yards in Central’s 37-34 triple overtime victory.

Relief pitcher—Dubuque took a 19-14 lead with just 1:42 left in the half Saturday. So McMartin elected to go to the air to try for a quick score before intermission and called on quarterback Zack Bandow (junior, Manilla, IKM HS) to come off the bench for the drive. Bandow quickly delivered, completing 5 of 5 passes for 65 yards, including a 9-yard scoring toss to Jeremy Snead (sophomore, Altoona, Southeast Polk HS).

“Zack did a great job,” McMartin said. “He’s played well all year. He’s able to come in, make plays and do his thing. He’s able to watch the defense when he’s not in and formulate a game plan for when he does go in. It’s impressive how he’s doing that.”

The Dutch completed passes to six receivers in the game.

“We did a better job of spreading it around,” McMartin said.

Career day—Running back David Zachary (senior, Des Moines, Dowling HS), who had not rushed for 100 yards or more in a game prior to this season, has done so in two of the first three games. Saturday he gained a career-best 161 yards and four touchdowns, including a career-long 50-yard TD run in the first quarter. That’s the most yardage gained in a game since Vance Schuring rushed for 166 yards on 30 carries, also against Dubuque Oct. 14, 2006.

Zachary’s four scores were the most by a Central running back since Chris Button had four TDs in one half, against Dubuque as well, Sept. 28, 1996. The record is five rushing touchdowns, set by Mark Kacmarynski, against, yes, Dubuque, Sept. 16, 1995.

Zachary rushed for 407 yards last season. In three games this year, he’s already gained 326 yards on 50 carries.

“David had an outstanding game from the first series on,” McMartin said. “He’s gotten better every year. He’s bigger and stronger and he’s doing a lot of good things.”

Central rushed for 275 yards overall Saturday and had 419 yards total offense.

“You also have to give credit to the offensive line,” McMartin said. “They’ve done a good job of improving themselves and they’re opening a lot of big holes.”

Dutch numbers--After struggling on the ground a year ago (111.4 yards per game), Central is the league rushing leader with 265.0 yards per game. The Dutch are second in rushing defense (89.0 yards). Central also leads in kickoff returns (26.1 yards), sacks (10), sacks allowed (2), third-down conversions (56.1 percent) and red-zone offense (12-12).

Zachary ranks second on the league rushing charts, averaging 108.7 yards per game. He’s first among the leaders in yards per carry (6.5) and tied for second in scoring (12.0).

Brett Wilkin (sophomore, Altoona, Southeast Polk HS) is first in kick returns (26.3 yards). Defensive lineman Shane Wong (junior, Altoona, Southeast Polk HS) remains the league sacks leader with four while fellow lineman Aaron Steenhoek (junior, Pella) shares the lead with Wong in tackles for loss with six.

Notes—Kurtis Brondyke (junior, Clinton) broke the school career record for most punts inside the opponent’s 20-yard line. He had two more Saturday out of four kicks, giving him 47 for his career…Central is home for three of its next four games and the fourth is just 40 miles down the road at Simpson College Oct. 10…While Dubuque held the advantage in total offense Saturday, in the last 24 games in which the Dutch have been outgained, Central has won 20 times…Central has trailed in two of this year’s three victories and has 18 come-from-behind wins in the past five seasons.