Defense was the name of the game at Ron and Joyce Schipper Stadium Saturday afternoon, as Central College shut down the Loras offense, en route to a 27-6 victory.  While the Dutch offense struggled to find success, their defensive counterparts were dominant, holding the Duhawks to just 101 yards of total offense.

Beyond keeping Loras off the scoreboard for most of the game, Central’s defense either set up, or accounted for the bulk of the scoring in the game: led by a strong first half.  Safety Jake Peterson had a monster first quarter, intercepting two tipped passes – one of which he returned 58 yards for a score, and Central led 17-0 at halftime.

Loras quarterback Vaughn Gesing was intercepted a total of three times, but that seemed mild when compared to the eleven times he was sacked by the Dutch.  Defensive end Holden Blythe recorded 2.5 sacks, while fellow linemen Austin Hill and Aaron Steenhoek each drove Gesing to the turf two times.

After a shaky first half from quarterback Nate Snead, Josh Bandow took over duties as signal-caller for the Dutch, leading the offense with 154 yards passing by completing 14-of-26 attempts, including a touchdown strike late in the fourth quarter to Brett Wilkin.

With the win, Central is now 5-1 in the Iowa Conference, and will travel to Storm Lake next week to face Buena Vista.

In other college action from yesterday:
Wisconsin upended Iowa 31-to-30
Iowa State shocked Texas 28-to-21
Drake beat Davidson 42-to-ten
Northern Iowa pounded Illinois State 42-to-14

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