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Dutch pounce on St. Olaf 46-27 in opener

kyle ocker, the oskaloosa herald, iowa
·4 min read

Sep. 4—PELLA — The Dutch may be without Blaine Hawkins, who graduated as Central's all-time passing leader, but their offense showed Saturday they can still put up yards and points.

The 14th-ranked Central College Dutch opened their season Saturday with a 46-27 victory against St. Olaf, Minnesota. In doing so, they still managed 495 yards of offense — an average of 7.5 yards per snap.

Brady Ketchum took over the top spot on the quarterback depth chart for Central with bigs shoes to fill. The sophomore from Mount Vernon, Iowa completed 24 of 38 passing attempts for 360 yards and four touchdowns on Saturday.

His top target was junior Ryan Neu, who played his high school ball at Valley West Des Moines. Neu was targeted seven times on Saturday, and caught all seven balls for a career-best 215 yards and two scores.

Ketchum and Neu teamed up for the longest score of the contest, a 70-yard pass that opened the day's scoring with 4:45 left in the first quarter. The score capped off a four-play, 89-yard drive that took just 43 seconds to complete.

After a fumble wrecked a fourth-down play by St. Olaf, they turned the ball back over to Central on the St. Olaf 16 yard line. Ketchum took the snap, passed it to Logan Mont for a 16-yard touchdown with 3:10 left in the opening quarter. A PAT kick made the score 14-0.

St. Olaf's next drive ended with a punt to Central, who would take over at mid-field in the closing moments of the first quarter. Central junior Logan Sunvold would kick a 32-yard field goal 49 seconds into the second quarter to send Central ahead 17-0.

The Oles would get on the board a bit later with a five-yard touchdown rush by Christian Graske to complete a four-play, 48-yard drive with 5:07 left in the first half.

To open the second-half Central's Neu caught a 44-yard pass from Ketchum to send the Dutch ahead 24-7.

The Oles scored for what would be the final time with 3:24 left in the third quarter with a 9-yard rush by Graske. But, Central's fifth-year senior Tom Adolph spoiled the party by blocking the extra point kick.

The lost-extra point would make little difference, in the end. The Dutch added 20 more points to their score before the game would come to a close. A 10-yard pass from Ketchum to senior Jeff Herbers in the third quarter sent the Dutch ahead 31-13.

Sunvold had back-to-back field goals at 43 and 36 yards, respectively in the fourth quarter to put Central ahead 37-13.

For a final dagger, freshman Keegan Glover broke for a 41-yard touchdown run with 52 seconds left in regulation, to give Central a 44-13 lead.

Central (1-0) hosts Eau Claire, Wisconsin next Saturday. It'll be only the second time Central has squared off with Eau Claire, the only other time came in 1998 when the Dutch lost 28-21.

Saturday

No. 14 Central 44, St. Olaf (Minn.) 13

St. Olaf;0;7;6;0—13

Central;14;3;14;13—44

First Quarter

CEN — Neu 70 pass from Ketchum (Sunvold kick), 4:45.

CEN — Mont 16 pass from Ketchum (Sunvold kick), 3:10.

Second Quarter

CEN — Sunvold 32 field goal, 14:11.

OLA — Graske 5 run (Swan kick), 5:07.

Third Quarter

CEN — Neu 44 pass from Ketchum (Sunvold kick), 13:42.

OLA — Graske 9 run (kick blocked), 3:25.

CEN — Herbers 10 pass from Ketchum (Sunvold kick), 2:18.

Fourth Quarter

CEN — Sunvold 43 field goal, 14:52.

CEN — Sunvold 36 field goal, 6:43.

CEN — Glover 41 run (Sunvold kick), 0:52.

;OLA;CEN

First downs;26;23

Total Net yards;435;495

Rushes-yards;51-181;25-96

Passing;254;399

Punt Returns;2-11;1-6

Kickoff Returns;2-32;2-31

Interceptions Ret.;1-2;1-15

Comp-Att-Int;25-45-1;26-41-1

Sacked-Yards lost;2-10;3-20

Punts;6-191;6-243

Fumbles-Lost;3-1;2-0

Penalties-Yards;5-48;7-66

Time of Possession;39:46;20:14

Central Individual Statistics

RUSHING — Glover 5-68, Walk 4-31, Villaneuva 2-10, Hopp 7-6, Johnson 1-5, Downs 2-1, Hierseman 1-(-1), Ketchum 2-(-9).

PASSING — Ketchum 24-38-0-360, Downs 2-3-1-39.

RECEIVING — Neu 7-215, Mont 5-88, Herbers 4-44, Cash 3-12, Cummer 2-34, Nelson 2-11, Hopp 2-10, Walk 1-(-15).

Kyle Ocker is the editor of the Oskaloosa Herald and the Ottumwa Courier. He can be reached at kocker@oskyherald.com. Follow him on Twitter @Kyle_Ocker.