defense Sept. 28, 2009

No. 10 Central prepares for Cornell

PELLA—Coach Jeff McMartin will have little trouble getting his players’ attention as the Central College football team prepares for a Saturday visit from Cornell College.

Last year at Mount Vernon the Dutch had to rally from a 16-point second-half deficit to pull out a 29-22 overtime victory over the Rams.

“If they remember anything at all about last year, our players will know that we have to be ready to play,” McMartin said. “And if they watch any film on them from this year, they’ll know that Cornell has had opportunities to win every game.”

Central, rated No. 10 in the D3football.com top 25, is 4-0 overall and 2-0 in the Iowa Conference after a 24-6 homecoming victory over Coe College last week. The Dutch were rated No. 11 in last week’s AFCA Division III poll. This week’s poll will be released Tuesday. Cornell is 1-3 overall and 0-2 in the league, suffering a 42-19 setback against the Univ. of Dubuque Saturday.

Game time is 1 p.m. at Ron and Joyce Schipper Stadium.

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 and Stephen Flattery 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 holds a 17-1 lead in the all-time series with Cornell, winning the teams’ last 16 meetings. Cornell’s win came at Pella in 1978.

The Rams—While Dubuque eventually built a comfortable scoring margin over Cornell Saturday, the Rams were within 14-13 at halftime. Likewise, in a 30-7 loss to conference favorite Wartburg Sept. 19, Cornell trailed by just 10-7 with 4 minutes remaining in the third quarter. Cornell’s other loss was a 27-21 decision at Carleton (Minn.) Sept. 12.

Elusive freshman quarterback Andrew Burdick (5-foot-9, 165 pounds) became an immediate key to the Rams’ offense. He’s completed 61.0 percent of his passes (75-123-9) for 914 yards and six touchdowns and is also the team’s leading rusher with 288 yards on 77 carries.

Nate SneadAgainst Dubuque, junior running back Charles McDonald gained 157 yards on 19 carries.

“Their quarterback is doing a very nice job,” McMartin said. “They have a veteran group and look to be balanced, possess the ball and use the clock. They’re very well coached.”

Senior defensive back Don Bladt has a league-high five interceptions and leads the team with 34 tackles.

“Bladt’s a great player,” McMartin said. “He knows how to get to the ball. And their front seven are all solid as well.”

Maintaining the balance—In Saturday’s win over Coe the Dutch had the kind of balance teams strive for but don’t often attain. Central quarterbacks Nate Snead (sophomore, Altoona, Southeast Polk HS) and Zack Bandow (junior, Manilla, IKM HS) combined to complete 25 of 32 passes for 259 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. Meanwhile the Dutch ground game generated 196 yards and a score on 39 carries. Running back David Zachary (senior, Des Moines, Dowling HS) topped the 100-yard mark for the third time this year with 123 yards on 22 rushes.

“We tried to move the ball in different ways and attack different areas,” McMartin said. “We executed both phases of the offense well and that allowed us to keep the defense off the field.”

The Dutch controlled the ball for 38 of the game’s 60 minutes.

Central’s defense produced four quarterback sacks, limiting Coe to 189 yards passing and just 10 yards rushing.

Yet McMartin is looking for improvement.

“We have to crank it up another notch,” he said.

Percentage play—Last year Bandow shared the starting quarterback job and completed 45.3 percent of his passes (86-190-6). In four games off the bench in 2009, Bandow is near automatic, completing 77.4 percent (24-31-0) for 269 yards and three touchdowns. His pass efficiency rating is a league-leading 182.25. Meanwhile Snead, who missed nearly all of last season with injury, is completing 58.5 percent (38-61-1) for 378 yards and three touchdowns with a solid 119.46 rating and remains one of the team’s top rushing threats as well. Snead has rushed for 340 yards on 62 carries with four touchdowns, including a 45-yard sprint against Coe.

McMartin said both signal-callers will continue to play but said how they’re used will vary.

“We’ll go through practice each week and see where they fit into the game plan,” he said.

Many factors figure into the passing game improvement.

“Our offensive line is playing very well right now in both areas (rushing/passing),” McMartin said. “That’s helped our quarterbacks a lot. Zack’s also a year older and wiser. And Nate benefited from being on the team last year even though he was injured.”

Another obvious factor is the play of the team’s receivers. Saturday Jeremy Snead (sophomore, Altoona, Southeast Polk HS) played the lead role, tying Randy Busscher’s 1974 school record with 12 catches Saturday, gaining 137 yards with two touchdowns. He has 25 receptions for 309 yards on the season, with five TDs.

“He’s a big, strong, fast receiver who creates match-up issues for people,” McMartin said. “It just worked out Saturday that he was put in some situations to make plays. We tried to move him around.”

Tightening up—After yielding 504 yards in a 41-27 victory at Dubuque Sept. 26, Central’s defense stiffened considerably. The Dutch took over the league rushing defense lead as their average rushing yards total dropped to 69.2 yards per game.

Pass rush—Defensive lineman Shane Wong (junior, Pleasant Hill, Southeast Polk HS) was the conference sacks leader with 13 last year and the Dutch had 23 overall. Central’s on pace to post even bigger numbers in 2009.

Defensive lineman Aaron Steenhoek (junior, Pella) had 2.5 sacks Saturday against Coe. The Dutch have already recorded 15 sacks while yielding three.

Home security—Central hasn’t made a turnover in the past 10 quarters of play and has lost just one for the year. Since a Nate Snead toss was intercepted in the second quarter of Central’s 22-21 win over Wis.-Stevens Point Sept. 12, the Dutch have thrown 65 passes without an interception, including 44 completions. But opponents have hung on to the ball as well. Central has recorded only one interception and one fumble recovery.

Notes—Central’s 25 pass completions Saturday were just one shy of the school single-game record of 26 set against Coe, Oct. 18, 2003 and tied against Hope (Mich.), Sept. 9, 2006... This is the third time in four seasons that Central has started the year with a 4-0 mark, and the seventh time in 11 years…Zachary has already topped his 2008 rushing total of 407 yards. He’s gained 449 yards through four games on 72 carries, an average of 6.2 yards per rush and 112.2 per game, first in the league...Snead is the first Central player to make 10 or more catches in a game since Jamie Arendt had 11 receptions Sept. 11, 1993.

Probable starters
Oct. 3, 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       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)