A school-record 99-yard Zack Martinelli (junior, Elburn, Ill., Kaneland HS) TD reception brought the Dutch offense to life in the closing minutes. An Aaron Marcellus (junior, Hudson) 42-yard field goal—his first ever--at the horn forced overtime. And Zach Matter's (junior, Ankeny) second interception combined with a 2-yard Adam Lindell (senior, Denver, Colo., Arapahoe HS) TD surge sealed a 23-17 overtime triumph over Monmouth College (Ill.) Saturday.
The Dutch (1-1) were staring at their first 0-2 start since 1980 late in the game. They'd been shut out the entire half and their only score of the day was the result of a juggling 48-yard Martinelli catch in the second quarter. And a Monmouth punt had pinned them on their own 1-yard line, as Central trailed 10-7 with just 4:40 remaining.
But on the next play, quarterback Riley Gray (junior, West Des Moines, Waukee HS) hit Martinelli in mid-stride as he became the 34th player in NCAA Division III history to notch a 99-yard TD reception. It's the longest ever at Central, topping a pair of 96-yard plays (Mark Blom to Tom McDonald, 1986; Mark Isaacson to Trent Cooper, 2002).
"I wasn't thinking about the longest play in Central history, I was running for my life, at the moment," Martinelli recalled with a smile afterwards.
When he dialed up the play, coach Jeff McMartin wasn't thinking six points, either.
"We were just trying to get out of the end zone, get a couple of first downs and see what happens," McMartin said. "But we got a coverage we liked and took advantage of it. Zack made a great run. They had good angles on him but give him a lot of credit, they couldn't catch him."
Yet Central's sudden lead was short-lived. Monmouth launched a 13-play, 85-yard drive, getting the go-ahead touchdown on an 18-yard Tanner Matlick pass put the Scots back on top, 17-14 with only 1:15 left.
A 29-yard Taylor Cox (senior, Pella) kick return to the 42 gave Central a chance. Four Gray completions put Central at the Monmouth 26-yard line with 2 seconds left. Enter Marcellus, who not only had not previously kicked a collegiate field goal that long, he hadn't converted one at all. Some mistiming last week led to a 25-yard field goal miss as well as an errant extra-point try in Central's 21-19 loss to Benedictine (Ill.), and he misfired on a 42-yard attempt in the second quarter Saturday. But Saturday's miss at least had the distance and McMartin was confident.
"I give Aaron a lot of credit for having a short memory," McMartin said. "Last week didn't go the way he wanted it to and the first kick today didn't, either. But he came through when he had to.
"I have a lot of faith in Aaron and the team does, too. That was one of the biggest kicks we've had in a long, long time."
That sent Central into its first overtime game since 2008. The Dutch dominated the extra period, starting with a winning coin flip. They pushed Monmouth back to the 29-yard line and on 3rd-and-14, Matter snagged his second pick of the day at the 11.
On Central's possession, the Dutch got 12 yards on a Gray screen pass to wide receiver Sam Markham (sophomore, Atlantic), then used five running plays to get the rest of the real estate needed, with Lindell muscling his way for the final two.
"The thing that set that up was when we threw the quick screen out to Sam," McMartin said. "Sam was able to get up the sideline and get us in position. Then we could run the football and just set up for a game-winning field goal. Our line did a good job. I thought our conditioning paid off. We were able to keep moving. That's the best push we had all day, really."
The late theatrics gave Central a much-needed emotional lift.
"We didn't want to be 0-2," McMartin said. "But our guys were pretty focused. We knew Monmouth is a very good team. They're not the type of team you play to get your offense back on track. We knew it wasn't going to be easy but the guys did a real good job of focusing on one play at a time and staying in the moment, not looking ahead and not looking behind. We were a lot better at that this week than we were last week. We did a much better job of playing to our standard."
Monmouth outgained Central in the first three quarters but the Dutch rebounded for a 395-354-yard total offense advantage. Gray completed 20 passes in 31 attempts for 320 yards in his second career start. That's the eighth-most passing yards in school history. He also rushed 19 times for 48 of Central's 75 rushing yards. Markham had seven receptions for 96 yards while Martinelli made five grabs for 172 yards, the seventh-most yards ever for a Dutch player. It's the most receiving yards since Chris McCullough racked up 191 against Wis.-La Crosse in 1999.
Linebacker Jessie Peterson (junior, Coralville, Iowa City West HS) had 12 tackles, including six solos and a sack as well as two pass breakups. Linebacker Mitch Schroeder (senior, Lowden, North Cedar HS) also had 12 stops with five solos and 1.5 for loss. Matter had 10 tackles while linebacker Drew Carlson (junior, Ankeny) had nine.
As one of the nation's most successful programs, Central's all-time scorebook is filled with dramatic wins. Nonetheless, Saturday's feels pretty good, McMartin said.
"It's one of the most fun wins we've been a part of," he said. "Our players showed a lot of grit. It's something these guys will always remember."
Central is back on the road next Saturday, with a first-ever trip to Watertown, Wis. to take on Maranatha Baptist (Wis.) in a 1 p.m. game. The Sabercats are 0-2, getting blanked at Martin Luther (Minn.) 35-0 last week and were stopped at home by Lawrence (Wis.) Saturday 51-6. The Dutch rolled past Maranatha Baptist at Pella last year, 65-12.