Lots of posts to read since I haven't checked on things since the regular season ended. I am not looking forward to only three home games for Central this year! While I will get to one or two away conference games, it is going to be tough only playing at home 3 times. I wish at least one non conference game could have been at home. Luther would have been a home game.

I am greatly looking forward to Cody Baethke coming back home to Central. We definitely suffered from him being at Coe the last several years. I heard Central has a big class of recruits for this season. There are a lot of holes to fill this year.

I am impressed with Wartburg going big on non conference games. Wow!

Awesome play by Central in defeating UD at UD. Three Central players had double doubles.

From Central article about the game: Forward Owen Schipper (sophomore, Waukee HS) continued his great play with 25 points and 10 rebounds. Schipper did his scoring with great efficiency, shooting 9-11 from the field (82%) and 4-5 from beyond the arc (80%). He also made all three of his free throw attempts, finishing with an unheard of 101.46 true shooting percentage!

Well I don't claim to know the differences between coverages. I also said I was old and grumpy, so consider the source. 🤣

I wasn't the only one second guessing the coaches though. I watched the replay to see if I was being too judgmental. The announcers were saying the same thing already early in the first quarter and throughout the game. "You have a freshman QB thrown into a big game and you want to protect him so you play it safe. Coe is practically daring you to throw the ball downfield with their coverage. At some point you have to let him play." Maybe not exact words, but extremely close. Those coming from a fellow very successful Central coach. When did Central score? On a free play where he could do whatever he wanted with no consequences.

By not letting him take deep shots that he is very capable of our rushing offense did not work. They stacked the defense with no fear of us taking a deep shot. Once we were forced to do so, the rushing plays started to work. I think Centrsl has fantastic coaches. Very caring if their concern was protecting Kerndt from criticism. I stand by having more faith in him though.

Congratulations to Coe on the 13-7 win at Central. They certainly had our top two rushers nailed down. Grunder and Klein finished with 21 and 20 yards rushing. They just could not break free. Yet in the last minute it was the Coe players desperately trying to get their fans to make some noise. The excitement went down to the final 6 seconds when Coe finally managed to snag an interception. The defense for Central really stepped up today. One huge rushing TD was the difference in the game. I knew that Kerndt would rise to the big game challenge and he did. He really played outstanding. Had the coaches let him pass downfield before it became an absolute requirement we might have won. They did not have the faith I did. This loss probably ended our season, but we are in great hands for the future. I am extremely excited to see what the future holds.

Colin Kerndt to get his first collegiate start against Coe today. Go Dutch!

Quote from: HansenRatings on November 11, 2025, 10:46:04 AM

Quote from: Schipper Strong on November 08, 2025, 04:59:46 PMBoth starting QBs injured and out for the second half.

I didn't notice this... Any idea on their status for Coe?

It was not Central's top 2 QBs hurt last week. It was Central and Simpson's starters both out with injuries.

Quote from: HansenRatings on November 11, 2025, 10:46:04 AM

Quote from: Schipper Strong on November 08, 2025, 04:59:46 PMBoth starting QBs injured and out for the second half.

I didn't notice this... Any idea on their status for Coe?

I do not know the status of Hoffman for Saturday. Central's backup QB did a good job Saturday and it was the second time this season he has played the entire second half because of injury to Hoffman. In the write up of the game they did not even touch on it or recognize Kerndt for stepping up, maybe hoping nobody would notice. Central is riddled with injuries including to our best receiver from the WB game.

Some of you will remember I have not been the biggest Hoffman fan over his 4 years at Central. He has played better this year and definitely has far more experience than Kerndt. Honestly though, I would have more big game faith in the freshman Kerndt than Hoffman. I say that because as a Pella resident I saw him play in high school and take his team through big games all the way to the state championship. Last year's team was not one Pella fans expected to get that far if I am honest. On running plays he is every bit as good as Hoffman. They have not had him passing much at all, so maybe they saw something in practice that keeps them playing it safe. He is capable.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HFq0maixQGo

Easy to resolve. Central just needs to win. A big challenge with the way both teams are playing now. Central needs to step up to the challenge.

Central got off to another bad start to the game against Simpson falling behind 10-0 after a mishandled snap on a punt gives Simpson the ball at Central's 16 yard line followed by an INT on third down giving them the ball on the Central 20 or so. We were able to change momentum without waiting for halftime and boy did it change! Hoffman drops the ball on a pass play and should have been sacked as it took about 3 running steps trying to scoop the ball up. Instead of a sack for a huge loss Hoffman throws a 47 yard TD pass. Add another offensive TD between two blocked/muffed punts for TDs and Central cruises into halftime. Both starting QBs injured and out for the second half. Dutch add one more TD to win 35-10. All scores coming off turnovers. Simpson scores TD on 2 plays in 42 seconds followed by a FG taking 6 plays and 2:42. Central gets 2 TDS on blocked punts and 3 offensive TDS on 4 plays totaling 1:03.

Where is the laugh "like" button?

Quote from: HansenRatings on November 04, 2025, 02:37:37 PM

Quote from: Schipper Strong on November 01, 2025, 08:28:29 PMWartburg must have still been riding a high from beating Central last week. Clearly Coach Winter had a good halftime talk for that.

Coach Winter talked about this on the local radio show before going out to Lincoln this week, but Wartburg has started slow on the road all season, but they've been great in the first half at home. It's been even more apparent because most of the toughest opponents have been at home - you'd think jumping out to a great start against teams like Luther or NWU wouldn't be harder than Dubuque or Central

Scoring Margin on the Road
1st Half +22 | 2nd Half +85

Scoring Margin at Home
1st Half +59 | 2nd Half +6

Central is the same way. I was so excited for the season after the RMC win, but we have not looked great since. The teams that you would think would be easier aren't.

If Central was down 14 points we would go for the PAT instead of z two point conversion every time in regular play. In OT we would go for the two point conversion if we were the second team up.

Maybe I am biased though as Central has been amazing on PAT's for probably decades now. We have had one miss this year and I think only one miss last year.

Today's game was better. In a stark change Central was not the team struggling at the half. UD had the lucky mower going for them. Wartburg must have still been riding a high from beating Central last week. Clearly Coach Winter had a good halftime talk for that.

Cody Klein was really pushing Grunder for more playing time today. He had a phenomenal game when he got a touch he really made the most of it with three great rushing touchdowns today. We are going to have to give him more chances. I know it was BV, but they could not stop him, though they held Grunder in check better than most. Edit: I just read the recap. I am not sure phenomenal is sufficient for Cody Klein's game today. Ten carries for 212 yards and 3 touchdowns! Wow!

Okay, going back a week here as I really flushed it after posting and others responded to my message and I never checked back. I can see going for the field goal that was 4th and 14 I guess, but the second one really was indefensible to me. Not when you know the ball is going back to the team you are already trailing by 18.

The two timeouts because we couldn't get a play in on time is an inexcusable issue again with the coaching. Yes they prevented delay of game calls, but it should never have gotten to that situation.

I think we have a great coaching staff, but this year they have let the team down. The loss to Wartburg wasn't horrendously lopsided in the end, but we were not ready for that game at all. We did not play with any confidence and the coaches being able to get plays in on time shows they were not prepared. We have had issues getting started in several games this year and I just don't understand it. I give the other teams credit for playing well to start the games against us, but something isn't clicking this year. We better work it out as neither Simpson or Coe will be easy.

Congratulations to Wartburg on the win Saturday. Once again you were the better prepared team. 😢 Central did not seem to have either an offensive or defensive game plan which was very disappointing. It doesn't seem like we are able to make in game adjustments either. We made good adjustments at the half against UD, Loras and Wartburg, but we can't seem to adjust on the fly.

I am sure this is one of those "you can't win no matter what you do" situations and I have never played football, so those of you with game experience can give me your thoughts. Why when you are down 21-0 do you go for a field goal instead of the TD? To me it says we do not want to get shut out instead of we want to win. Then why do you do it a second time wheni  down 21-3? Yes, I know we made it and added a TD to get the game to 8 points, but you can't really expect that Wartburg won't score again.

I actually think 28-13 wasn't a disastrous outcome and give the players credit for that. I did not catch that our leading receiver was injured in the second quarter, but that is part of the game. I was just giving Wartburg too much credit for keeping him extremely well covered. Right now Central has to step it up just to get by a surging Simpson and a very tough Coe team.