Zach Van Arkel Nov. 2, 2009

No. 5 Central battles Wartburg for crown

PELLA—Standing in the way of Central College’s bid for an outright Iowa Conference football championship is the team originally picked to win it.    

Wartburg College, the defending champion, was the preseason favorite. The Knights (5-3 overall, 4-2 conference) will try to spoil Central’s perfect regular season in a 1 p.m. game Saturday at Walston-Hoover Stadium in Waverly. Wartburg thumped Luther College last Saturday at Decorah, 24-9.

It’s the regular-season finale for Central, 9-0 overall and 7-0 in conference play after a 17-0 shutout of Buena Vista at Pella Saturday.  

The rest of the conference also has a game Nov. 14 but the Dutch are already assured of at least a share of their record 30th league football crown and their fourth in the past five years. They also have locked up the conference’s automatic berth in the NCAA Division III playoffs which begin Nov. 21. It will be Central’s 20th NCAA appearance.  Coe College is a game back in the conference standings at 5-1 and is 7-1 overall. Central’s 24-6 victory over the Kohawks at Pella Sept. 26 gives the Dutch the tiebreaker for the playoff spot if the two clubs share the league title.

Rankings--Central is ranked No. 6 by D3football.com and is No. 5 in the American Football Coaches Association poll. The NCAA’s regional rankings, which are used to determine playoff seeds, were released last week and the Dutch were No. 2 behind Linfield (Ore.).

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—The road team has won the last two games in the Wartburg-Central series. The Knights were 19-17 winners in last year’s Sept. 20 league opener at Pella and went on to reach the NCAA Division III playoff quarterfinals. Central holds a 40-17 lead in the teams’ all-time series, which began in 1945.

Nate SneadCoach Jeff McMartin, who has now guided Central to at least a share of four conference crowns in his six seasons, is happy about the title share but spending little time thinking about it.

“It’s great to have accomplished what we have accomplished so far,” he said. “Obviously if we continue to play our best and do things well, we have a great opportunity for an outright championship, which would be even more special.”

The Knights—Wartburg is led by first-team all-conference quarterback Nick Yordi, who became the school’s career passing yardage leader Saturday. He’s completed 141 of 235 passes for 1,746 yards with 13 touchdowns and six interceptions. Yordi has surpassed the 100-yard passing mark in 30 straight games.The Knights are second in the league in scoring (28.5 points) and third in pass offense (220.6 yards). Wide receiver Matt Wickert is fourth in the league with 32 catches for 403 yards.

But McMartin said Wartburg is hitting its stride thanks to a rapidly improving running game as well. Freshman running back Kyle Winfrey has moved into the starting lineup and had 66 yards rushing on 18 carries Saturday at Luther. Winfrey gained 149 yards and three touchdowns on 25 attempts in a 41-14 rout of the Univ. of Dubuque Oct. 24.

Wartburg junior defensive back Andrew Creary is second in the league in tackles with 78 and returned an interception 99 yards for a touchdown Saturday. He has four interceptions for the year. Junior linebacker Blake Suckow is third in tackles with 76 and second in the conference in tackles for loss with 12.

Wartburg is second in the league in rushing defense (105.2 yards) and first in pass defense (107.9 yards).

It’s a well-coached, talent-laden squad, McMartin said.

“Wartburg is a very good football team,” he said. “This game is going to be a great challenge for us and we’re going to have to play our best.

“Defensively Wartburg is always very physical and fast. They put a lot of pressure on you and give you a lot of different looks. You have to be able to handle people moving around up front.

“On offense, the quarterback is a three-year starter who does a great job. And each week their running game is getting better and better. This will be a tough game.”

Dutch D gets second shutout—Central’s 17-0 win Saturday was its second shutout of the season, the team’s most in a season since 2002. The Dutch held Buena Vista to 239 yards, including minus 13 yards rushing. Central is limiting opponents to a conference-best 64.6 rushing yards.

Keith Rush tackleCentral recorded five sacks, giving them a league-leading 33 for the year. The Dutch have had at least two sacks in every game. Defensive lineman Brady Hill (sophomore, Carroll, Kuemper Catholic HS) had 3.0 tackles for loss, including 2.5 sacks. He has six sacks for the season. Defensive lineman Austin Hill (junior, Carroll, Kuemper Catholic HS) had one sack.

“(The defense) did a great job of mixing some things up with some different blitzes and different looks,” McMartin said. “They really executed the defensive game plan and put great pressure on the quarterback all day.”

But Buena Vista also slowed the Central offense. The Dutch gained 283 yards, only the second time this year Central has been held under 375 yards.

1,000 for Zachary—Zachary rushed for 125 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries and became the ninth Central player to top 1,000 yards in a season. It’s happened 13 times overall. Zachary has gained 1,095 yards on 176 carries and ranks 10th on Central’s all-time list of season rushing yards. He could move into ninth place with an additional nine yards. Zachary is averaging a league-best 121.7 yards per game and 6.2 yards per carry with 12 touchdowns.

Brondyke bombs—Punter Kurtis Brondyke (junior, Clinton) had his best game of the season Saturday, averaging 49.4 yards on five punts, including three inside the opponent’s 20-yard line. Brondyke booted a career-long 78-yarder Saturday and raised his season average to 39.0 yards. He’s put 11 of 26 punts inside the 20 and has done so a school record 53 times in his career.

Staying perfect—Central has had 16 perfect regular seasons, all since 1966. Under McMartin the Dutch posted 10-0 regular seasons in 2006 and 2007. They’ve now won or shared 18 conference championships in the past 26 years.

A good bye—Central hasn’t had a bye week—the Dutch are off next week, after their regular season is completed. But it’s worked out well so far.

“It’s allowed us to be in rhythm all year,” McMartin said of playing every week. “There are good and bad things about it wherever your bye week falls. But at least we haven’t had to try to remember how to play football after a week off.”

League leaders—Central retained its position topping several conference statistical categories:

            Team
            Scoring offense--36.8 points
            Scoring defense--14.3 points
            Total offense--404.6 yards
            Rushing offense--255.2 yards
            Rushing defense--64.6 yards
            Kickoff returns--25.4 yards
            Kickoff coverage--40.9 net yards
            Sacks--32
            Sacks allowed--5
            First downs--22.2
            4th-down conversions--66.7 percent (8-12)
            3rd-down conversions allowed--33.9 percent (42-124)
            Red-zone offense--90.7 percent (39-43 with 33 touchdowns)

            Individual
            Rushing—David Zachary, 121.7 yards
            Passing efficiency—Zack Bandow, 149.2 (48-73-2, 65.8 percent, 537 yards, 6 TDs)
            Kick scoring—Jake Viggers, 6.4 points
            Kickoff returns—Mike Furlong, 27.2 yards
            Field goals—Jake Viggers, 7 (9 att.)
            Field goal percentage—Jake Viggers, 77.8 percent (7-9)
            Sacks—Shane Wong (1.11, 10 total)
            Tackles for loss—Shane Wong (1.39, 12.5 total)

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          68        Casey Tanner (so., 6-0, 270)  
RG       51        Andrew Kneib (sr., 5-11, 275)
RT       74        Joey Shoemaker (jr., 6-4, 280)             

DEFENSE
DE       34        Drew Bower (fr., 6-3, 225)
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 (jr., 5-10, 180) 
CB       20        Kevin Good (sr., 5-9, 175)     
SS        26        Corben Schueler (sr., 6-3, 205)
FS        28        Jake Petersen (so., 5-10, 195) 

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)