A pair of undefeated conference records will be on the line this afternoon in the Tulip City, as the Central Dutch welcome the Simpson Storm football team to renew their rivalry matchup.
The Dutch have looked unstoppable so far this season, averaging over 43 points a game en route to their 6-0 record. Sophomore quarterback Blaine Hawkins has already thrown for over 1300 yards and 15 touchdowns on the season, with nine different targets finding paydirt. Despite the heightened tension due to the rivalry, Central coach Jeff McMartin isn’t getting caught up in the standings or the playoff picture, but rather trying to keep his team focused on going 1-0 this week.
“Our focus has really been on each day, on the process of a game week, and improving. There’s things that we need to do better than we did last week. We also need to take advantage of the things we do well and keep refining those things. Those are the things that I’ve really stressed with our players. They understand the rivalry. Nobody’s dumb here, everybody knows where we’re at with things, so from that standpoint, we don’t need to build that up too much with our kids because that’s already in front of them.”
Despite a blemish on their record to start the season, the Storm have been equally impressive in conference play including an upset of defending conference champion Wartburg on the road in Waverly, and have relied on a stingy defense that has picked off opposing quarterbacks seven times on the young season. Simpson Head Coach Matt Jeter said the Storm rely on their tough defense and special teams, but their success this season has a lot to do with their young quarterback Tanner Krueger maturing
“He’s started the last five games for us, and I’ve told him that he is a veteran now with a strong supporting cast so take it and run with it, and that is exactly what he has done”
You can hear the Central perspective of the game on 92.1 KRLS with Trevor Castle and George Wares on the play-by-play, and the Simpson perspective on AM 1320 and FM 95.3 KNIA. Pregame coverage on both broadcasts will begin at 12:35 and kickoff at 1pm.