• Central aims for eight-win season
    November 09, 2023
    PELLA, Iowa—Saturday marks the end of the Central College football season but work remains as the Dutch travel to Simpson College.
  • Seven touchdown passes carry Central past Buena Vista
    November 04, 2023
    PELLA, Iowa - Seven touchdown strikes helped keep the shine on an occasionally unsteady performance as the Central College football team put a bow on the home season with a 56-22 runaway over Buena Vista University Saturday.
  • Central closes out home slate Saturday
    November 02, 2023
    PELLA, Iowa - Saluting its 21 seniors, the Central College football team makes its final home appearance of the season Saturday with an American Rivers game against Buena Vista University.
  • No. 3 Wartburg holds off Central
    October 28, 2023
    WAVERLY, Iowa—Quarterback Hunter Hoffman (sophomore, Pecatonica, Ill.) threw for 267 yards but it was a one-dimensional Central College football attack and a bid for title contention was turned away by No. 3-ranked Wartburg College Saturday.
  • Central takes on No. 3 Wartburg
    October 25, 2023
    PELLA, Iowa - For Central College to remain in the American Rivers football race, the Dutch must do what no other team has done since 2018 and that's defeat Wartburg College in Waverly.
  • 10 Central TDs in windblown blowout
    October 21, 2023
    PELLA, Iowa - Unleashing a blizzard of touchdowns, the Central College football team erupted for 51 points in two periods in overwhelming Nebraska Wesleyan University 72-0 on a windy Saturday at Ron and Joyce Schipper Stadium.
  • 24-0 second half carries Central to 38-14 road win
    October 07, 2023
    DUBUQUE, Iowa - Some second-half adjustments and better execution helped Central break away from a halftime tie in a 38-14 win at Loras Saturday.
  • Central throws 7 TD passes in runaway win over Dubuque
    September 30, 2023
    PELLA, Iowa - The offensive potential the Central College football team hinted was possible surfaced in a big way with seven touchdown passes and 552 yards total offense Saturday, overwhelming the University of Dubuque 55-16
  • Central notches win No. 150 for McMartin
    September 23, 2023
    DECORAH, Iowa - Like so many that preceded it, career football win No. 150 for Central College coach Jeff McMartin Saturday was a textbook performance.
  • Fourth-quarter stops preserve Central win at Dubuque
    November 12, 2022
    DUBUQUE, Iowa—In a season filled with flashy offensive numbers from a young squad, it was the Central College football defense that was able to secure a gritty, bone-chilling 24-21 victory in the season finale Saturday at the University of Dubuque.
  • Central eyes season-ending win
    November 10, 2022
    PELLA, Iowa—Authoring a happy ending to the 2022 campaign story tops the week's agenda for the Central College football team.
  • Central scores in first 9 seconds, races past Luther 61-13
    November 05, 2022
    PELLA, Iowa—It was perhaps the sign of a good day for the Central College football team Saturday at windswept Ron and Joyce Schipper Stadium when Luther College's opening kickoff made an abrupt U-turn and bounded backwards 5 yards.            
  • No. 20 Wartburg holds off hard-charging No. 24 Central
    October 08, 2022
    PELLA, Iowa-No. 24 Central College's resilient second-half effort pushed No. 20 Wartburg College to the brink before the No. 24 Dutch surrendered a last-minute touchdown in a 35-28 homecoming football defeat Saturday.
  • Central names Shepherd as defensive coordinator
    March 30, 2022
    PELLA, Iowa - After two seasons as defensive coordinator at Lakeland University (Wis.), Mitch Shepherd has been named defensive coordinator for Central College’s defending American Rivers champion football team.
  • Hawkins named Gagliardi Trophy winner
    December 17, 2021
    Blaine Hawkins, who led Central to the national quarterfinals and was named D3football.com Offensive Player of the Year, learned on Friday afternoon that he had won the 2021 Gagliardi Trophy.
  • Gagliardi Trophy names its finalists
    December 09, 2021
    Three quarterbacks, one wide receiver and a safety make up the five finalists for the 2021 Gagliardi Trophy, an award presented by Jostens to the most outstanding football player in NCAA Division III.
  • Central playoff run ends as Hawkins breaks NCAA record
    December 04, 2021
    WHITEWATER, WIS.—This dizzying ride of a Central College football season, with each week's performance seemingly surpassing the last, finally came to a halt in the frosty chill of a December afternoon in southern Wisconsin Saturday with a 51-21 NCAA Division III playoff loss to the No. 3-ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Saturday, but not before etching still more remarkable numbers into the record books.
  • Central football playoff path heads to Wisconsin
    December 01, 2021
    PELLA, Iowa—Making its first NCAA Division III quarterfinal round appearance since 2007, the Central College football team will search for a win Saturday in a place where few visitors have found one.
  • Central's Hawkins delivers walkoff NCAA playoff winner
    November 27, 2021
    PELLA, Iowa- Already the author of one of the best offensive seasons in NCAA Division III history, Central College quarterback Blaine Hawkins punctuated it Saturday with one of the tradition-rich program's most memorable finishes.
  • Central tries to solve fierce Wheaton defense
    November 26, 2021
    PELLA, Iowa—It's a playoff rematch but the Central College football team hopes it's not a repeat when Wheaton College (Ill.) visits Saturday for a second-round NCAA Division III playoff game.
  • Hawkins sets NCAA mark as Central moves on, 61-35
    November 20, 2021
    PELLA, Iowa-Bethel University (Minn.) threw some of the season's biggest blows at the Central College football team Saturday but quarterback Blaine Hawkins answered with seven touchdown passes and yet another record day in a 61-35 first-round NCAA Division III playoff victory.
  • Daunting opening draw for No. 8 Central
    November 18, 2021
    PELLA, Iowa - The first NCAA Division III playoff game promises to be the season’s stiffest challenge for the undefeated Central College football team.
  • November 13, 2021
    STORM LAKE--Central capped its 17th unbeaten season by blitzing Buena Vista 65-6 Saturday.
  • Central clinches record 32nd league crown outright with 56-7 win
    November 06, 2021
    PELLA, Iowa—The championship that a pandemic denied in 2020 and that 15 of last year's Central College seniors returned to claim was decisively secured with a 56-7 football triumph over the University of Dubuque Saturday before an approving Legacy Day crowd.
  • Dubuque is obstacle to Central title bid
    November 05, 2021
    PELLA, Iowa - The last team to defeat the Central College football squad in a regular-season game is the opponent Saturday as the Dutch look to clinch an outright American Rivers title.
  • Central clinches title share with 76-13 runaway over Luther
    October 30, 2021
    DECORAH, Iowa - Back-up quarterback Brady Ketchum combined with starter Blaine Hawkins to fire a team record nine touchdown passes in sprinting past winless Luther College 76-13 Saturday.
  • Six more Hawkins TD passes, No. 10 Central races past Loras
    October 23, 2021
    PELLA, Iowa--No. 10-ranked Central raced to a 44-3 halftime lead and systematically overwhelmed Loras College 53-19 Saturday.
  • Central offense rolling with Hawkins at controls
    October 13, 2021
    Blaine Hawkins has thrown more than 200 consecutive passes without an interception and averages 328.5 yards per game. But what the Dutch really want is to bring a playoff game back to Pella, Iowa. Joe Sager has more.
  • Hawkins throws for record 503 yards as No. 11 Central routs Coe
    October 09, 2021
    CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Central College quarterback Blaine Hawkins (fifth-year, Ankeny) continued his record-obliterating ride through the 2021 football season, blistering Coe College with a school-record 503 passing yards and six touchdowns in a 55-21 thrashing Saturday.
  • No. 14 Central takes down Wartburg
    October 02, 2021
    PELLA, Iowa —It was the biggest test of the season thus far for the Central College football team, and quarterback Blaine Hawkins and the Dutch aced it, racing past Wartburg College 49-24 before a sun-drenched overflow homecoming crowd Saturday.
Load More