The game was ended by lightning but not before the Central College football team delivered some thunder of its own in a resounding 34-8 victory over the University of Dubuque Saturday.

The Iowa Conference opener was halted with 8:20 remaining in the fourth quarter because of lightning. After a 76-minute delay, the game was called.

Central yielded some yardage but few points against a highly touted Dubuque offense, limiting the Spartans to two field goals and a safety that came on an errant punt snap. The Central defense again slammed the door on their opponents rushing as they held the Spartans to just 43 yards on the ground. The Dutch defense is allowing just 33.3 rushing yards per game so far this season.

The Dutch held a 329-238 yard advantage in total offense as sophomore running back Ross Doehrmann broke loose for a career-high 131 yards on 21 carries with one touchdown. Quarterback Nate Snead completed nine of 14 passes for 115 yards while rushing for 79 yards on 14 carries, scoring touchdowns on runs of 15 and 4 yards, and Zack Bandow also scored on a one yard run. Jake Viggers kicked two field goals for the Dutch who imporoved to 3-0 and 1-0 in the Iowa Conference.

A pivotal conference game awaits the 7th ranked Dutch next, taking on 10th ranked Coe College next Saturday in Cedar Rapids.