It’s a de facto play-in game to the NCAA Division III football playoffs today in Pella as 19th-ranked Central College hosts Coe.

The Dutch are 8-1 on the season while the Kohawks are 7-2. Both teams are 6-1 in the American Rivers Conference, with the lone loss coming at the hands of league champion Wartburg.

A Central win makes them a mathematical certainty to earn one of 13 at-large bids to the playoffs, while a loss likely leaves them on the outside looking in. For Coe, a loss would mark the end of their season and a win gives them a better than 50/50 chance to make the cut depending on the outcome of other games across the country.

If Central is to prevail, it will look different than it has the rest of this season. While injuries are always a part of sports, especially football, it’s been the most tumultuous of Jeff McMartin’s 22 years leading the Dutch. Already down several key players, they lost starting quarterback Hunter Hoffman to a season-ending injury in last Saturday’s win over Simpson, and leading tackler Cole Clark is out of action on defense.

That means that freshman Colin Kerndt from Pella will get his first career start at quarterback, and McMartin says that lots of other guys are going to have to step up to fill the multiple voids left by injured starters.

“Our job as coaches is to to put these guys in an environment where they can perform well, and then we’ve got to let them go and trust them to do what they’re trained to do and what they’ve practiced doing. That’s been our major focus – what scenarios can we put these guys in to help them be their best.”

Central hasn’t beaten Coe since 2021, having lost three straight in the series, all in one score games.

Kickoff is at 1pm this afternoon at Ron & Joyce Schipper Stadium. Trevor Castle and George Wares will call the action live on 92.1 KRLS and the Central Dutch Network, beginning with pregame at 12:35.