It was a blizzard of records and points for the Central College football team Saturday at Simpson College.
A school-record seven touchdown passes for quarterback Blaine Hawkins (fifth-year, Ankeny) giving him 100 for his storied Central career, as he completed 22 of 24 passes for a school-record 424 yards. A school record-tying four TD catches for Erik Knaack (fifth-year, Reinbeck, Gladbrook-Reinbeck HS). Another 90 yards for running back Jason Hopp (senior, Earlham) on just two carries for the Dutch, ranked No. 13 by the AFCA and No. 14 by D3football.com.
And then they played the second half.
The matter was settled early in an 84-16 romp as Central (4-0 overall, 2-0 American Rivers) emptied the benches at halftime, racking up a pair of American Rivers Conference records with 556 yards passing and 789 yards total offense in producing a school-record point total.
The Dutch streaked to a 56-3 halftime lead, remarkably needing just 7:26 of possession time in the game's first 30 minutes to score eight touchdowns. Central held a 21-0 first quarter lead despite controlling the ball for a meager 2:44 of the first 15 minutes.
"I thought our guys did a great job of executing on offense and defense," coach Jeff McMartin said. "We played really well together as a team and I'm very happy with their effort."
This is what precision looks like: Four plays, 0:46. Five plays, 1:11, Three plays, 0:27. Five plays, 1:09. Two plays, 0:15. Six plays, 2:15. One play, 0:14. Three plays, 0:39.
Those were Central's first-half possessions, all ending in touchdowns. The Dutch passed on every down in the first quarter, then on their second rushing attempt in the second quarter, Hopp raced 80 yards to the end zone.
"We were going to see what Simpson was going to give us," McMartin said. "We got some looks we liked and matchups that we liked."
One of the players who saw the most snaps was placekicker Logan Sunvold (sophomore, Monroe, Southeast Polk HS), who set a school record of his own with 12 extra point conversions, breaking the mark of 11 set by Tom Stone in 1964 and tied by Ed Maroon in 1991.
Central blew away the first downs record of 35 with 42 Saturday and also set a mark for most passing first downs with 29. Their 513 yards total offense in the first half set a record as well. Their 35 second-quarter points were two shy of the mark for one period. Three quarterbacks combined to complete 36 of 40 passes, two shy of the completions mark of 38. The Dutch averaged 10.7 yards per play.
The Central defense, meanwhile, limited Simpson (0-4 overall, 0-2 conference) to three first-half points. Despite Simpson controlling the ball for most of the first half and 35:18 for the game while running 82 plays, Central yielded a respectable 368 yards. Central held a 556-209 yard advantage in passing and a 233-159 yard edge in rushing while recording five quarterback sacks.
Cornerback Brayden Egli (senior, Saint Charles, Interstate 35 HS) had a team-high eight tackles while strong safety Cameron Bannister (junior, State Center, West Marshall HS) and defensive lineman Blade Durbala (fifth-year, Blairstown, Benton HS) each had six stops while Durbala also notched 1.5 sacks.
"They held them to three points for a long time and I thought they played extremely well
It was another memorable performance for Hawkins.
"He did a good job of recognizing where the open receiver was going to be and got it to him," McMartin said. "He made some really good passes and receivers made some really good catches. We had a couple guys that went up and got the ball."
Freshman quarterback Brady Ketchum (Mount Vernon) took over for Hawkins in the second half and was 11-of-13 for 98 yards. Freshman Gavin Hierseman (West Branch) connected on 3-of-3 for 34 yards. Hopp was Central's top rusher but back-ups Isaiah Walk (junior, Buffalo Center, North Iowa HS), Noah Treimer (sophomore, Pella, Pella Christian HS), Jordan Rusch (sophomore, Johnston) and Carson Boyer (junior, Milledgeville, Ill.) each ran for touchdowns.
Knaack finished with nine catches for 165 yards and four touchdowns. The TD mark tied Sam Markham (vs. Loras, 2017) and Hunter Robinson (vs. Loras, 2018). Jeff Herbers (junior, Urbandale, Des Moines Christian HS) had six receptions for 139 yards and two scores and Tanner Schminke (fifth-year, Boone) had five catches for 96 yards. Freshman tight end Grant Nelson (Pella) and sophomore wide receiver Ryan Neu (West Des Moines, Valley HS) each had a career-high five receptions.
Punter Austin Burns (sophomore, Williamsburg) didn't appear on the field until the fourth quarter and kicked twice, averaging 43.0 yards.
"I was really happy with our second group that we put in there," McMartin said. "They continued to move the ball and continued to score. And defensively, too, our guys did a great job of continuing to get stops and get the ball back to the offense.
"Also, our starters did a really good job of staying engaged in the game and really supporting the guys on the field, kind of coaching them up from the sideline. They didn't get distracted."
Central returns to Ron and Joyce Schipper Stadium next Saturday for a 1 p.m. homecoming game against Wartburg College. The two teams shared the 2019 league title and were listed as the top contenders for this year's crown in a preseason poll of league coaches. The Knights are 2-1 overall and 1-0 in the conference after rolling past Coe College at Waverly Saturday 28-7.